I concur with this, I’ve met lots of people taking my dogs for walks too.
I’m single and very likely to remain that way for the rest of my life through choice. I don’t get lonely and never have. It is just the opposite as a matter of fact. The biggest reason I hated being married was that I don’t take well to having people around consistently and especially if I can’t get away from them if I need to. I am not a complete misanthrope but let’s just say that me and the late JD Salinger have some personality traits in common. The only people I enjoy having around are my daughters and even they only come over a few days a week.
As to pets, I love animals in general and dogs in particular but dogs aren’t that far off from a child in terms of responsibility especially when they are young. My father gave my daughters his very young and large Goldendoodle a few months ago with the understanding that I would take care of her when my daughters had to go somewhere. I love her but even that is a little much. I like the option of leaving my house and not coming back for a few days on a whim if I want to but I have to check on her every 4 - 6 hours at the most because she is a handful and even that is stretching it. That kills a lot of the appeal of being single.
My permanent pet (well nominally my daughter’s) is a very sweet Chinchilla. He is perfect for me. He loves to be held but he also won’t get ticked off if I have to leave for a few days or don’t pay attention to him while I am busy. His large cage is always stocked with plenty of food and water to last for a few days. He is always happy to see me and never barks or expects me to wake up a 6 am to take him to pee in the snow. Excellent pet.
I also find the opposite of the OP’s observation to be true. When I was single, I would have loved to have a dog. But alas, I wasn’t home enough, traveled too often, etc. So no dog for me.
Now that my GF lives with me, we got a dog. Sharing the responsibility for it makes it a lot easier, and when I’m on business travel, she’s home with the pup.
Single and lonely? That’s what BOOZE is for.
Condo rules say–no pets.
I have a husband and two cats. They’re all messy. Single and no pets sounds perfect.
As much as I would love a dog, they are expensive, time-consuming, and require a lot more space than I can afford to provide. On top of that, I’m often at work from 8 am until 8 pm, it wouldn’t be fair (or prudent) to keep a dog home alone that long. I like cats well enough, but they have too much of a tendency to destroy tatami and shoji to consider keeping one even if my apartment allowed them.
Am I single? Definitely. Am I lonely sometimes without someone/something around for company? You betcha. Is there much I can really do about it? Not really. I just try to spend time with friends as much as I can.
And if you try to cross that divide from either direction, you’re doing something very very wrong.
I’ve had pets almost literally all my life. There were a couple of years when I was a toddler that we didn’t have a pet, and I didn’t have one with me when I lived in a college dorm, but otherwise I have always had one, and caring for one is just something I do, like shopping for household staples, or doing my laundry.
I think my husband and I really knew we were perfect for each other when we both wanted to take our dogs on our honeymoon. It was a road trip to the Grand Canyon, with some camping, and some hotels, and three dogs. It was so great.
I don’t know, pretty much every girlfriend I ever had liked me to prepare her dinner, rub her back, bring her treats…
Now the other way would be problematic 
I cannot imagine life without my dog…
When I was single, I had Fun.
I tried quite hard to find a way of expressing what I wanted without being open to misinterpretation. There wasn’t one.
We always had a cat or two when I was growing up, and it was always a nice part of visiting home to play with the current herd of critters. I like cats, and they like me. Mom’s last cat, Gracie, would go absolutely nuts for a ping pong ball in a paper grocery bag. When she looked in a playful mood, I’d get out a ball and bag and she would literally tear into it. I probably enjoyed it almost as much as she did.
But it’s a very asymmetric type of interaction. We both got something out of it, but there wasn’t anything like what I’d have with a person, sharing of thoughts and ideas.
That’s what I was trying to get at. A cat wouldn’t supplant any of the desire for a girlfriend; at best it would just distract from it.
I’ve never been married and I’ve always had dogs. I work 8-5 and they have a dog door. I go on vacation, they go to camp (boarding). I wonder about people that don’t have pets and never talk out loud while at home.
I can’t imagine life without a pet.
Cat-in-laws?
Girlfriends or in extreme cases, wives, make the most terrible pets of all. They are incredibly expensive and most won’t even sit on command like a Golden Retriever will. The ones these days even balk at bringing you your slippers. Dogs can be demanding but at least they love you unconditionally and only live 12 - 15 years or so.
My apartment complex is swarming with 20-something unmarried females who have these giant dogs to serve as their surrogate child.
It’s pathetic.
Not to mention the day when one of these girls can’t control her giant attack dog and it tries to tear my throat off.
Pathetic.
If one can’t find harmony in his or her own company then a pet is a transparent band-aid on a sad human being.
Maybe they just like the dogs better than the men available. I can understand that, I have owned attack type dogs for most of my life and I love them for the same reason they probably do - they are really smart and trainable. The dogs aren’t going to bite your throat unless you try to assault their master (alpha).
Look up the dog bite statistics sometime. The dogs most likely to inflict a minor bite are the small, yappy ones. If all the women are walking around with Pit Bulls for protection, you probably live in a bad neighborhood. They were once known as ‘Nanny Dogs’ because they are instinctively protective of small children unless they are abused and trained to fight other dogs. German Shepherds and Dobermans can be used as law enforcement dogs but they are extremely smart and nothing to worry about unless you are doing something wrong. If they are other large breeds, you are just imagining things.
If one of the come up to you, just let them smell the back of your hand. The steps that you need to take to avoid an attack by a feral dog are straightforward. You just turn, face them directly and slap them if you need to. One that is well cared for might jump on you but it isn’t going to bite your throat.
Step-cats.
30 year old single guy here with no pets. I grew up with both indoor and outdoor animals and love animals. However, I don’t really want one right now. I enjoy the freedom of being able to come home whenever I want. Somebody at happy hour has tickets to some event? Sure, I’ll go! I don’t have to worry about my dog who needs to go for a walk. There is also never fur or animal mystery fluid on any of my possessions. As far as loneliness, that’s what friends are for. I’m probably out with other people doing something 3-5 nights/week.