--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When what you want is a relationship, and…" description: "\"When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.\" — Deb Caletti" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png" --- # When what you want is a relationship, and not a person… ![“When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.” quote by Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png) > “When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.” [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prioritizing a relationship over an individual can lead to seeking companionship with a pet, like a dog. **In simple terms:** Seek companionship beyond people. Key Takeaway Consider pet companionship. Themes relationships loneliness companionship Mood empathetic reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - single life - elderly care - mental health - pet adoption Key Concepts psychology attachment theory animal welfare Questions to Reflect On - When is a pet appropriate? - How does a dog fulfill relational needs? A Different Perspective Pets cannot replace human intimacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Companionship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companionship/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) [What you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-you-want/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to be in a relationship with one person then why should every body else's opinion's matter?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambri-bright/if-you-want-to-be-in-a-relationship-with-one-person-then-why-should/) [Ambri Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambri-bright/) > [I think people have some control over what they want; there's a relationship - maybe not automatic - between what you want and get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-waterston/i-think-people-have-some-control-over-what-they-want-there-s-a/) [Sam Waterston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-waterston/) > [I saw a bumper sticker once that stayed with me: 'God help me become the person my dog thinks I am.' I don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macdonald/i-saw-a-bumper-sticker-once-that-stayed-with-me-god-help-me-become/) [Neil Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macdonald/) > [When the dog looks at you, the dog is not thinking what kind of a person you are. The dog is not judging you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-the-dog-looks-at-you-the-dog-is-not-thinking-what-kind-of-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Lord, help me be the person my dog thinks I am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lord-help-me-be-the-person-my-dog-thinks-i-am/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, big or small, young or old. He doesn't care if you're not smart, not popular,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-sabin/a-dog-doesn-t-care-if-you-re-rich-or-poor-big-or-small-young-or-old/) [Louis Sabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-sabin/) > [I'm a cat person, I'm a dog person, I work in wildlife rescue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ostrosky-stern/i-m-a-cat-person-i-m-a-dog-person-i-work-in-wildlife-rescue/) [Beth Ostrosky Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ostrosky-stern/) > [I am a pet person. My dog actually lives in Georgia now. But I work with animal trainers and pets quite often. I also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-stoner/i-am-a-pet-person-my-dog-actually-lives-in-georgia-now-but-i-work/) [Alyson Stoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-stoner/) > [Be the person your dog thinks you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-stephens/be-the-person-your-dog-thinks-you-are/) John W. Stephens > [I'm not a morning person. Or an afternoon person. I'm not a person. I'm a dog who took this phone out of a guy's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/i-m-not-a-morning-person-or-an-afternoon-person-i-m-not-a-person-i-m/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The loneliest, most down-on-his-luck person can have a dog who adores him. The most bitter, sour person can light up with joy when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-bruce-cameron/the-loneliest-most-down-on-his-luck-person-can-have-a-dog-who-adores/) [W. Bruce Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-bruce-cameron/) > [“My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dunn/my-goal-in-life-is-to-be-the-kind-of-person-my-dog-thinks-i-am/) Paul Dunn > [I want to be the kind of person that my dog thinks I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-to-be-the-kind-of-person-that-my-dog-thinks-i-am/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I could be half the person my dog is, I'd be twice the human I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/if-i-could-be-half-the-person-my-dog-is-i-d-be-twice-the-human-i-am/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [I'm a pretty boring person. I have a dog that I love, and friends that I love, and a family that I love. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/i-m-a-pretty-boring-person-i-have-a-dog-that-i-love-and-friends-that/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) ## More by Deb Caletti > [“More, much more, will happen after this. Things involving maps and books and true love and tragedy, tragedy like you wouldn't believe. But fine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/more-much-more-will-happen-after-this-things-involving-maps-and-books/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“Hannah and Kayla are talking without saying anything. Their conversation goes like this: Hannah: Uh-huh. Kayla: It was like, ugh! Hannah: I know. Kayla:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/hannah-and-kayla-are-talking-without-saying-anything-their/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [Another person is, at the heart of it, unknowable. And if you cannot know a person enough to always guess what they’re capable of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/another-person-is-at-the-heart-of-it-unknowable-and-if-you-cannot/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/that-s-what-people-do-who-love-you-they-put-their-arms-around-you-and/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [If fate is a shape-shifter, then loves is too. It can be, anyway, in its most dangerous form. It´s your best day and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/if-fate-is-a-shape-shifter-then-loves-is-too-it-can-be-anyway-in-its/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [If you don't participate, you're just taking up oxygen. (Bunny) Life is a banquet. Approach it with hunger. (Chuck)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/if-you-don-t-participate-you-re-just-taking-up-oxygen-bunny-life-is-a/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“You wanted more from people sometimes. And sometimes,you wanted more from yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/you-wanted-more-from-people-sometimes-and-sometimes-you-wanted-more/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [Because that’s how it works after something terrible has happened. You know this is true if something terrible has ever happened to you. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/because-that-s-how-it-works-after-something-terrible-has-happened-you/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“Good guy. There was efficiency to male language. Those two words were what guys said about other guys that they really respected. Guys they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/good-guy-there-was-efficiency-to-male-language-those-two-words-were/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“In a world of insanity, nothing is sacred. It's an insane world, nothing is sacred.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/in-a-world-of-insanity-nothing-is-sacred-it-s-an-insane-world-nothing/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“And because he was nice in the beginning did not mean he was a good man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/and-because-he-was-nice-in-the-beginning-did-not-mean-he-was-a-good/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“I like those very realistic paintings that look like photographs, or novels that are so much like actual life that you feel understood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/i-like-those-very-realistic-paintings-that-look-like-photographs-or/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [This is what happens when nice people are pushed too far. We give too many chances, and so when we've finally had enough, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/this-is-what-happens-when-nice-people-are-pushed-too-far-we-give-too/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“I confess I had a Child of Divorce Reunion Fantasy Number One Thousand, where I for a moment imagined my father finding out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/i-confess-i-had-a-child-of-divorce-reunion-fantasy-number-one/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [so what brings you to the doctor today?" "hmm, im afraid i have the chronic desire to save people" "i know about that. i've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/so-what-brings-you-to-the-doctor-today-hmm-im-afraid-i-have-the/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) [Explore all 404 Deb Caletti quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Deb Caletti" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and-not-a-person-get-a-dog/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and-not-a-person-get-a-dog/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/deb-caletti-697_animal_when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and_465935.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.” — Deb Caletti", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Deb Caletti", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When what you want is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and-not-a-person-get-a-dog/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/when-what-you-want-is-a-relationship-and-not-a-person-get-a-dog/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```