Single in the City: It's A Dog Eat Dog World Out There

Date night - back in the game! 

It's official, sometime in the last two years boys have figured out that girls like dogs! I kid you not, after being back in the dating app world over the past three weeks, it seems that every guy on there has at least one picture with a dog? Why? Simply to get that 'right swipe' that our digitally enhanced egos so desperately desire. 

For those of you who are new to the online dating app world: here is a quick breakdown:

1) Choose your app. My personal favorite is something called Bumble, where not only do the men seem to be of a higher attractiveness than on their counterparts (no offence to those on tinder out there but let's just say in the last couple of years the standards seem to have plummeted dramatically), but it also puts your job and uni so its a great way of separating people into categories of yes or no.

2) Once you have picked an app (or several depending on your level of desperateness) it's time to upload your "best" pictures, it still amazes me how people can get this so drastically wrong.  Then try and come up with a one liner that makes you sound fun, intelligent, witty and interesting all at the same time.

3) Let games begin - swipe left if you don't like the look of someone and then right if you do.

If it's a match you can start chatting, and this is why I have chosen Bumble as my primary source because the women have to start he conversation, meaning that if you match with someone accidentally (you jest, but this happened before and led to two unnecessary years of my life) you are still in control and can completely ignore them until bumble deletes them after 24 hours. Dream! 

A sneak peak at my Bumble profile 

Anyway, I have to admit, I could not be less interested in meeting someone new right now, so instead I have fallen into the trap of only swiping right for those who posses a profile pic with a puppy (any cat pics get an immediate look of disgust and a quick left swipe). And then all I need to know before setting up a date is whether or not that dog belongs to them. So I guess boys have figured out the secret formula and it does work (for me anyway). 

In the past three weeks I have been on several dates with very different people, all of who have dogs, and at least a couple of them have made it to round two. It really is like the nursery rhyme tinker, tailor, solider, sailor - you really have no idea what you are going to get. In the past few hours, I matched with a stripper, fireman, lawyer and farmer (and in that order). And it really is just the sort of ego boost one needs, though I'm not going to lie, even with the flattery of someone super liking you and extending their 'match time' with you, nothing beats going out to the bars with your mates and seeing what's actually out there as we all know how deceiving photos can be. 

"Look at me - I have a dog - please swipe right"

Anyway we shall see what happens, I currently have a number of conversations going on with what my grandfather would have called 'eligible young bachelors', and some who are maybe not so eligible! I of course have my own set of game rules, after my last experience I have become somewhat picky and only a select few make it through to the next round. 

And I am just going to put this out there but single suits me!