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PET LOVE: Online dating profile pictures feature as many images of cats and dogs as they do people, revealing how much we love our pets. Discover more in Ben Arogundade’s new book — a mid-lifers guide to online dating.

I UNEXPECTEDLY FOUND myself single at the age of 52, following the sudden break-up of a six-year relationship. When I was last without a partner dating apps did not exist, and everyone met in what is now termed “the old fashioned way”. But everything is different now. This is the age of the apps. Now we are all lined up in a digital shop window, our personalities reduced to an image on a screen.

So I dived into the fray, signing up for popular online dating apps, Bumble, Tinder, Match, happn and Hinge. During my time navigating these choppy waters I was stood up, ghosted, verbally abused, propositioned for sex and asked to be a surrogate father to an unborn child, amongst other things. One of the things that surprised me was how many young single women are totally obsessed with pets. I have never seen so many cute images of online daters cuddling their cats and dogs. I saw as many dogs within online dating profiles as people. I sometimes wondered what these pet-loving women wanted a boyfriend for when their relationships with their pets seemed so intimate and fulfilling. I often felt like I was getting in the way, just be being there. I remember reading one profile in which a woman wrote, “If you don’t love my dog, you can’t love me.” I thought, Really? Why can’t I just like your dog? Why does it have to be love? Many women now view their pets with an equal level of importance as mothers with children. They are an integral part of the household, and if the new boyfriend does not adapt to that, he won’t last. And part of that adaptation may mean taking it for walks, picking up poop and potentially sleeping three-in-a-bed with little Scooby.

One of the things I learned was that if someone really wants to expand their possibilities for finding their match, get serious about loving cats and dogs — there are a whole lot of women who will love you in return.

Get the full list of my top tips in my new book, and learn how to online date better. Good luck!

Available now at Amazon, (£9.99/$12.99)