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imhooking -> RE: another school question. (11/30/2009 7:43:19 PM)
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Dogs vs. Cats
The battle continues
The debate between dog people and cat people seems to be a never ending war. All too often one can hear words such as, “My dogs going to eat your cat for a midnight snack if it comes in my yard again”, or “My cat is better than your dog because…well, it just is.”
It has been said that dog people are more outgoing and adventurous while cat people tend to lock themselves from society. A dog is mans’ best friend and humans’ are a cats servants. It has also been said that a man’s home is his castle, unless there is a cat in the castle then the whole castle is the cats throne.
Well, I say it is time for the bickering and arguing over which is the better animal to stop. Here, I plan to uncover the truth behind cats and dogs and hope to settle this once and for all.
Here are a few things that were said about dogs in a random poll that I posted on a message forum on a site that is to remain unnamed to protect the identities of the people using it.
Sunshine stated, “I'm a cat person. I live a life of travel, and a dog is much too much work. They require attention at regular intervals, and with the life that I've chosen, I can't give them that. Cats on the other hand can be left for hours - even a couple of days - at a time.” Andrea agrees with her.
Sunshine’s comment was then counter by a woman named Angi, “My mother always said that you can judge a person by the way your dog reacts to them and vise versa. I have never found that statement to be untrue.”
Lynn Masterly gave excellent input with a rather lengthy explanation as to why she loves dogs.
“I like dogs because:
1. They are cheerful.
2. They think people are GREAT, and even if you discipline them, they will still love you!
3. Most of my dogs are medium dogs, which mean they have lots of energy for walking, and insist on it, which means when I have dogs, I have to walk them twice a day. I was NEVER overweight when I had dogs.
4. Dogs are territorial, so when I had them, I was never worried about burglars and such. My dogs always alerted me if someone was on the property. I'm single, so this is a big, big deal to me. Unlike a gun, which will shoot anything it's pointed at, my dogs would never mistakenly bite ME.
5. Ditto, I travelled with one dog on trips in my car. I'd have him in my hotel room or with me in my tent. Good for safety. People are cautious around dogs they do not know, because we all know some dogs will bite. Great security! Also, he helped scare the crazies away.
6. Dogs are great conversation pieces.
7. Children like dogs, so it is a good way to get a child to talk with you and be interested in you.
8. Dogs love the outdoors. They love rolling in crap, literally, which means they are exuberant. I love it!
9. They can jump in the car on their own, till they get old anyway.
10. If they have big teeth, they look handsome and intimidating. Many of my dogs had big teeth (German shepherd and German shepherd mixes! lab and lab mixes)
Cats are good, too, but dogs, dogs are to die for!”
Thorkild seems to agree with Lynn saying, “I am definitely a dog person. Dogs are pack animals and as such will enjoy their place in the structure as a family (even a one person one). They are typically protective of the alpha persons and most dogs will appear very loving. I have always been attracted to the big floppies (St. Bernard, Pyrenaerian and New Foundlands). Their apparent clumsiness is false as I have seen them with babies all over the floor and never witness one of them as much as step on one. Their gentleness and loyalty is legendary. What I have seen my kids do to them, always made me say if the dog bit the kid I would hit the kid. But it has never been just close to reality. Today I have a teenage daughter, who loves straying on her horse, and I feel perfectly contend, knowing if anybody wanted to harm her, they would face a raging monster defending her. When she is here the dog chooses her as the alpha and never strays from her side and when she is gone I am the master which it loves being next to. Coming home and being greeted by her is always a pleasure. She hangs around the courtyard mostly when alone, but when my car is ½ mile away she is off to her greeting spot in the driveway.
Cats on the other hand is solitary hunters and when in a family mostly wants to be the alpha. They can be loving, but on their premises. Loyalty and protectiveness is seldom seen in a cat.
I have always said you own your dog. Your cat owns you, and tolerates you as a caregiver.”
I was surprised at the varying answers. But I was not surprised to see that many of the respondents stated that they like both about the same.
A few facts about dogs that may surprise even the most finicky cat lover:
• The dog was one of the first animals domesticated by humans.
• Mosaics meaning "Beware the Dog" would be found on doorsteps in ancient Roman cities.
• The world's first dog show was held in Britain in 1859.
• People in ancient China stayed warm by carrying toy breeds in their sleeves.
• The smallest mature dog was a Yorkshire Terrier that was 2 1/2 inches high at its shoulder.
• The heaviest dog ever weighed 319 pounds.
• The oldest dog ever died at age 29.
• The tallest dog ever was a Great Dane who stood 41 inches high.
• The first living creature sent into space was a female dog named Laika launched by the former USSR on November 3, 1957 (Whitehead et al. 1999).
• Labrador Retrievers were originally bred to retrieve fishing nets.
• In the 19th century Dalmatians defended carriages against highwaymen and kept away animals that could scare the horses.
• Monks used the Lhasa apso as a guard dog in temples.
• Siberian Huskies have been used to herd reindeer in Siberia for 3000 years.
• Louis Doberman, a German tax-collector, created the Doberman breed in the late 1860s to protect him while he worked (Whitehead 1999). (Dogs: Fun facts and Interesting Links)
And now some facts that my convert outgoing dog folks (but I doubt it):
• All cats are descendants of the Felis silvestris species, which is divided into the African wildcat, European wildcat and Steppe wildcat.
• The lion is the king of the cats. It stands out from the other cats, not just in its distinctive appearance but also in being the only felid that lives in organized social groups. Adult male lions weigh up to 225kg (500 lb) and grow up to 3m (10 ft) in body length.
• The fastest cat, the cheetah, is also the fastest land animal. It can reach 95 km/h (60 mph) over short distances. Unlike other big cats it does not roar - it makes high pitched yelps, barks and chirruping sounds. And like your kitty, it does purr.
• Domestic cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine. A domestic cat hears frequencies up to about 65 kHz, humans up to 20 kHz. Its sense of smell is about 14 times stronger than that of humans.
• In the rear of a cat's eye is a light-reflecting layer called the tapetum lucidum, which causes cats' eyes to glow at night. This reflecting layer absorbs light 6 times more effectively than human eyes do, allowing a cat to see better than humans at night
• There are more than 3000 types of domestic cats, but only 8% are pedigree. And, unlike other cats, they are found all over the world... in abundance. In the US, there are more cats than dogs, and people annually spend more on cat food than on baby food.
• Domestic cats - or any other cats - do not have nine lives. They also do not always land on their feet. It is said that a cat that falls out of a 20-story building has a better chance of surviving than when falling out of a 7-story building because it takes a cat at least 7 stories to co-ordinate itself to land on its feet.
• Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run. The only other animals to do this are the giraffe, camel and the maned wolf.
• The tails of wild cats almost never lift higher than their backs.
• Cats cannot see directly below their heads that is why they do not see the food when you put it under their nose. Keep this in mind when you're feeding your kitty. (Facts About Cats)
Works Cited
(n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Dogs: Fun facts and Interesting Links: http://www.bio.davidson.edu/courses/anphys/2000/Hatfield/Hatfield8.htm
Facts About Cats. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Did You Know: http://didyouknow.org/animals/cats.htm
Whitehead, Sarah, Bradley Viner, Beverley Cuddy, and Karen Sullivan. 1999. Dog The Complete Guide. New York, New York: Barnes & Noble Books.
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