What’s the deal with all these young, single Charlotteans foregoing freedom by adopting dogs?

I’ve got nothing against dogs, although Brett Isaacson’s pet Dachshund did take a chunk out of my right calf in third grade and I may or may not be scarred (physically and emotionally).

I see young people with dogs everywhere in Charlotte. Dogs at Sycamore. Dogs at Romare Bearden Park. Dogs at Flying Biscuit. And now we’ve got savvy entrepreneurs like Lucky Dog Bark and Brew combining the two things that young Charlotte loves the most – dogs and craft beer. It’s a combination as powerful as the Doritos Locos Tacos.

In my opinion, the main pro of having a dog is that it’s a wonderful conversation starter so that you can make friends or meet a possible date.

I’m picturing conversations like this happening all of Charlotte…

“Ahhh, your dog is so cute! What’s your dog’s name?”

“That’s her shoe, stop eating it! I’m so sorry; his name is Charlie. So nice to meet you. Now that we’re talking, are you interested in grabbing dinner at Maverick Rock Taco and then joining my group at Southside and then going to Jeff’s Bucket Shop and then dating forever?”

“Yes. Perfect! Charlie is so cute. I’m so glad you had this dog otherwise we would have never fallen in love because I only would have talked to people in my immediate group.”

Compare that with the cons of having a dog in Charlotte

They cost a surprising amount of money (weekend dog sitting can run $60/night and walks can cost $15/walk), you lose any/all freedom and you’re going to have married people hate you when you go to compare the trials of your dog ownership to their trials of child rearing.

When I share a parenting story like how tired I was during the first three months of my son’s life and a dog-owning co-worker says “Oh yeah, I had to wake up with my puppy and it was brutal…” – my blood pressure spikes.

Young, single Charlotte — perhaps we should slow down on all of this dog love and get a little crazier before we decide to settle down?