testing a theory about furries well us i guess

[Nrein]

I grew up with five cats in my household since I was about three years old, and tending closely to a few dogs since I was five.

I can honestly say though that having been close to as many animals since then, it wasn't a helping factor when I joined the Fandom in '05. It was actually that year that I had suffered a violent attack from a dog, and didn't want anything to do with them, or most other animals.

To be fair, I think that a better theory is that "If you've had close relations to "x" animal, then that may be why when you joined the Fandom you chose the same "x" animal as your fursona, because you feel so close to it/have experience with it/etc." As an example, ever since I got to own a German Shepherd for a month, as part of a test to see if it would work well in a home (The Monks of New Skeet here breed and sell German Shepherds, they often place them in homes to see how well they can get accustom to home life), I've always wanted one. Thus, that's why I chose a German Shepherd as my fursona.

[Otebon Albrecht]

Not sure if I should weigh in on this or not, what the heck?

I've had many animals in my life (and I say animals because they've ranged from fish to horses to dogs and more) and I've loved each of them dearly. However, having said that I've had to kill many of them (fish when they went psychotic [I have no idea why] or we needed to move, horses when they suffered broken limbs that were incurable, and dogs when they became unmanageable).

For example: I once had a German Shepherd female named Lily. We received her when she was very young (she was perhaps 4-5 months old but a rescue nonetheless) and we had her for approximately 6-8 months. During that time she almost tripled in size till she was a full grown German Shepherd (~3.5 ft at the shoulder). One day she tried to kill me.

Take this as you will for your data.

[Dirtcopter77]

I've always had pets. Throughout my life I've had at least 8 dogs, 2 budgies, a cat, a bearded dragon, 2 gerbils, at least 22 fish, and of course I kept caterpillars when I was really young.

[Oxvy]

No I always dreamed as a kid that I was part of a family of cats, I think that Is how I started. In my mind atleast.

[MrRazot]

When I was very little, I dreamt I was a squirrel
We only had fish then, but we now have two dogs and two cats though I feel they have had no influence on my being a furry.

[Vine Tabris]

I can tell you with confidence that there are a lot more people out there who have had close relationships with animals as children who are not furry.
It may not seem like it on the internet, but the furry population as a whole is amazingly small.
Even if there is a lot of furries that say that they did have close relationships with animals as children there will still be more people who are not furry who have the same experience, so you can never really come up with an accurate statistic for this theory.
As a question for fun, sure, go for it. But if you're trying to prove an actual theory it can't be done this way.

[Astor Corbin]

I had three cats and a dog when I was small. Since then, a lot has changed, many, many things have happened, and I now have two dogs and a cat.