Hi everyone,
Google says to use who when talking about a person and that when talking about an object. But I'm talking about a dog, so should I use who or that?
The sentence is, Toohey released his dog, who got the ball to him.
Word processor wants me to change who to that. But I think it should be who, since a dog is not an object.
And the answer is that. If the animal has a name and you're referring to it by name in the sentence, use who else use that. Sorry read the other article after posting it and can't delete the thread now.
I think technically, animals are "supposed" to be it or that/which in formal English, but I assume you're writing fiction. And of course modern attitudes about them have shifted, and animals are often characters in their own right in books, or at least regarded as beings of importance by many people.
I think it's down to the narrative or character voice you're shooting for in your novel.
One of my characters in my novel has a dog, and she thinks of her dog as a who, not a that. And most of my pov characters tend to think of their own mounts as "whos."
I'd go with calling an animal a who or a he/she if its individuality and personality is relevant to and acknowledged by the pov character (or the narrative in omniscient). I certainly don't think of the dogs and cats I know as "its" or "thats," and if I, or someone with my inclinations, were a pov character in a novel, the narrative should reflect this.
But if I saw a horse being ridden down the street by a stranger, or if I were working in a slaughterhouse killing chickens, or if I were a hunter shooting rabbits, I might think of
those animals as its or thats.
And a character who thinks of
all animals as its or thats, well, that might say something about him or her, or the culture/society he or she is a product of.
As for omniscient narration? Well, again, it's fiction. I'd probably refer to animals that are presented as characters, or at least as gendered individuals with a personality, as "who" and "he/she" also, but maybe ones that blend into the background as "thats."
The horse that the soldier was riding was a roan.
vs
The old mare, who had always loved apples, opened the gate to the orchard with her lips.
You could use "which" in sentence #2, but it would make it feel a lot less personal.
A lot of this is down to the narrative voice you're shooting for.
And on an aside, this is an example of why grammar checker should be turned off, or at least regarded with suspicion, when writing fiction. Aside from the fact that it's often just blatantly wrong, it has no sense of context or voice.