What makes some of us "animal people"?

I have often wondered if being a dog person (or more specifically an animal person) is genetic or environmental.  Luckily, I come by my dogginess from both directions.  My parents both love dogs and had dogs growing up although only one of their siblings had a dog after getting married (no cats at all).  I grew up with dogs as important members of the family, in fact we called them the most important members of the family.
 
We became more involved with dogs when one of my older sisters started training and showing in obedience.  Now every member of my family has at least one dog, and most also have a cat, except one sister only has a cat.

I'm not sure either, but I think it's genetic. []  Anyway, I don't remember a time when I didn't feel related to animals and in awe of them.  My mother's funny story about me being born an animal person was the one she always told about the day she looked out the pantry window to check on me in the yard (all fenced in and I was about 3 at the time - a safer time growing up in the 50's - your mom could actually do that and not feel you'd be snatched or anything).  I was sitting on the small rock wall patting a dead mouse! [sm=eek.gif]

I'm quite sure it's genetic. My mother has always been an animal person, and her father was as well, and I know we have a naturalist a little farther back in the family line.

I've been an animal lover since birth and have followed that interest through to make a career out of it. I've thought a lot about why I find animals so enchanting and exciting whereas other people find them to be a passing amusement or of not interest at all. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm an animal lover because I'm a bit of a life junkie. I'm hopelessly fascinated by anything that can live its own life uncaring of what us self-important, world-altering humans do. For that reason, I'm more into wild animals than domestic animals. Owning pets is just a way to bring that fascination with life into my everyday existence. I've recently discovered that caring for plants is yet another way to bring more life into my little world.

I feel like I have a personal responsibility towards the lives of those I bring into my world. If they flourish, I'm delighted and my own life feels fulfilling, but if they don't flourish, I get all depressed. I recently lost my chives plant to an aphid infestation. My boyfriend can't understand why I got mopey and guilty about it. But it's not about what kind of life I was acting caretaker for, what matters is that that little pool of life was my responsibility. So for me, being an animal lover comes from being addicted to watching things live. And that, I think, is genetics.

Incidentally, my half-sister was adopted out at birth and grew up in a family that didn't keep pets. The very first thing she did when she moved out was get a cat. She's now got 8, and her daughter talked her into getting a dog as well. She says she longed to have cats for as long as she could remember. When my mother was pregnant with her, she had a cat that would lie across her belly and purr, and we think that's where the cat thing started. And yet, my oldest brother is not into animals at all and is happily living a pet-free existence despite growing up in a small menagerie like me. I think that's pretty strong evidence for genetics over environment.

I believe some of its genetic but not all.As evidenced by people who gets dogs later in life and then become dog lovers. As for me growing up we didn't really have a lot of animals around except for a few cats through the various years of childhood. I just loved animals from the start any and all (except spiders)[]I definitely feel animal people are the most giving and unselfish.As a youngster I was always sneaking the stray cats meat and what not and eventually convinced my mom to let me keep one. Animals bring joy to my life and as longs as mine are happy I'm happy!

I was sitting on the small rock wall patting a dead mouse!

 
[sm=biggrin.gif]  Anne, I laughed out loud when I read this, but I really was the same way.  I loved all animals. I had a pet mouse, a chameleon, a cat, a dog, and I begged for a horse every Christmas.  I wasn't ever afraid of dogs and would actually coax the "stray" home and then tell my mom it was homeless and we had to keep it.  There's only been a 4 yr period in my life when I didn't have a dog and that was when I lived in Germany. I dreamed of getting one as soon as I was back in the US though. I don't have kids and I think having dogs fulfills a need to care for something/someone...the payoff is huge []

For me I don't think it was genetic. I have loved animals since I was a kid, but my mom does not, and I was never allowed to have pets growing up. We did have a few outdoor cats, all of whom met untimely deaths - the oldest I think lived to age 5. I used to dream of having dogs, but my mom and step dad would never consider it. I would instead pretend I ran a huge kennel with one dog of each breed. Lol, aren't you all crying for me now? I was a weirdo. I don't know where that came from, maybe a desire to take care of and nurture things. My family is very disaproving of my animals though.

