Main Differences Between Having Cats and Dogs as Pets

You've probably been asked at some point in your life if you're a dog person or a cat person, if you had to live with one, which would you choose? The debate between cats and dogs have been going on for years about which pet makes the best pet, the answer to the question pet is best for you. Despite the obvious main differences between dogs and cats, their physical appearance and their sounds, there are lots of other differences to distinguish the two; such as their personalities, their role worldwide, and their warning sounds.

Cats and dogs have different personalities. Dogs are descendants of wolves making them pack animals; more social and love to be a part of the family. Since dogs are pack animals, they see their owners as their pack leader. They are constantly looking for direction. Dogs are bubbly and need to be played with daily to keep it happy. However, dog personalities are based on breeds. Some dogs are more serious and are a little more aggressive than others making it harder to train. Cats on the other hand are more independent and territorial creatures; they don’t rely on humans for much other than food and cleaning their litter box.

Not much has to be done to make them happy; cats are content being alone for hours since they are loners. However, there are two different types of cats; impulsive and agreeable. The impulsive cats are skittish, anxious or highly-strung animals. They have traits such as insecure, anxious, fearful of people, suspicious and shy. They're the cats that run for cover when visitors come over. They would rather hide than face the unknown. The other type of cat, agreeable, are social butterflies and get along with everyone.

We count on our pups to sit at our command, bark when someone is coming to the door, and give us lots of kisses, but they do a lot more than that. Every day dogs are trained and hired to be members of the professional world. In today's world animals are used for varieties of things, dogs for example are used as therapy dogs, police dogs, army dogs, detection dogs, assistance dogs, fire dogs, messenger dogs, hunting dogs, herding dogs, and rescue dogs. To elaborate, a therapy dog’s sole purpose is to make people feel better. You often see them at hospitals, retirement homes, classrooms, nursing homes, and disaster relief areas. Therapy dogs make people feel comfortable with physical contact they may not be used to and let them know they aren’t alone during their roughest time.

Therapy dogs chosen for this job; need to be extra gentle and calm. Detection dogs can find just about anything they’re trained to, from drugs to explosives, humans, and even money. Detection dogs can be employed at airports, police stations, and schools. They’re often smelling bags or whatever they are given to track down anything they're told to. Another short example are Assisting dogs. Assisting dogs can help the blind or even mental people who have difficulty getting around, ambulate from place to place. Cats have their own role in the world too. Cats can also be medically therapeutic for illnesses in humans; Chelsy Ranard from the catnip times stated a cat's purr can not only lower stress but it can also help labored breathing, lower blood pressure, help heal infections, and even heal bones. In addition to being therapeutic cats also hunt rodents and are valued by humans for their companionship.

When it comes to protection for your family, dogs can defend your home better than cats. When alerting an intruder is around, cats will often arch their backs and hiss but won't do much to retaliate. Dogs will show warning by barking and baring their teeth, letting the owners know something is there. A large dog with a loud bark may seem like the better watchdog, but smaller dogs do a great job letting others know they are detecting outside noises. Even though small dogs may not be able to physically fight off intruders, but they will certainly alert you about the danger. Many intruders will avoid contact with any dog for fear of being bitten, no matter what the pup's size and the fear of getting caught by their loud alerting barks.

In conclusion cats and dogs have different personalities, different roles in the world, and have different warning sounds when alerting the owners that there is an intruder. Dogs are more social butterflies and are known to be a man's best friend whereas a cat likes to be independent and doesn’t require a lot to be content. Cats are medically therapeutic for humans, hunt rodents, and are valued by humans for their companionships. Since dogs are descendants of wolves, they are pack animals making them want to play a part of a role in the family. Dogs are useful for many things around the world, such as police dogs, therapy dogs, hunting dogs, detective dogs and more. And lastly when it comes to intruders and protection, dogs are your best bet in protecting your home. Dogs will scare off the intruders by barking, alerting their owners something or someone is there. When it comes to choosing a dog, you should consider doing more research to determine which pet is better for you and your family and of course which environment would be best for the pet.