This was in a r/dogfree sub-Reddit, as a response to "Do you think the current obsession with dogs will decrease?" Unfortunately, their policies ban any discussion of cats.
I'm going to risk being blocked here, but the dog obsession is just the flip side of the cat obsession on the earlier versions of the Internet. /cats Coders like cats because they're low maintenance but high on the companionship scale, they're apartment-friendly, and other reasons. So the 'web was full of cat pictures, cat characters, cat memes...People couldn't get enough of cats! /cats
At the same time, we got dog people stepping up to the plate. People like Carolyn Knapp, who wrote a Recovery Memoir about how having a dog made it all so, so meaningful, as everything about quitting a bad habit is supposed to be. (Look, I've quit crack cocaine, and don't drink that much anymore, but I don't think it's changed me much.) In the world of American Modern Marketing, it was easy to promote the trend, cats may be today, but dogs are cutting edge. Remy Malik's character in Mr. Robot, therefore, wasn't your grandma's coder: instead of pot and stimulants, he craved heroin, and instead of having a cat, he had a dog. This was easier to film, because dogs are, well, easy to train, always moving around, and can act more as a character than other animals.
At which point, corporations learned that there was a lot more they could do with dogs, perhaps more than any other animal. To wit: dogs are social creatures. You can have a rabbit, and other than belonging to a rabbit club and a small circle of friends, no one will know that you have to nibble-proof your lamp cords. However, everyone knows you have a dog: it barks, it needs to be aired, several times a day, and it can and often does, go where you go, to the park, the farmer's market, or to the coffee shop's outdoor tables. Have a dog, and you become the center of attention: everyone wants to pet it, share dog stories, and even those who don't have anything like a dog, will amble over to take a gander.
It becomes part of your kit: something between a living accessory and a close friend, having a dog means that you not only need a collar, feeding bowls, and a bed, but a leash, poop bags, a holder for the poop bags, a nice little coat for cold days...and that's just the stuff you need on a walk! At home, you need grooming supplies, sanitary pads for Madame, wee-wee pads (just in case you can't get home in time), a den-sized crate, and so on. Problem dog? Well, you're going to have to have specialist help, and of course, special gear....
It's been a marketing bonanza. Dogs! Dogs! Dogs! Doggos! Dogs as therapy! Pupperinos! Dogs in offices! Dog-friendly businesses! The Dog Makes The Sale! Fur-babies! Dog bakeries and restaurants! "If you don't like dogs, you just never found the right one!" We all know the score.
But I'm thinking that we've come into Peak Dog, the way we did Peak Cat. People are beginning to talk about "COVID dogs" -- the dogs everyone bought --athem, "rescued" -- during the lockdown -- that people started to realize defecated 2 - 5 times a day, needed to engage in social marking, couldn't always be left at home, crated or no, couldn't always be taken to the office, and -- have you ever seen a nightclub with a dog valet? There's just so much you can do when you're a single person on a low-level job (or even two people) who has a dog to take care of. Dogs need space: their claws aren't fit for easy climbing, and they don't like leaping from one place to another. They aren't great on furniture, because of the hair and the anal gland thing. Also, most people are just too tired to walk them to the dog park every evening and toss the ball around for two straight hours.
And for what? A live teddy bear? We're closer and closer every year to a true animatronic companion. We can already put together a beast that can cock its head and raise its ears at the same time. Pretty soon, it will be able to pant hot, moist air and put a paw on someone's leg to beg. Imagine! A dog with optional activities! "Oh, we decided it would be a boy dog, so we snapped on the boy parts, and activated the 'humping' module."
Yes, I think it's going to decrease.