# We Rate Dogs

> We Rate Dogs is a Twitter account created by Matt Nelson in 2015 that rates user-submitted dog photos with scores exceeding 10, famous for the catchphrase "they're good dogs Brent" and absurdist DoggoLingo captions.

We Rate Dogs is a social media account created by Matt Nelson in November 2015 that rates user-submitted photos of dogs on a scale of one to ten, except the ratings almost always exceed ten. The account's signature move of giving dogs scores like "13/10" or "14/10" alongside absurdist captions turned it into one of Twitter's most beloved accounts, spawning the viral catchphrase "they're good dogs Brent" and helping popularize the DoggoLingo internet dialect. What started as a joke from an Applebee's in North Carolina grew into a multi-platform brand with millions of followers and a legitimate business generating six figures annually.

## Origin
On November 15, 2015, Matt Nelson, a 19-year-old golf management major at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, launched the @dog_rates Twitter account[5]. Nelson had been inspired by Weird Twitter and noticed that any joke involving dogs on his personal account (which had around 10,000 followers) performed way better than his other content[6]. He was sitting at an Applebee's with friends when he set up a Twitter poll asking if he should create a dog rating account. The response was positive, so he posted his first rating right there at the restaurant, featuring the dog of the friend he was having dinner with[3]. That first post pulled 534 retweets and over 2,500 likes[4].

"I got addicted to trying to make people laugh in that constrained character space," Nelson later told CNBC. "Every time I would post a picture of my dog or any content that had to do with dogs, it would do much better than my other content. That signaled that the internet loves dogs just as much as I did"[3].

By that night, Nelson was flooded with "hundreds" of messages from dog owners asking for their pups to be featured[3]. He promoted the account from his personal Twitter, and within a week, @dog_rates had surpassed his personal follower count[3]. Three weeks after launch, New York Magazine ran a feature calling it a "weird dog-rating Twitter account" that scored a "10/10"[10].

- **Platform:** Twitter
- **Creator:** Matt Nelson (creator, account operator)
- **Date:** 2015

## Overview
We Rate Dogs operates on a simple but brilliant premise: people submit photos of their dogs, and the account rates them with a score out of ten. The catch is that every dog gets more than a perfect score because, well, they're all good dogs. Ratings typically land between 11/10 and 14/10, with the rare 15/10 reserved for truly heroic dogs[6]. Each rating comes paired with a fictional backstory or comedic caption that gives the dog a name and a personality. "This is Dewey. He's having a good walk. Arguably the best walk. 13/10 would snug softly" is a representative example[14].

The account also rates non-dog animals sent in by followers, treating them "as if they were dogs" with deadpan captions like "We only rate dogs. Please don't send in Large Bashful Walri"[8]. This running gag of pretending confusion at receiving photos of other animals became a beloved recurring bit[10].

## How It Spread
The account exploded in its first months. HuffPost covered it in December 2015 when it had already hit 75,000 followers despite being less than a month old[12]. Nelson's surreal captions, which New York Magazine compared to Weird Twitter's absurdist style, set the account apart from standard cute-animal aggregators[10]. BuzzFeed compiled its favorite @dog_rates tweets in July 2016[4].

The account's biggest single meme moment came on September 12, 2016. Twitter user @brant questioned the rating system, telling Nelson it didn't make any sense. Nelson replied "they're good dogs Brent," deliberately misspelling Brant's name[4]. A screenshot of the exchange posted by @Braydenominator racked up over 57,000 retweets[4]. Mashable and Elite Daily both covered it the next day. The Washington Post called "They're good dogs, Brent" one of the best memes of 2016, noting that the exchange alone brought 50,000 new followers to the account[4].

The catchphrase took on a life of its own. Twitter users began applying "they're good dogs Brent" to other meme formats[4]. Nelson sold T-shirts and coffee mugs with the phrase. Brant Walker, the real "Brent," took it all in stride, eventually putting "They're good dogs Brent" on his wedding cake[4]. The two reconciled publicly in 2018, when Walker got his own puppy named Charlie and asked Nelson to rate it. Charlie received a 14/10[2].

