Likewise, you can't force a person to act a certain way, so a pet relationship can be your first foray into learning to compromise with a mate. Obviously owning a pet is a huge responsibility - you take on emotional, financial and physical responsibility for a pet when you adopt one. Caring for the pet and tending to its every need is key to its survival, and so is tending to the important aspects of a relationship. When you put others' needs in front of your own, however briefly, it teaches you emotional responsibility. And last but not least, there are some, uh, icky aspects of owning a pet. Cats cough up hairballs and need their litter changed, and you have to chase after a pup with a plastic bag everywhere you go. So dealing with these less desirable aspects of pet ownership can help you get over the squeamishness of cohabitating with someone else down the road. Those crazy cat ladies don't seem so crazy now, do they?