Growing up I had cats. They spent most of their time outdoors so cuddling on the couch didn't happen often. But they were friendly and, when you whistled, would come running from wherever they were.
I envied my friends who had dogs. My mom wouldn't get a dog for various reasons: Dogs needed constant attention. Dogs dug in the garden. Dogs were too loud. You couldn't go anywhere, (not that we did) with a dog.
There was a brief period of time when I was a teen when we had a dog. A friend asked mom to take one of her late husband's poodles. The little thing cried at the door all day long. Mom couldn't stand it so gave her back.
When my son turned one I knew we had to get a dog. I didn't know anything about dogs. Like I do, I picked up oodles of books on dog training. We had our first computer with a lot of disks for entertainment, but the internet was still not the great resource it is today.
I learned quickly that my mom was correct. Bear was a Rottweiler-Chow-Chow mix and his bark was huge. The times we left him alone in the house he chewed threw so many government furnishings that we learned he needed more attention and a kennel. (I also learned some home improvement skills.) Bear wasn't really a digger, thankfully and we were lucky to have our father-in-law living with us who acted as a live-in dog sitter.
So yes, dogs do require more care than cats, but I wouldn't give up my dog (now dogs, but that's another story) for anything. Besides, I am allergic to cats...who knew.
Jazzy, as you may know, has given me love, attention, happiness, and a hobby that I've turned into a business. She's got some downsides, but as you grow with your pet you learn all their little oddities and how to avoid stressors. Jazzy has a personality and has her own ideas about some things. She definitely communicates when she wants to do something or not. We are a team, a pair, and I love her. She is family!
