Talk about putting a guy in the dog house.
Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion about the “golden retriever boyfriend” ― a friendly, enthusiastic and supportive romantic partner who doesn’t overthink things too much.
Though the concept has been around for a few years, it’s been getting increased attention due to Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs player a lot of people think embodies the GRB type.
Now, a controversial tweet has people riffing (or should we say ruff-ing?) on the idea of boyfriends and husbands as different dog breeds.
A viral screenshot from TikToker VivianKKJ showed a shirtless man overlaid with the words, “I don’t have a golden retriever husband, I have a German [shepherd] husband. He’s not energetic or super friendly but he’s loyal. He doesn’t like strangers and he calls me on my bullshit.”
The image also listed other supposed German shepherd husband traits, including “would bite anyone who tried to hurt me,” providing “tough love,” and “loving his ‘people’ more than anything.”
On Wednesday, podcaster Josh Lekach tweeted the image and added his own questionable take, claiming that this kind of man is what “ALL women” want, provided they “aren’t on birth control.” (Some studies have suggested hormonal birth control can influence who women find attractive, though other research has called those findings into question.)
The image and tweet were not especially accurate about actual German shepherds, let alone what “ALL” women want. But they did inspire some pretty funny responses.
Some chimed in with their thoughts on what a “German shepherd husband” might really be like.
X, formerly Twitter, was also rife with people pointing out the absurdity of the entire concept by exploring what other dog breeds might look like as “husbands.”
And finally, a few self-aware souls identified their own personalities as dog breeds.