Jonathan Mead, here's what I like about your article:
-it's got a great hook. Any good article has a touch of the "Huh, what???!" to it that gets us reading. We then realize that you mean something the direct opposite of what you seem to be saying.
-you make great points. I think the one about reward vs. punishment is very, very true. We often, especially when in a relationship for a while, tend to take the positive for granted.
-the way you remind us that a human relationship is one that goes deeper than behaviors, deeper than "why don't you wash the dishes" or "why don't you take me out more" (can you tell I'm a woman? lol) and making that into an analogy of man and dog, only because the relationship between a man (using that broadly, I'm a woman after all) and a dog is nothing more than emotional.
Here's what bothers me:
-purely grammatical: you write in the beginning (and this is copied and pasted): "This advice might sound a little usual, but just go with me for a second." I'm assuming you mean UNusual. The funny thing is, most people will read it as such only because that's what they expect, but still.
-uh, well, what I praised you for above. That is, equating our everyday human relationships with those we have with animals. On the one hand, it brings it down to what it really is. On the other, however, it doesn't work and leaves me feeling a bit...put off. Animals are not our peers. As a pet, a dog is more like a child than a lover. I know I praised the "reward" thing above, and that is great, but at the same time, partners are not someone we have authority over to "reward" or "praise." Ideally, anyway. The whole analogy gives a weird master/submissive quality to relationships that is unsettling. In our relationships this exists, but it's very fluid, and not constant. Also, we shouldn't have to "train" our partners. That means you're in a bad relationship.
Overall, I think it's a good article. I would stick in some things at the end, such as why you can't take the man-dog to man-woman (or woman-man) analogy too far, and what its shortcomings are. If you did that, my experience with the article would be:
"WHAT??? Let's read further."
"Oh...he's not a dick. He's writing about love and acceptance of your partner. Awesome."
"Wow. He's right. I love how transferring love to love of an animal shows what's really important in a relationship."
"Wait a minute...this is a little weird. My partner isn't a dog, he isn't submissive to me. Nor me to him."
"OH...cool. He addresses that and shows the values and shortcomings of his analogy. I love this guy. How insightful. I'm going to go cook a romantic meal for my hubby because he is so wonderful to me. And he took out the trash before I asked him to."
Hope that helps.
