Not a Fan.

Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.

I am not a dog lover.  At best I will tolerate a friend's well behaved canine companion but the yappers, the barkers, the growlers & prowlers are not welcome at my place. Dogs are waaay too much work.

Our neighbours have a dog.  I think they were both rather relieved we didn't have a dog [as our properties are far too difficult to fence] & superior because we only owned lowly cats.  They have had to revise their opinion.

Firstly, Marlow & Kirby were raised with dogs so dogs, per se, hold no fears for them. Thus Marlow made it very clear on first acquaintance that pleb doggie was being way too familiar with a well timed swat across the snout that drew blood. Besides which, the rule that doggie must stay on his side of the divide does not apply to my cats, who swagger at will through his territory with great disdain.

Secondly, my cats are super protective of me & my neighbour was privy to witnessing Kirby's cheetah like tendencies in taking down his prey  ~ aka one pug whom he deemed to have upset me.  People who do not know cats are surprised by their fierce loyalty, their protectiveness & their love, which they think only dogs are capable of.

So my cats & neighbour's dog have things sorted between them.  My catz rule!  Then this week my neighbours have a house guest.  House guest has a foxie. Foxie is a yapper. For days we have been subject to this dreadful animal's incessant yapping.  The cats slunk around the house with tails lowered looking for extra cuddles.

At some point I went out to our clothes line, which borders our neighbour's property, & immediately this animal was in my yard yapping & snarling & carrying on.  I am wary of foxies; they're nippers so I growled at it to get back where it belonged. My neigbour, smart man, grabbed the dog & informed it that my cats would eat it if it came over here! lol

The animal bounced along the perimeter yapping constantly until the owner came over, shrugged & said, What can you do? I kept my mouth shut but my look must have spoken volumes because he grabbed his stupid animal & put it on its leash! What I wanted to say was: You could try training it...

I guess he decided I wasn't an animal lover because I made no overtures to be friendly to his animal ~ yet I will happily pet & play with our neighbour's dog, who is extremely well trained & rarely barks at all.  Plus I do my bit by ensuring my cats are inside by dark every night so any callers, yowlers & fighters my neighbours hear are not my cats.

I do wish all dog owners would train their animals.  I can't walk our block without being accosted by aggressive pit bulls, & met by volleys of agitated barking.  It is infuriating & destroys so much of the pleasure of taking an early morning or evening stroll.

There have been numerous recent accounts of dogs attacking & killing people.  The most recent was an experienced dog handler who was attacked & killed by her own pets yet our councils & governments tolerate the dog population much better than they do cats.  The only cats attacking & killing people are way larger than your average domestic moggie!

So, yeah ~ not a dog fan.