Cats vs Dogs

[tstormdiver]

I have (had) a bunch of different pets. At one time I had 2 cats, 1 dog & a parrot, in the same household. I still have the dog & the bird. Of my cats, one ran off & came down witha fatal case of "Good Year Tire disease" & the other kept escaping, so I sent him to my parents farm, where he promptly took off & hasn't been seen since. I am definately a dog person, but right now I have either a psycho or stupid dog. She is a 2yr old Labrador Retriever. This year alone I have sunk almost $1200 into her. She managed to swallow rocks 2 times this summer, & they got hung up in her gut causing a life threatening intestinal blockage. She had to have surgrery twice to remove the rocks. We discovered that she was eating the rocks because she suffered from seperation anxiety when I would leave for work. She is now on a daily dose of "puppy Prozac" for at least the next few years. For a dog I got for free, she sure has been expensive this year, but then again it's great to come home & be an absolute hero just for coming home. On top of the rock removal surgeries, she is now being treated for heartworms (another $500), even though I have religiously given her preventative medication since she was 4 weeks old. At least in this last case the drug manufacturer is going to do the right thing & reimburse me for the treatment. Only the bird seems to be the smart on right now (go figure). She now has a vocabulary of about 2 dozen words.

 

[dive_lover88]

i'm a dog person!

 

[eckybay]

I have both cats and dogs. . . .Three dogs, five cats. All of them but one of the cats was an adoption or rescue animal. No more pets for me, I've got enough!

Shelby - From a rescue, was there for over a year and return several times before I took her in.

Perrin - adopted as a puppy to keep Shelby company.

Rufus - the old man of the group. Brought him home as a foster dog at the age of six, after his owner dumped him at the rescue, saying take him, or we go home and shoot him.

Phooka - just 'cause the cats need some face time too!​

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

So many cats, so few recipes.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

13 days till Coz

 

[Reggae Joe]

I'm with eckybay and alcina...I love 'em both. I don't any of my own right now, but growing up, I had 11 cats and two dogs. They were all outdoors (and one of the cats was almost 23 when he passed away), but they were awesome. Even the cats were friendly, a few to the point where they'd get obnoxious in trying to get attention from us.

Now, guinea pigs and horses...I'm not fond of them...

 

[thomjinx]

My apologies to anyone who finds this sacriligeous...

And while I enjoy both, I am a cat person.

The Origin of Pets

Adam and Eve said, "Lord, when we were in the garden, you walked with us every day. Now we do not see you any more. We are lonesome here, and it is difficult for us to remember how much you love us." And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal." And God said, "No problem. Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG. And Dog lived with Adam and Eve and was a companion to them and loved them. And they were comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that an angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam and Eve have become filled with pride. They strut and preen like peacocks and they believe they are worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught them that they are loved, but perhaps too well." And God said, "No problem! I will create for them a companion who will be with them forever and who will see them as they are. The
companion will remind them of their limitations, so they will know that they are not always worthy of adoration." And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve. And Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into Cat's
eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings. And Adam and Eve learned humility. And they were greatly improved. And God was pleased. And Dog was happy.

And Cat didn't give a ***** one way or the other.

 

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

i vote dogs too, but cats make my laugh too much to say i dislike them, because i definitely like some cats.

What affection they do show is because they look at us as either kittens or their mothers, the only social bonds they know.

this is true for dogs too. Inferior/Superior rank. make yourself your dog's superior and he/she will be your buddy. If you are your dog's inferior, it'll walk all over you. there are no equals in the canine world.

 

[Hank49]

I like both, but I agree with the OP that cats are not near as smart. I came to this conclusion in the Philippines. How, you might ask....well, I used to count the number of dead cats and dogs laying by the roadside. Cats far outnumbered dogs. Not only becuase yes, there may have been more cats, but I saw cats do the dumbest things when a large bus or truck was approaching.....they would wait until the last second, and bolt out right in front of the oncoming vehilce. Dogs wouldn't do that.
Another animal I saw tied or grazing by the roadside a lot, of which I never saw a dead one, were goats. They're smart.

 

[Tienuts]

This brought the dogs back to life and kept them going...the 'reward' for these dogs was finding people alive, not dog bones. How stupid is that?

I am a Police Officer and work with K9's every day. In fact my ex girlfriend was a a K9 handler. I was also present at Ground Zero on 9/11/01.

Work dogs bond with only one person in their "career" and thats their handler. They cannot bond with anyone else or they cease to be effective as a K9. Try to get close to a police dog and pet him. When you get out of the hospital, let us know how it went.

In the case of 9/11, whenever a live person is found by the dog, the dog gets a reward of some sort. It's a pavlonian response, tailored to help humans. The firefighters who hid have to do so, to keep the dog's skill fresh. Otherwise, the dog doesnt find a live human, and never gets a reward and loses interest.

Drug sniffers have to train with real narcotics a minimum of once a week to keep their skills up. Bomb sniffers, I beleive it is daily. Do these dogs do this because the like sniffing for cocaine, or explosives?

Dont take my word for it, ask any K9 handler.

 

[eckybay]

Try to get close to a police dog and pet him.

Okay . . .One lives fairly close to me. Before I knew this, it got loose and has hanging around my house one morning - found out later that the neighbor's dog was in heat. Anyways, it was at my house for about a day until it was figured out where it belonged. Very well behaved dog (of course), got along great with my animals and was great at playing fetch with a tennis ball. I'm not sure why my call to the local rescues that I had found a G.S. dog in my area and the lost and found ad at the newspaper weren't connected to the missing police dog, but the handler found him while cruising the area asking if anyone had seen a large G.S....He seemed very relieved, to say the least.