Dogs are not only a ‘man’s best friend’ – they make the best pet friends for girls too according to a survey conducted by the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort.
The survey, marking the opening of a new LEGO® Friends area, Heartlake City, explores youngsters’ friendships with their pets, with nearly two thirds of pet owning girls (aged 6-12)* agreeing that dogs make the best animal friends.
Around one in six of the 1000 girls polled agreed that their pets were better friends to them than people, with one in 10 stating that if they could choose just one friend it would be their pet, and over a quarter saying they loved their furry friends as much as their siblings.
Additionally, nine out of 10 scored their furry friends higher than their human ‘besties’ against some of the friendship values they considered most important, with:
· over 40% agreeing that their pets were better than people at ‘cheering them up’ and ‘keeping them company’
· around a third rating their animals as ‘more loyal’, increasing to 40% amongst dog owners
· half of rabbit owners scoring their bunnies better at ‘keeping them company’ than their human chums
· one in three saying pets were better listeners than people and less likely to be ‘mean’ to them
Geographically, Scotland and Wales appear to be home to the most dedicated young dog lovers. Eighty per cent of girls in Wales chose canines as the ultimate BFF as did three quarters of Scottish girls and nine out of 10 of those polled in Edinburgh.
Elsewhere cats were more popular in the east of England where nearly a third of respondents put feline friendships first, while Liverpudlian girls put rabbits ahead of cats as their number one furry friends.
