Being a dog person is in my DNA (apparently)

For 95 per cent of my life I was absolutely not a dog person. In fact, for 90 per cent of my life I was anti-dog.

I didn’t mind dogs from a distance, but hated them being anywhere near me – if a dog jumped up at me, I would bounce back in fear.

Dogs may have been “man’s best friend”, but they were my worst enemies (or second to worst if you count mosquitoes).

Things started to change when I had my first baby. I didn’t want to pass on my slight dog phobia, so when we saw dogs in the park I would point them out to her with feigned enthusiasm.

I might have overdone it though – by the time she was a toddler, my daughter was utterly obsessed with dogs.

As it turns out, my daughter’s dog loving nature might have had less to do with me pointing out dogs and more to do with her DNA. A new British/Swedish study published in the Scientific Reports journal suggests that having a propensity for dogs could be hard-wired in our genes.

Find out how Ian and Vanessa live rent and mortgage free on Somewhere Else:

The researchers compared the genetic makeup of 35,035 pairs of twins by using data from the Swedish Twin Registry.

While identical twins share their entire genome, non-identical twins only share approximately half their genome. This makes it possible for scientists to compare the impact of environment versus genetics.

The study found that if one half of identical twins owned a dog, both were more likely to be dog owners – a finding the scientists attributed to their shared genome. Conversely, when it comes to non-identical twins, they are much less likely to both own dogs.

As my daughter got older, her dog obsession grew. She loved playing with the dogs in our friendship circle and happily stuck her hand up to do dog-related jobs – even picking up poo.

When the opportunity to dog-sit Frankie, a friends’ dog, came up, I accepted the challenge. What was good for my daughter was surely good for me too.

And so my transition to certified dog person began. I absolutely loved having Frankie stay. Nobody was more surprised than me.

Having a taste of dog ownership helped me get over my dog aversion and allowed me to see the many benefits of having a furry mate around the house.

The biggest factor was the company. I work from home and spend large chucks of time alone.

But with Frankie around I stopped feeling lonely. She also got me out the house more – the need to walk her twice a day forced me into the fresh air regardless of my workload.

But was I ready to become a dog owner? Although I was on board with the pros of having a four-legged friend I still harboured some cons – would my house start smelling like dog?

Would my clothes be covered in dog hair? Would I start having long and involved one-sided conversations with my canine buddy in a high-pitched baby voice?

In the end, with a bit of help from a very persuasive nine-year-old, the pro list won.

We adopted Ziggy from Wally’s Rescue 12 weeks ago. It took me a few days to bond with him, but then there was a rush of affection and my fears about whether we were doing the right thing melted away. Ziggy had become a member of our family.

Of course there have been challenges. He has chewed the stuffing out of pillows, hidden our runners, dug up the garden and had a few toileting accidents too. It’s all part of the learning curve.

All the cons about dog ownership came true – my house does smell a bit doggy and my clothes are covered in fur. And as for the baby voice – guilty.

Surprisingly, I don’t care. It turns out that I am a dog person after all – maybe it really is in my DNA.