Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.

Jones’s quip plays on the idea that a dog’s loyalty is easily “hired” with the smallest kindness. If you scratch a dog—offer a simple pleasure—it responds with affection and attention that can feel like a steady obligation: the dog will keep coming back for more. The “permanent job” is the ongoing role of caretaker and giver of affection that follows once you’ve befriended an animal. More broadly, the line satirizes how small gestures can create lasting expectations, and how companionship (especially with pets) is both rewarding and binding.