Writing Question: "the dog who" or "the dog that"?

[ATX00]

Silly question, but I was hoping for some input. I know that typically "who" is used for people, and "that" is used for non-people (i.e. The boy who ate a hotdog... vs. The car that I used).

In your essays, which word did you use with animals? I feel like "that" is technically correct, but I also feel like in daily life, animal people (including me) frequently say "who". I know I use "who" referring to my own pets, but I might say "that" about some random deer on the side of the highway.

I think it's a gray area for animals, and probably either way is acceptable, but I was curious how others write. Any thoughts?

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[Packen]

I am almost 100% positive that "who" can only be used for people. I know I use it for my pets too when talking about them, but when writing for school or work, etc. I only use "that" in relation to animals.

Here is a site that describes it:http://www.daniboy.com/blog/?p=110

 

[luplodw]

definitely that

 

[parietal]

Silly question, but I was hoping for some input. I know that typically "who" is used for people, and "that" is used for non-people (i.e. The boy who ate a hotdog... vs. The car that I used).

In your essays, which word did you use with animals? I feel like "that" is technically correct, but I also feel like in daily life, animal people (including me) frequently say "who". I know I use "who" referring to my own pets, but I might say "that" about some random deer on the side of the highway.

I think it's a gray area for animals, and probably either way is acceptable, but I was curious how others write. Any thoughts?

I was a journalist who wrote about animals frequently, so this is actually something I ran into a lot. The convention for most newspapers and other publications (the AP style guide) is to use "that" if the animals is not named in the article and "who" if it is.

That is: Duke is a dachshund who has an attitude that far exceeds his diminutive size.

But: The owners searched in vain for the dog that ran away.

Hope that helps. 🙂

 

[ATX00]

I was a journalist who wrote about animals frequently, so this is actually something I ran into a lot. The convention for most newspapers and other publications (the AP style guide) is to use "that" if the animals is not named in the article and "who" if it is.

This is exactly was I was thinking. Thanks so much for the help! 🙂