Humans are also animals. In some ways, we are less evolved than the mountain gorilla, who's physiology is more suited to this planet than ours is. I am always aware of the animal part of me and perhaps that makes more attune to other animals.

I think for me it is genetic and environmental.  I have ALWAYS been interested in animals from my earliest memories.  Most of my childhood and all of my adolescent years we had pets.  My dad definitely is a dog lover and my mom did not have any problems with the variety of pets we kids  (seven of us) had.
 
Today I cannot imagine NOT having pets.  I love caring for them and interacting with them.  I would rather observe my pets, wild birds, and other animals than watch TV.  All of my siblings have pets in their own homes as well.
 
 
 
 

ORIGINAL: 2shelties

For me I don't think it was genetic. I have loved animals since I was a kid, but my mom does not, and I was never allowed to have pets growing up.

Are you sure you're not adopted like my sister?? [] Traits can skip generations, though. In my family, neither my mother or my father or any of their siblings were the least bit sporty. But my mother's mother was a little sports star when she was a kid, and then two of the kids in my generation were inherently good at sports, despite the fact that niether of their parents were remotely sporty.

Ron, maybe overevolved would be a better expression. I wonder if there is such a thing??

I think for me it's simplicity.  Human relationships are often complex and difficult.  My relationship with Ollie is not.  I love him and simply enjoy his company.  I like to think that he loves me, and I'm certain that he enjoys my company.  I know what to do to make him happy, and whether he knows it or not, Ollie knows what to do to make me happy.  It's simple; we are each other's sidekicks.
 
for the record, I don't think it's genetic (and if it is, the trait is recessive)...just ask my dad (who can just barely stand Ollie, even though I am convinced he is quite simply the greatest dog in the world.)

For me it's definitely genetic.  As far back in my family as I can remember there have been dogs.  I love their relative simple communication, they feed my soul & make me want to be a better person.   There's so much about relationships & life in general that you can learn from dogs if you really listen & watch.

You'd be amazed to learn what kind of odd things are genetic. I saw a documentary series on twins, once. Identical twins are genetic clones. They had identical twins that developed a big pimple in the exact same spot on their faces at the same time during puberty! And one set of identical twins was seperated when young. When they found each other as adults, they discovered that they'd worked for the same companies, but in different cities, had married or been with men with the same names in THE SAME SEQUENCE, and generally had so many freaky parallels in their lives that it totally blew me away. Way too many for coincidence. Weeeeeird.

I would love to see a psychologist work a question (or many questions) about pets into one of those twins studies.  I would also like to see brain imaging research done to see if the brains of dog people react differently from those of non-dog people when they see images of dogs, puppies, or other animals.

I know that humans can get a release of oxytocin in their brains when they see a puppy, similar to the oxytocin release when they see their or other people's babies.  Maybe dog people get more of a release when they see puppies than non-dog people.  There is another study that someone could do.

Yeah, that would be interesting. I believe we're so geared to find human baby features such as large eyes and a round head stimulating that we get the same or a similar level of stimulation from seeing those features in other animals. I know some hard core animal lovers that find the most ridiculous animals cute. I'm probably one of them. Just today I was squeeing over a giant orange carp gulping its mouth above the water looking for food. I wasn't always that bad, but the more my love of animals has developed over recent years, the more I find the most mundane things to be utterly adorable. Oh look, my rabbit is cleaning her face! So cute! Ohmygosh, that bird is PREENING! Eeeek! That little crab is blowing bubbles at me!

I realise I say the word 'cute' about a thousand times a day when I'm in the field, at everything from a cold, slimy frog just sitting on a leaf to a fluffy, baby mammal bouncing around. But I just don't know enough words that refer to that feeling of warm delight and flush of honour at having been so lucky to see what I've just seen. Yes, I'm crazy.

I think because dogs are social, pack animals they are very similar to us. The fact that my Lab is always glad to see me gives me a tremendous amount of joy. Dogs take attention well and give love unconditionally. Their intelligence, loyalty, companionship all contribute to making them unlike any other animal. You can own a pet but you love a dog.