Dogfishing
What does Dogfishing mean?
Dogfishing is dating slang for using a dog in profile photos or social situations to appear more attractive or approachable, especially when the dog is borrowed or presented in a misleading way.
Dogfishing used in a sentence
“His best dating-app picture featured his roommate's dog, which his friends jokingly called dogfishing.”
This example shows the term in context rather than treating the definition as a literal word-for-word substitution. Slang often depends on tone, audience, and the conversation around it.
How do you use Dogfishing?
A person can dogfish by posing with their own dog because they know it improves their profile, but the deceptive version is more obvious when the dog belongs to someone else and the profile lets viewers assume otherwise. Simply being a genuine dog owner who posts a pet is not inherently deceptive. The term plays on catfishing while focusing on attraction-enhancing pet imagery rather than a completely fabricated identity.
Where did Dogfishing come from?
Dogfishing entered dating-media vocabulary around 2019 and has been tracked by Merriam-Webster as a word in increasing use. Psychology Today revisited the term in 2025, including both online profile photos and in-person use of dogs to attract potential dates. It remains relevant in 2026 because pet photos are a durable feature of app-based dating.
Common variations of Dogfishing
Dogfish
A verb or noun form for using a dog as dating bait.
Dogfishing profile
A dating profile that strategically features a dog to attract matches.
Petfishing
A broader informal extension that can refer to using pets as attraction bait.
Dogfishing: frequently asked questions
What does dogfishing mean in dating?
It means using a dog to make yourself look more appealing to potential dates, especially if the dog is not actually yours.
Is posting your own dog dogfishing?
It can be strategic, but it is much less deceptive when the profile accurately represents that the dog is yours.
How is dogfishing different from catfishing?
Catfishing usually involves a false identity, while dogfishing uses a dog as misleading or strategic attraction bait.
When did dogfishing become a dating term?
It was receiving mainstream dictionary and dating-media attention by 2019.