By 2017, the account had crossed 1.5 million followers[6]. Esquire profiled Nelson in a feature that framed him as a new breed of internet entrepreneur, noting that his online store was earning him "low five figures each month" from merchandise alone[13]. Complex, Esquire, and other outlets covered the account's growth[4]. J.K. Rowling endorsed the account by telling her followers to follow it, which Nelson called one of his career highlights[6].

## How to Use
The We Rate Dogs format is straightforward. People typically submit a photo of their dog to the account, and it gets rated with a score exceeding 10/10 alongside a humorous caption. The standard template goes: "This is [Name]. [Comedic observation about the dog]. [Rating]/10 [optional reaction]." For example: "This is Chester. He will help you check out. Hopes you found everything you were looking for today. 13/10 I would, yes"[8].

When people send in photos of animals that aren't dogs, the account plays along with feigned exasperation: "We only rate dogs. Please don't send in [absurd animal name]. Thank you... 12/10"[8]. The joke is that the non-dog always still gets a rating above 10.

The "they're good dogs Brent" catchphrase works as a standalone response to anyone being negative or overly critical about something wholesome. It's deployed whenever someone misses the point by being pedantic or cynical[2].

## Cultural Impact
We Rate Dogs crossed from internet joke to mainstream media fixture faster than most social media accounts. Coverage in New York Magazine, Esquire, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Complex, and HuffPost treated it as a new model for internet comedy and entrepreneurship[10][13][3].

The account popularized DoggoLingo, the cutesy internet dialect full of words like "doggo," "pupper," "floofer," and "puppo," which spread beyond Twitter into everyday speech[5]. A 2017 Esquire profile described Nelson as "the figurehead of a very 2017 breed of humor that seamlessly blends two distinct fixtures of the internet: relentlessly irreverent snark and genuine appreciation of adorable animals"[13].

We Rate Dogs' fundraising work gave the account real-world impact beyond laughs. The $1.3 million raised in 2020 alone for over 170 dogs in need demonstrated the power of a trusted social media following when pointed at a cause[3].

Nelson's business model, built on merchandise, branded content, and genuine audience love rather than shock value or controversy, showed a viable path for creator-driven social media businesses. Brand partnerships with Disney, Netflix, and Budweiser proved the account's mainstream commercial appeal[3].

The account also inadvertently became a case study in DMCA abuse when it was twice suspended due to fake copyright claims, drawing Washington Post coverage of the broader vulnerability in Twitter's content moderation systems[5].

## Fun Facts
- Nelson's name for the account, "We Rate Dogs," uses "we" because "I Rate Dogs" would look like "iRateDogs," which sounds like "irate dogs" (angry dogs)[1].
- Brant Walker, the real "Brent," put "They're good dogs Brent" on his wedding cake[4].
- Nelson's most popular single post, a dog at the 2017 Women's March, cost him 1,000 unfollows (his worst day for unfollows by far) but gained him 37,000 new followers[6].
- The highest rating ever given on the account was 1776/10, awarded to a dog named Atticus who was described as "quite simply America af"[7].
- Nelson was DMing Cole Sprouse for a year and a half trying to get him to submit his dog, with no response[6].
- A data science analysis found that golden retrievers are the most frequently featured breed on the account[7].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is We Rate Dogs?
We Rate Dogs is a social media account created by Matt Nelson that rates user-submitted dog photos with humorous captions and scores that always exceed 10/10. It started on Twitter in November 2015 and expanded to Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok[5].

### Where did We Rate Dogs come from?
Matt Nelson, a freshman at Campbell University in North Carolina, launched the @dog_rates Twitter account on November 15, 2015, posting his first rating from an Applebee's restaurant[3].

### What does We Rate Dogs mean?
The account literally rates dogs, but the joke is that all dogs are good dogs and therefore always deserve more than a perfect score. Ratings range from 11/10 to 14/10, with rare 15/10 scores for heroic dogs[6].

### How do you use We Rate Dogs?
Dog owners submit photos to the account via direct message. The account then posts selected photos with a rating and comedic caption. The "they're good dogs Brent" catchphrase can be used as a standalone response to anyone being unnecessarily critical[4].

### Is We Rate Dogs still popular?
As of December 2020, the Twitter account had nearly 9 million followers, and the combined social media following across all platforms was close to 12 million[5][3].

