The Dogs of the Future Are No Longer Pets, They Are Individuals

L-R: Carlos Buenfil, chief strategy officer and Anahí Garrido, brand strategy director at Dentsu Creative Mexico

For generations, dogs served as helpful animals to humans. They guarded the backyard, accompanied people on walks, and begged for food silently. Over time, they crept into living rooms, climbed onto sofas, and started sleeping in our beds. Today, in 2025, they are regarded as full-fledged family members. However, according to the study 'Future of Pets in Mexico: Scenarios Toward 2035,' developed by the Strategy team at Dentsu Creative Mexico, the only creative network within the dentsu group, this story is just about to take a deeper turn: dogs will no longer be 'our' pets. They will simply be themselves.

“We're heading toward a future where dogs will no longer be secondary characters in the family narrative. They’ll be individuals with names, voices, medical histories, dietary preferences, and unique emotional profiles,” says Carlos Buenfil, chief strategy officer at Dentsu Creative Mexico.

In the past decade, the dominant trend was humanisation - treating dogs like non-human children or siblings. Terms like 'fur babies' emerged, birthdays were celebrated, and premium food became the norm. But what’s coming is more radical: it’s no longer about fitting them into our human model - it’s about recognising their own.

“We’re no longer just talking about happy dogs, but fulfilled dogs,” the Dentsu Creative analysis explains. “Fulfilled physically, emotionally, and mentally. This will require an infrastructure of services and products tailored to each one as an individual.”

This future scenario projected for 2035 envisions an ecosystem where nutrition, entertainment, health monitoring, and even cognitive stimulation will be deeply personalised. Smart collars, AI algorithms, DNA-based diets, and emotion-based routines will be part of everyday life.

This new relationship is largely enabled by technology. Over the next five years, sophisticated wearables like collars will be developed to gather real-time data - from stress levels to early signs of illness. With that information, e-commerce platforms will automatically suggest diet changes, exercise routines, or vet visits. But more than technology, it’s sensitivity that will drive this change.

Anahí Garrido, brand strategy director at Dentsu Creative Mexico and lead specialist on this analysis, explains, “This shift is already visible in pop culture expressions, such as the recent Superman (2025) film, where the dog Krypto isn’t just a sidekick - he has agency, emotions, and becomes the emotional core of the story. This portrayal didn’t just win applause in theatres - it created real-world impact: during its opening weekend, Google searches for ‘adopt a dog near me’ surged by over 500%, clearly showing that culture doesn’t just reflect change - it accelerates it.”

This transformation is also playing out in everyday life. Practices like dog yoga, meditation playlists to ease canine anxiety, or interspecies aromatherapy are becoming more common. “The rise of the hashtag #DogTherapist on TikTok - up more than 200% in the past two years - shows how dogs’ emotions are now part of contemporary wellness conversations. Emotional care, once reserved for humans, is now extending to the interspecies bond,” adds Anahí.

As emotions become visible, they also become measurable. In Mexico, apps like Woofz and Dogo allow dog owners to track their pet’s emotional behaviour, adjust routines, receive video feedback, and understand mood or reaction patterns. Training a dog no longer just means teaching tricks - it means understanding temperament, fears, and emotional highs and lows.

This new paradigm, called 'hyper-individualisation and holistic care' by Dentsu Creative experts, will focus not just on longevity but on emotional quality of life. Brands will stop selling products and start creating comprehensive experiences that ensure well-being from a more human - or perhaps more canine - perspective.

In this context, brands have both the opportunity and the responsibility to stop speaking only to the human buyer and start addressing the individual who lives, feels, and expresses themselves on four legs. This means designing personalised services, building empathetic tech solutions, and crafting messages that recognise dogs not as passive consumers, but as beings with an agency. The brands that can truly empathise and respond to this new sensitivity will be the ones to lead the market of the future.

Nutrition is a clear sign of this shift. Ten years ago, premium kibble was a luxury - now it’s the standard. By 2030, every dog is expected to have a diet as unique as its pawprint. These diets will be based on genetic makeup, medical conditions, and increasingly, emotional states - factors like anxiety, energy, sadness, or euphoria will be part of the formula.

But beyond the functional or nutritional, what’s really changing is the narrative. On social media, millions follow accounts where dogs 'speak' using buttons expressing ideas like 'sad,' 'hug,' or 'don’t want to be alone.' Films like Dog Gone or The Art of Racing in the Rain are told from the dog’s perspective. Contemporary storytelling is decentralising humans. “We’re no longer just watching dogs - we’re starting to see the world with them,” Anahí concludes.

“Technology will be an extension of the emotional bond. It won’t just be about knowing whether they ate - it will be about understanding how they feel, and making decisions accordingly,” adds Carlos.

This transformation also brings challenges for brands, governments, and society. If dogs are individuals, what rights do they have? What responsibilities do we have toward them beyond affection?

Perhaps the greatest shift won’t be in products or tech - but in language and awareness. “We’ll stop saying ‘my dog’ as if it were a possession. Instead, we’ll say ‘the dog I live with’, acknowledging their autonomy,” Carlos concludes.

The Dentsu Creative Mexico analysis highlights that this transformation is already underway. And while we may still fall asleep wrapped around them, it’s time to stop treating them as a reflection of us - and start seeing them for what they truly are: complete beings, empathetic, often more capable than we are. They may not speak - but they communicate. They feel in their own way. And they are unique and irreplaceable.