# Why must we perpetually ask dogs who's a good boy/girl? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288 "2020-05-22T14:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/41 "2020-05-24T08:13:16Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > At least someone out there is also [interrogating their cats](https://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/cn-news-investigative-report-whos-a-good-boy/) as to their goodness Thanks, I needed to kill several hours. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/42 "2020-05-24T16:31:54Z")
> [@Bonnie14](#): > > I don’t ask my rescue dog “who’s a good girl” I tell her she’s a “good girl”. I think she needed to hear it. She had some bad habits when I got her. Positive reinforcement with praise helped out. Our latest rescue came from a stable situation (well, until things changed and he ended up in rescue), so he didn’t have many bad habits. But I think he must have a yard to do his business in, because I don’t think he was walked outside much at all. I’ve been curb training him, and every time I say “Stay” and he stops, I tell him what a good boy he is. I can see in his body language how it affects him. He gets a little extra wiggle in his step. And he’s very good now at stopping at curbs. I’m a huge supporter of positive reinforcement. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/43 "2020-05-24T16:39:43Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Most dogs will sell you out for a hamburger. You’re confusing dogs with a certain segment of the human population. Dogs have risked their lives – and sometimes sacrificed their lives – for their humans. The only part of that that is true is that they do love hamburgers. When I had my Bernese, any trip to McDonald’s always included a kid’s cheeseburger, without the pickle. I would hold it in my hand while he took great big chomping bites out of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/44 "2020-05-24T16:51:57Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You’re confusing dogs with a certain segment of the human population. Dogs have risked their lives – and sometimes sacrificed their lives – for their humans. > > The only part of that that is true is that they do love hamburgers. When I had my Bernese, any trip to McDonald’s always included a kid’s cheeseburger, without the pickle. I would hold it in my hand while he took great big chomping bites out of it. 🙂 I grew up on a farm and let me assure you 99% of animals will sell you out for food. We like to anthropomorphize our pets and think “my dog would never do that,” but they are still animals first. As for why we ask “who’s a good boy” is we want to reward the dog or have the dog like us. Asking a dog that question in a certain voice is going to result in the animal showing “me, I’m good” response then we can pet it, praise it or feed it. Which is the behavior WE want to project on the animal. You notice we don’t ask, “Have you been bad?” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/45 "2020-05-24T17:15:20Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > I grew up on a farm and let me assure you 99% of animals will sell you out for food. > > We like to anthropomorphize our pets and think “my dog would never do that,” but they are still animals first. “They”? So are we. “x” would never do that reminds me of Charles Dickens’ comment about news reports that there was evidence that surviving members of the doomed 19th century Franklin Arctic expedition had ultimately engaged in cannibalism. He opined (paraphrasing) that no English gentleman would be capable of such monstrosity. We are all animals, but the key point here is that the bond of attachment and loyalty between people and dogs is, in my view, unparalleled in the relationship between any other two different species. This is a behavioral and psychological fact that is independent of our natural tendency to anthropomorphize and project our own emotions. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/46 "2020-05-24T20:33:29Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You’re confusing dogs with a certain segment of the human population. Dogs have risked their lives – and sometimes sacrificed their lives – for their humans. > > The only part of that that is true is that they do love hamburgers. When I had my Bernese, any trip to McDonald’s always included a kid’s cheeseburger, without the pickle. I would hold it in my hand while he took great big chomping bites out of it. 🙂 The In-n-Out secret menu item is called the Flying Dutchman. It’s just a hamburger patty with a slice of cheese melted on it. It’s what we get for our dog(s). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/47 "2020-05-24T21:00:57Z")
While we’re on the topic, when/where did dogs learn to whine like a little baby to their owner in order to get something they want or avoid something unpleasant like a bath? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/48 "2020-05-25T02:58:59Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Most dogs will sell you out for a hamburger. I was idly thinking today about the meme that dogs love their people only because they are a source of food. Mrs. J. has probably served 90-95% of all the meals our dogs have received. If food was what overwhelmingly mattered, they’d have showered her with 15 times the affection. And yet they’ve bonded with us equally. But we don’t leave hamburgers on the kitchen counter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/49 "2020-05-26T15:53:28Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > You notice we don’t ask, “Have you been bad?” You don’t have my dogs:D ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/50 "2020-05-26T19:37:11Z")
The question isn’t why we praise dogs to their faces. It’s why we put it in the form of a question. The obvious answer is that we all think our dogs look like Alex Trebek. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/51 "2020-05-26T19:59:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think the way Family Guy semi-anthropomorphizes Brian the dog is utterly brilliant. Most of the time and in most ways he acts completely like a human, and is treated like a human. But then there are just a few core dog behaviors that randomly crop up, like when he see a squirrel, or when the question of whether he’s “good” arises and he starts getting anxious and his tail wags. (Also when somebody vomits on the floor.) BoJack Horseman handles this even more brilliantly. Mr. Peanutbutter’s “dogginess” is such an inherent part of his character that it bleeds through, and is completely believable (in a world of human-animal hybrids, anyway…) ETA: Dude, _READ THE WHOLE THREAD_. Already covered above! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/52 "2020-05-27T05:55:28Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > I grew up on a farm and let me assure you 99% of animals will sell you out for food. Eh. Years ago we had a pit bull/hound mix and a little street pit bull who would ignore a nowl of dog treats in the coffee table all day while we were at work, but be delighted to be given one by hand. Our current girls, a pit bull and a feist/pit mix, are very interested whenever we eat in the couch using tray tsbles…but when we get up to go to the kitchen, they follow the humans rather than poaching off our tray tables. I think you’re underestimating the pack dynamics. Dogs love food, but they also love receiving food from the pack. It triggers other rewards for them. “I’ve been good, the pack is pleased. We have good hunting grounds. I knew I understood what’s going on!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288.md?page=2)