There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
While we at Nature Protocols agree on almost everything of importance, there are a few topics that will always stimulate heated debate. One of these I have already hinted at: What colour is, e.g., the Piccadilly line? (we see colours differently). Another is: Which are better: cats or dogs?
While I am always on the cat side of this discussion, I have to acknowledge that dogs are more useful to human beings than cats are. They guide blind people, can be trained to detect drugs, help in hunting for food, and pull sleighs. We even sent dogs into space for us to see whether human space flight might be possible!
Here is a picture of Leika the space-dog who, on the 3rd of November 1957, was the first recorded living creature from Earth to enter orbit:
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat …
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don’t know why she swallowed that fly—
Perhaps she’ll die.
Thank you to Katharine for letting me use her dog photo.
The photo of Leika was lifted from Wikipedia
Bronwen – I would say that there’s another difference: dogs love people; cats tolerate people for what they can get out of them. (But then I’m biassed.)
There’s a really interesting book on a study of the canine mind, If Dogs Could Talk which asserts that dogs have some mental capabilities (e.g. guessing what a human being is looking at) that even non-human primates aren’t capable of.
Listen, cats are free thinking, they have plans, agendas and a natural and healthy mistrust of the vet. If scientists were creatures I reckon they’d have to be cats…not dogs that bond with their owner, just think we’d never be able to leave our PhD supervisors if we were like pooches.
My preference for cats is not objective. I think that they are beautiful and like that they don’t demand attention.
While I identify more with cats than with dogs, after reading King Solomon’s Ring I decided that the animal that I was most like (behaviourally) was a water-shrew!
Talking about people having animal personality-counterparts, I saw the trailer for the Northern Lights movie) at the cinema last night. Looks like it might be worth seeing.
A little off-topic here… this is the cutest nicest-looking post ever on Nature Network! How lucky Katharine is. I used to think the bantam hen posts by Henry Gee were the fluffiest ones but I love dogs over chickens (and cats)!
I am a little ambivalent about cats although I have met several cats who were quite dog-like…
The most amusing cat post I have come across is Cats Do Not Like Change.
Do you think people’s preference for cats or dogs might in some way reflect the qualities they most admire and respect in friends/family? I am very much a dog person. Qualities that I most admire include loyalty, devotion and irrepressible optimism – definitely dog characteristics.
In contrast, I dislike aloofness and view a high degree of independence with suspicion!
However – if pressed – I would have to grudgingly admit that my own personality is probably more cat-like than dog-like.
That said, my friends and I once did one of those online quizzes along the lines of ‘which dog breed are you’? I came out as a Jack Russell terrier – reknowned for being small but loud, fierce and feisty; not the cute and cuddly comparison I was hoping for….. Needless to say, I was very miffed when my friends (including my loving boyfriend) agreed that this was an excellent match!
I have just quickly done this quiz and it spat out Shiba Inu. Never heard of it before, but it looks very handsome. :)
Shiba Inus are very popular in NYC. All Shiba Inus I have met (more than 8 and some several times too) were cat-like. They scampered around delicately, would not come when called for, disliked being petted anywhere but their heads and did their own thing most of the time (in independent petulant fashion)... not exactly you, I would have thought :) I came out as a Golden Retriever (no need to hyperlink as everyone knows them)
I was a chihuahua! How distressing! I think I preferred being a Jack Russell…..
I have just been watching over Baldo’s shoulder…
Check out this video of dog and baby duet
.
oh no, I’m a Shar Pei – someone, anyone give me some anti-wrinkle cream!!
Personally, I’m not a cat fan. I think that what people most admire in cats – their perceived independance, perhaps what appears to be intelligence (but is actually profund stupidity!), etc are really traits we admire in humans. In animals, they’re just not very pleasant traits. Dogs rule!
The Nature Protocols team has discovered another What breed of dog are you? test. It seems to want you to give your name and email address to get the result though.
These are the results from those of us that are in the office at the moment:
Naomi – Cocker Spaniel (perky, admired, loving)
Hannah – St Bernard (good-hearted, reliable, determined)
Baldo – Great Dane (perfect mix of brains and brawn)
Me – Scottish Terrier (fearless, feisty, headstrong)
I am still a Golden Retriever by that new test! Baldo does seem Great-Dane-like.