Find yourself checking your smartphone calendar to see if your pooch has any play dates this week? Does the mention of the Superbowl remind you that you have a Puppybowl party and you rush off to make sure you have enough doggie treats? Do you find yourself perusing multiple dog fashion catalogs trying to decide what outfits you and your furry friend will be wearing on Easter? If these things sound familiar to you, then you might be a dog nerd. Peruse this list just to make sure and take heart if you are — your four-legged friend is living their best life if you are.
You might be a dog nerd If you know how many recognized dog breeds there are
According to the World Canine Organization, there are approximately 340 recognized breeds. Bringing it closer to home, the American Kennel Club, or AKC, recognizes 167 breeds.
But hey, if you know a Goldendoodle from a Labradoodle or the difference between a Border Collie and a Rough Collie on sight and can give a detailed description of their characteristics. You just might be a dog nerd.
You have an app to keep up with your dog
Nothing’s too good for Fido. In this age of smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, it is no surprise that there are apps to help you keep on top of taking care of your dog.
Barkily allows you to enter your dog’s birthday information and share it with his play dates. It also allows you to select a veterinarian of record from a list, or you can input your vet’s information manually. You can, in some instances, book appointments with your vet through the app. No more hunting around looking for immunization records — there is a place to store all that information on the app. You can also store information such as temperament traits and other pertinent information on your four-legged friend.
Another app you will want to look at is called Tractive, and it’s a dog locating app. Similar to the apps we use for keeping track of our runs and walks, this one keeps track of our walks with our four-legged friends. It can also locate your dog in real-time and establish a perimeter that will set off an alert to you if your dog crosses the preset threshold. You can upload their pics, and you can take photos while walking and include them on the walk for that day. It has GPS functionality built in, so you can track where and how long you walked as well as the actual distance.
If you have had to make space for your dogs’ outfits
If you find yourself at Target looking at the storage drawer units and storage bins and wondering if your furry friends’ togs will fit neatly while coordinating the colors in your bedroom you may be tending towards canine nerd-dom.
If you are planning a move and have to figure out how you are going to move your dog’s clothes closet and clothes and the packing boxes required to move Fido’s clothes are equal to your bedroom closet — you more than likely have embraced your inner dog — nerd.
When your furry friend has more jackets than you do and is mostly on padded hangers it is pretty safe to say that your dog nerd is in full effect.
You may, however, take comfort in making sure that your furry friend properly represents their local sports teams which may mitigate this one slightly. However, if there is a separate closet just for sports gear and your dog is not Ms. Revellie then, Houston we may have a problem.
If 80% of your social media footprint is pics of your dog
If it takes more than five minutes of looking to find an actual picture of you, selfie or otherwise that does not have your furry friend somewhere in the background or foreground — you either need a refresher photography lesson, or you may indeed be a dog nerd.
If there are only two albums on your Facebook account and one is a dog and the other are dog quotes — being expressive is wonderful, inspirational quotes notwithstanding, can really motivate and get you through the day. If you find that more often than not your quotes are canine-themed or are based on a canine component, then it is more than likely you are on the fast-track to becoming a dog nerd.
If you find yourself posting to say, Instagram and not even remembering what the pic was for or where it was taken, but just look at it and go “Aww such a stinkin’ cutie” and wind up posting it with the hashtag #doggie , and you find yourself doing this repeatedly then wear your dog nerd shirt proudly — you have earned it.
If you refuse to go anywhere your dog is not allowed in
While some places have opened spaces up to allow people to bring their dogs in a social situation, most places still will not allow you to bring your furry friend with you. The airlines are even cracking down on people traveling with puppies and emotional support animals.
However, if a day in your life looks an awful lot like this clip, then…well. Extra bonus point if you know where this clip comes from.
“A man will walk right into hell with both eyes open, but even the devil can’t fool a dog.”
If someone asks you about sports,
During conversations in social settings, if you happen to launch into a rant about how you were entered into a dog rally show and that there was this cute labradoodle that distracted your dog and caused him to score lower than you anticipated, that is a red flag. Similarly, if the person or persons you are talking to starts to get a glazed look as they have gone into a hypnotic state — congrats you have either inadvertently hypnotized them or, you are in full dog nerd mode and they have burnt a fuse trying to follow your conversation.
Socially, you inform your friends that your weekends are all tied up because you are in training for a search and rescue competition title — understandably. If your friends look at you like you are speaking a foreign language or worse refuse to attend the next event with you — then surely dog nerd-dom has set in.
In traditional social situations, sports bar, night club, or other favorite hangouts, if you are asked what your favorite sport is your reply is agility as opposed to say, football, or hockey — well these are definitely tell-tale signs that you might be a dog nerd.
Sounds like Greek? Head on over to the AKC — American Kennel Club for the 411 on performance sports and dogs. You will find everything you need to know from rules and regs to upcoming events and if you want to take it a step further and get your own pooch involved. Details are there on how to do so.
Agility might actually be the best of both worlds as you AND your dog get a workout.
If your dog’s boots cost more than yours
The concept of dog booties comes from those of our furry friends who reside in very cold parts of the earth with a lot of snow. They are commonly used to protect the dog from below 25-degree temperatures. They are also used to protect their pads from extremely rough and rocky terrain. So, their original intent is protection.
Hard to argue that though when they are making UGG boots for dogs.
If you and your dog’s outfit need to coordinate even in cosplay
It was only a matter of time given the excitement and growing popularity of cosplay, that the dogs would get in on it. The idea of having dogs that wear outfits and clothes has been around long enough that niches would start to emerge and hence now the cosplay dog.
Most convention centers are not yet allowing furry friends indoors just yet, but most will meet up with other cosplayers outside the venue where fun and games and shenanigans are soon to follow.
Heading out to the conventions this year you may want to keep your eyes open for Kiba the Corgi and his devoted owner Nicole. Kiba is a Pembroke Corgi and like most superheroes, Kiba exists in extended duality in that he is a service dog who when time and circumstances permit also engages in cosplay. Kiba has been doing cosplay for about 5 years and has been a service dog for his owner Nicole for about six years. Nicole and Kiba have done everything from Overwatch to Naruto, Super Mario, and Zelda. They get invited as guests to cons so be on the lookout for them. You can catch up on the latest with Kiba on Instagram or Twitter at: @CosplayCorgi
So, are you a dog nerd?