### Who is Matt Nelson?
Matt Nelson is the creator of We Rate Dogs, born in October 1996 in Virginia. He started the account as a college freshman and eventually dropped out to run it full-time, turning it into a business generating six figures in annual revenue[13][3].

### What does "they're good dogs Brent" mean?
In September 2016, a Twitter user named Brant criticized the rating system. Nelson replied "they're good dogs Brent," deliberately misspelling Brant's name. The phrase became one of the biggest memes of 2016, representing cheerful defiance against unnecessary negativity[4].

### How much money has We Rate Dogs raised for charity?
In 2020 alone, the account raised $1.3 million for more than 170 dogs in need through GoFundMe campaigns shared with its followers[3].

### What is the highest rating on We Rate Dogs?
The highest documented rating is 1776/10, given to a dog named Atticus described as "quite simply America af." The standard maximum for heroic dogs is 15/10[7][6].

### Was We Rate Dogs involved in any controversies?
The account faced two notable controversies: a 2017 incident where Nelson sold "Covfefe AF" hats with proceeds going to Planned Parenthood, drawing criticism from both political sides[14], and a 2018 accusation of "white-washing" dog names after changing a dog named Kanan to George[11].

### Why was the We Rate Dogs account suspended?
The account was suspended twice due to fraudulent DMCA complaints filed by competitors and unknown accounts, raising questions about how easily Twitter's copyright system could be abused[5][6].

### What is Thoughts of Dog?
Thoughts of Dog is Nelson's spinoff Twitter account (@dog_feelings) that parodies dog inner monologues. It attracted 3.5 million followers and a published book in October 2020[3].

## References
1. [50 Times People Asked To Rate Their Dogs, And Got Hilarious Results | Bored Panda](<https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-we-rate-dogs-tweets/>)
2. [We Rate Dogs and enemy Brent reconcile thanks to Charlie the puppy | Vox](<https://www.vox.com/2018/7/23/17603566/dog-rates-good-dogs-brent-brant-got-a-puppy-meme>)
3. [How We Rate Dogs raised over $1 million for dogs in need](<https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/21/how-we-rate-dogs-raises-money-to-help-dogs-in-need.html>)
4. [We Rate Dogs - Know Your Meme](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-rate-dogs>)
5. [WeRateDogs - Wikipedia](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeRateDogs>)
6. [A “14/10” Interview With the Guy Behind the Amazing We Rate Dogs Twitter Account](<https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/kristen-kim/dog-rates-twitter-interview>)
7. [We rate Dogs: most rated dogs and “dog related” stuff | by Natalia Bobkova | Medium](<https://medium.com/@nbobkova174/we-rate-dogs-most-rated-dogs-and-dog-related-stuff-8818a47d0a43>)
8. [28 Times People Failed To Send Dog Pics To ‘We Rate Dogs’ Twitter](<https://pleated-jeans.com/2018/04/19/not-dogs-but-still-good/>)
9. [We Rate Dogs Is Now A Game: 15/10 Life Is Complete | PetGuide](<https://www.petguide.com/blog/dog/we-rate-dogs-is-now-a-game-15-10-life-is-complete/>)
10. [28 Accurate AF Ratings For Dogs](<https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/bork-bork-bork?utm_term=.rmw4rLVZv#.clBkJ0lyR>)
11. [This Weird Dog-Rating Twitter Account Gets 10/10](<http://nymag.com/selectall/2015/12/this-weird-twitter-account-will-rate-your-dog.html>)
12. [WeRateDogs Twitter account criticized for renaming dogs.](<https://amp.slate.com/technology/2018/06/weratedogs-twitter-account-criticized-for-renaming-dogs.html>)
13. [There's Way Too Much Cuteness In This New Dog-Rating Twitter Feed | HuffPost Good News](<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dog-rating-twitter-feed_us_566bea45e4b0e292150e13e6>)
14. [We Rate Dogs' Matt Nelson Turned Joke Twitter Account Into Successful Business](<http://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a54940/we-rate-dogs-matt-nelson-interview/>)
15. [A “14/10” Interview With the Guy Behind the Amazing We Rate Dogs Twitter Account](<http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2017/04/dog-rates-twitter-interview>)
16. [Twitter Account That Rates Dogs is Center of Trump-related 'Covfefe' Controversy](<https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/dog-rates-covfefe-hat-controversy/>)

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