Too Many People Own Dogs
If you love dogs, maybe don’t get one.
Updated at 8:50 a.m. ET on October 24, 2023.
Marcia Munt was 47 when she adopted her first dog. It was 2020, the height of the pandemic, and her house felt empty. Maisie was a nine-week-old bundle of cream-colored fur and lopsided ears. But Munt, a consultant in Sacramento, soon became convinced that the dog was not normal. Maisie howled at any stimulus. She paced all night and pounced on anyone who came to the house. Munt, who had only ever owned cats, tried everything she could think of, including training, exercise, and “enrichment toys,” but it didn’t take. She couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to have a dog. “I had been the best dog mother I
