“It is no random accident that most U.S. presidents have pet dogs in the White House, at considerable taxpayer expense for damaged rugs, furniture and draperies. Consciously and unconsciously , the presence a of loving , obedient, trusting dog produces a positive image of the owner. The president must have a dog. Voters would reject a politician who preferred cats, pigs, boa constrictors, or chimpanzees. (Wilson Bryan Key, The Age of Manipulation, p 134)
Cats, however, are their own creatures. They aren’t social or hierarchical (except in passing). They are only semi-domesticated. They don’t do tricks. They are friendly on their own terms. Dogs have been tamed, but cats have made a decision. They appear willing to interact with people, for some strange reason of their own. To me, cats are a manifestation of nature, of Being, in an almost pure form. Furthermore, they are a form of Being that looks at human beings and approves. (Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, Page 352)
OK, I prefer indifferent cats over lovingly stupid dogs. I don’t mean to open up the debate, as my reasoning is simple: A well-trained dog is a joy to have around, but there is so much time and trouble in training it that I don’t want to go through. A cat, on the other hand, comes into the household, takes in the lay of the land, and adapts. Training? Yes, cats do spend considerable time training us, but in the end they do, as Peterson says, approve of us. Otherwise they would simply kill us.
Piece of Mindful 
“I don’t mean to open up the debate…”
Uh huh; you just did.
I buried my last feline friend of 16 years a couple of weeks ago – a beautiful and fantastically efficient hunter here in suburbia. Cats are just so elegant and indifferent – although my previous fat furry friend sought me out, and slept upon me (he was a scaredy cat).
Next up, a dog, first in my life, in my retirement and more land… and as Mark has stated: the lengthy time to train. Blue Heeler – a runner.
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There is not a debate as far as I am concerned. Both are gifts to humans. I’m just too lazy to be a good dog owner, unlike you.
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I didn’t mean to imply a debate – just moving on to a loyal guardian.
My daughter has an Aussie… what a beauty. A fantastic protective talking friend.
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While working for a maintenance company, I got a call from the dispatcher. She asked if I was familiar with pest control. I wasn’t. She sent me to a CVS store, where they said the heard a meowing in the vestibule column. While trying to extricate, what turned out to be a kitten, a husband and wife were about to leave, and she was very concerned for the kitten, watching intently. She pleaded with her husband and myself if she could have the kitten after I got it out. He wasn’t too happy. He looked at me. I just said, “Buddy, we ain’t gonna win this argument”. The next two days I had to return to free two more kittens. One behind a freezer, which lead me on a fifteen-minute chase before I captured it. Another in a wall between studs. I kept them in a box with rags and took them home. The freezer kitten was vicious, scratching and biting. Mean as hell. The wall kitten clung to me like glue, refusing to let go. I took them to the humane society. They asked to see my license, which, at the time, I thought strange. Anyway, three days later, standing in my garage, a county van comes by, stops and out pop two kittens! It drove away immediately. Now I knew why they looked at my license, LOL. They had been fixed, vaccinated and dropped off at my address! The wall kitten, I named boots. The other one was gone the next day. Saw her at a neighbor’s house up the street about a week later. Every day, whether I was leaving for, or returning from work, I’d call her name and were ever she was, she’d come running to me, refusing attention from anyone else, jump in my lap, purr, cuddle and just love me intently. I still miss her terribly, to this day.
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