Page No.

Mahin Sindhwani

English 1110

Section 082

Prof. D. Baird.

20 June 2023

Expository Essay

591

Dogs in Public Spaces

In Farhad Manjoo’s “No, I Do Not Want to Pet Your Dog”, the author confronts how dogs have

taken over places that would normally be occupied by humans and how their presence in such places can

potentially be dangerous. He talks about how there is a new social construct that everyone loves dogs,

which disregards the people who might just not like dogs. The author also contrasts the behaviour of dog

owners with his own approach as a parent towards his son by explaining how he ensures appropriate

behaviour and apologises for any disturbances caused, unlike some dog owners.

In the beginning, Manjoo recounts his uncomfortable experience at the gym, where he encounters a

Doberman. He expresses his discomfort when the dog approaches him and how he was “expected to pet

him” (Manjoo 224). He questions how a dog was allowed in a place reserved for humans and how being

there with free weights could be a distraction and potentially dangerous. But everyone else in the gym was

unbothered by the dog’s presence like it was the most normal thing in the world (Manjoo 224). This

highlights the issue of assuming that everyone loves dogs without any regard for individual preferences.
 Page No.2

Manjoo explains how “Sometime in the last decade, dogs achieved dominion over urban America.”

(Manjoo 225). He talks about how dogs are allowed everywhere, even in places exclusively for humans,

and places in which dogs are expected to belong, they are allowed to roam free without supervision. The

author explains how there is now a “cultural assumption that everyone must love dogs” (Manjoo 225), but

some owners cannot understand the fact that having their pet dogs roaming around is not liked by

everyone. Manjoo gives an example of an office place, and someone brings their dog. If the dog goes

around the office and distracts people or does some other “annoying things” (Manjoo 225) the owner

would not even, try to apologise for their dog as being a dog it’s expected that it will come around and play

with people around it.

The author then talks about how dog owners do not understand that having a dog interact with

strangers could lead to injuries, but they can only see the good in them and they instead would just say,

“Don’t worry, he loves people!” (Manjoo 226). He explains that dog bites are more common than choking,

fall injuries, or home fires and “1000 Americans a day go to emergency rooms because of dog bites.”

(Manjoo 226). The author then tries to contrast the behaviour of dog owners with himself as a parent. He

says that his two-and-a-half-year-old son does things that are not considered socially acceptable behaviour,

but Manjoo still loves his son unconditionally and finds his antics cute, just like a dog owner would feel for

their dog. But despite all this Manjoo knows that his son would be a bother to other people so he tries to

quite him down and apologise on his behalf and that there are some places where he would not take his

son, like restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, and offices.

In “No, I Do Not Want to Pet Your Dog”, Farhad Manjoo raises questions about how dogs have

been allowed in places and allowed to roam free where they do not belong. He explains how it could be

disliked by a certain group of people and potentially be dangerous, by using his own personal experience

and using examples that highlight the disregard for non-dog lovers’ preferences and comfort.
 Page No.3

Work Cited

Manjoo, Farhad. “No, I Do Not Want to Pet Your Dog”. Patterns for College Writing: A

Rhetorical Reader and Guide with 2016 MLA Update. 13th ed., Edited by Laurie G.

Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp.

224-227. Baird, David, Critical Reading and Writing in Rhetoric, Memorial U, 12 May

2020, https://online.mun.ca/content/enforced/415305-

88533.202003/Pet%20Dog.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=Opd6eHA9OexRvpcRvwroFPBJT&o

u=415305. Accessed 20 June 2023.