(pictures couldn't upload. sad face.)
This is a common debate I hear a lot. I've found that people feel very strongly about whether their friends and family should get a dog or cat when considering a pet. No one ever says, "Yes! You should get a FISH!" or "Birds are the best pet of all time." It's always feline vs. canine. (And apparently, when you get your own place, people feel the need to interject their two sense into what animal you should get. As if they will be taking care of it. Right.)
And lately, I have been feeling very strongly about it, too. Steven and I live in South Arlington in a little nook called Shirlington. We absolutely love it! It's quaint and serves as our little oasis in this big metropolitan area. However, one thing I DO NOT love are all the dogs. Dogs are everywhere. There's a dog park. You can take your dog to a restaurant and the restaurant has water dishes. Any given time you walk down the street, you will encounter at least three dog/owner combos, and most of the time it's multiple dogs with one owner. People carry dogs in their over-sized bags.
And this is doing nothing to encourage me to like dogs more. In fact, it is polarizing me as a cat lover. You don't need to take your cat on a walk multiple times a day. A cat won't pee in the middle of the sidewalk or poop on your hydragias (to me, there is nothing more demeaning than picking up fresh dog poop.) A cat doesn't jump on you when you walk in the door (unless it's a planned attack, in which I applaude the clever animal) or sniff your crotch when you first meet it (completely embarrassing, people.) Cats don't make noise either, so the unnecessary barking at stupid stuff really just doesn't happen. Cats don't beg at the table and watch your every move when eating anything. Also, cats wash themselves- what a bonus!
To me, it's 100% the dog owners fault that they have a terrible dog because they didn't take time to train it. Dogs make great pets because of how trainable they are... if you put in the time, effort, and money to do so. The only dog I have ever loved, Mikita, was trained mainly by my mother-in-law (Michele) and was seriously the BEST dog in the world. Michele could say, "Mikita, you're in the way", and she would always lay down in the same spot and wait until it was safe to move. Mikita knew Michele's every move and made sure she was always relatively close (dogs are also great protectors!). Mikita never barked unless someone who didn't belong in the house approached it. She also didn't jump, sniff body parts, or beg at the table (Steven would put food in front of her, but she would eat it until instructed.). She was phenomenal. But Mikita could have been a "bad" dog if no one took all that time to train her.
I would totally love dogs if all of them were like Mikita and all trainers were like Michele. But they aren't. And that's why I tend to not like dogs. This is not to say that I hate dogs and I will never want to be around them, I just don't engage with them like I do a cat (yes, you can play with a cat- did you know that?!). In fact, Steven and I will probably get a dog before we get a cat, if we ever get a cat. But we need to take a huge chunk of time, and the necessary funds, to train it. We also need a yard; dogs require acreage.
It's all based on personal preference; not one animal is "better". And I prefer cats. Case closed.
No comments:
Post a Comment