Why have some ‘gone to the dogs’ for love?
First published in Sight Magazine, 22 August 2025
“She fills a hole in my heart,” said the lady on the bench, as she kissed the super-cute Cavoodle on her lap.
The lady later explained that she lives alone in her beachside mansion, which she inherited. There was a feud and a fallout in the family. Apparently, they don’t visit her and she now treats her dog as family.
‘Hug mummy!’ she mollycoddles her baby.
A faithful companion. PICTURE: Sergii Gnatiuk/iStockphoto
This reminded me of something my mother used to say when she forgot a neighbour’s name: ‘Mother of (insert dog’s name).’
But this is no laughing matter.
Dogs have been associated with depression and loneliness. ‘Black dog’ was coined by Samuel Johnson in 1776 and later popularised by Winston Churchill to describe a dark depression that keeps following you. Hence, Australia’s Black Dog Institute.
The benefits of a canine companion on our mental health are well established. When dogs encourage their owners to go for walks, they become conversation-starters with strangers. Petting a dog releases oxytocin (the love hormone) and lowers cortisol levels (the stress hormone).
Dogs appear to be hard-wired for unconditional love, forgiveness and loyalty that may surpass human temperaments. They are content to lay their head on our feet, as if worshipping at an altar.
A 2023 Groundswell Foundation Report found that more than 25 per cent of Australians are impacted by loneliness. This report recommends that we follow the lead of UK (2018) and Japan (2021) to create a Minister for Loneliness.
In 2025, Australia has the third-highest dog ownership rate in the world after Brazil and USA.
So what’s wrong with this mutual love with a furry friend?
My alarm bells rang while reading expert statements about the function of dogs in our lives:
• “…meet our attachment needs. They can be an ear to talk to, a shoulder to cry on.”
• “…fulfil so many functions for us from family members, empty nester replacement ‘kids’, preventing loneliness…they can be that trusted friend…the reason to stay alive and get out of bed in the morning.”
• “…unwavering love and loyalty…always ready to offer comfort during tough times…if you don’t have a human life-partner.”
This rhetoric of replacement and filling of an emptiness circles back to the lady on the beach bench. Maybe she was honest about the hole in her heart. Maybe she gave up on humans to fill that hole.
This begs the metaphoric question: what is the shape of the hole in the heart today?
It evokes what St Augustine famously wrote: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. When he elaborates on this hole in his heart, he uses language that is now adopted by pet experts: forget my woes, embrace, love, ears, compassion.
Have dogs become the new ‘go-to’ for these Godly attributes?
Indeed, Jesus contrasts the compassion of dogs with the Rich Man in the parable: “At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores” (Luke 16:20-21).
This compassion reappears in the legend of St Roch (c1295-1327), patron saint of dogs. After this Franciscan pilgrim was miraculously curing villagers from the black plague, he contracted it in his leg. But God sent him a hunting dog that brought him food daily and licked his wounds.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that G-O-D is D-O-G spelt backwards. Perhaps this ‘semordnilap’ reminds us that the hole in our heart is the shape of God, but the unconditional love of dogs points us back to the source of Love.