Aug 22nd 2012 08:17 am Guy talk
Am I good or what? On a slow day, I get you fighting about cats and dogs. Well, here’s my contribution. I don’t happen to own a dog now and haven’t for some time. I have, however, lived with and among dogs most of my life. I like dogs. I do have cats, two full-time cats with the total benefit package and one part-time cat. The full-time cats, of course, boss around the part-time cat and watch while he does most of the heavy lifting in the area of pest control. Sort of like the highway department. I would not like being considered “anti-dog,” because I’m not. I have noticed, however, that it is perfectly ok to profess antipathy for cats, but very few people will openly admit to a dislike for dogs because of the vilification that surely would befall them. Score one for dogs, I suppose. I think most of the people who think they dislike cats have never put the necessary effort into a relationship with a cat, and you do have to put in the effort, as has been pointed out already. Dogs do make friends easily. I like them both.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
29 Responses to “Guy talk”
Robb on 22 Aug 2012 at 8:21 am #
Dogs are nice as long as someone else has them. Cats just do their thing and leave you alone most of the time, when we had a dog I felt I was a full time baby sitter. With a cat of course I am just staff.
Galliglo in Ohio on 22 Aug 2012 at 8:56 am #
Yes, Jimmy – you ARE good! You always know how to get us going… you are the catalyst for this group.
Bob, near Mark on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:00 am #
We’ve had dogs and cats, but have neither at the moment. After the last of each passed, we didn’t replace them because they’re a tripping hazard for my elderly mother. After a fall last year resulting in surgery for a shattered femur, and revision surgery this year because the bone didn’t heal the first time, we don’t dare risk another incident.
There are neighborhood dogs that come to visit, and one of my brothers has two dogs and three cats she sees occasionally, so she’s not entirely without.
I love dogs, and I enjoy petting them, but I always feel like I should wash my hands afterward. For some reason I don’t get the same feeling with cats.
nick chik on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:07 am #
Jimmy,
Very PC…have you ever considered running for office?
Mindy on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:29 am #
I love dogs. We usually have one or four canines around the house, but we usually have cats as well. Along with other varied species from hedgehogs onward. For some reasons, cats and dogs have always gotten along well here. I love having a dog plop down with its head in my lap to have its ears scratched, but there’s just something about a warm cat curled up on your shoulders, draped around your neck, purring away in absolute bliss. I can’t imagine a snake or an iguana doing that…
phil in Missoula, MT on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:29 am #
When we were considering moving to Missoula, we asked the realtor if we had to buy a dog. She said yes. Probably 90% of the people around here have dogs and they take them almost everywhere. We have resisted for a number of reasons, one of which is that we don’t want to take one everywere we go.
There is a ‘block cat’ who is on friendly terms with everyone on the block and is hell on the mice, which is nice except that he leaves offerings of mice parts on the doorstep. Not sure where he considers home.
Russel Trojan on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:32 am #
At one time we had a dog, two cats and a bird. Pets from every major food group. They all got along just fine and would often work as a team to get any tidbits that might be left on the counter in the kitchen. Surprising to some, the bird (a cockatiel) was the leader of the pack. He had no fear and would walk among the others with authority. In his mind, his cage was for eating and sleeping.
yooperbill on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:34 am #
People who don’t like cats, come back as mice in their next life.
Actually, I prefer most animals to most people I have met.
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 22 Aug 2012 at 9:58 am #
Galliglo in Ohio -
Yes, JJ is good. He accepts all dogmas.
John in Richmond Texas on 22 Aug 2012 at 10:05 am #
the retro – Arlo – I hear you, I think I’m having that male menopause thing, I have to be careful, though because my wife is older than me, but I think she’s finally sure that I’m not going to run off or anything. I like the ads aimed at couch potato men – take these testosterone pills and you’ll be a stud! We have no dog or cat and the last guinea pig died. I have had cats yowling under my window at night but not nearly as much as neighbor dogs constantly barking. WHY do some people get dogs, put them in a small part of the backyard, toss them food and forget about them? Cats do have the size advantage for owning and taking care of but I could never do that litter box in the house thing, although I suppose you could leave on a small trip and the cat would be fine
John in Virginia on 22 Aug 2012 at 10:49 am #
I second that, yooperbill.
Dave in MA on 22 Aug 2012 at 11:14 am #
John in Richmond Texas, yes, you CAN leave for a couple of days.
We’re doing so today. Leaving to bring our youngest to college (Freshman year) and the cats will be fine until we are back on Friday afternoon.
They’ll have plenty of dry food and water, and we’ll give them some wet food before we leave this afternoon.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 22 Aug 2012 at 11:49 am #
Mindy/Indy- I have one or two really extensive German genealogy sites as well as the usual Ancestry.com and so forth. If you have any desire to do so, I am asking JJ to send you my email address and we can hack something out directly without boring the rest of this fine crew.
When JJ does so, be sure to identify yourself to me in your email!!
JJ, please send my email address to Mindy/Indy if she wants it.
I, too, was stumped by one of the tremendous number of German Johann Schmidt guys.
Norm in Utah on 22 Aug 2012 at 12:09 pm #
Blinky7,
I’m sure JJ also accepts dog pas (paws?), and feline progenitors as well.
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 22 Aug 2012 at 12:23 pm #
I’ve also run into several genealogical walls- a combination of relatives who were poor farmers who did nothing notable and common surnames is a real grind.
c ex-p: I do have an ancestor who came from the Polish/Prussian borderlands. Do your genealogy sites that cover that area? The fluid boundaries of that region has been really frustrating. It doesn’t help that although the ancestor in question was heavily involved in the German community in Baltimore in the 1790′s yet his decendents self-identified as Polish.
Ginger in Auburn on 22 Aug 2012 at 1:55 pm #
I vote for a dog any day, everyday, even though I currently do not have one. We walk our neighbor’s dog! I have contracted with 2 cats for pest control. I agree to feed them and pay for minimal vet for their part in keeping the chipmonks and squirrels population down.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 22 Aug 2012 at 2:10 pm #
Blinky: The one site (having almost 3 million names, it claims) seems to cover that area well. On a map, trace a line from the northernmost tip of the Czech Republic north to the Baltic Sea. On the Poland side of that line are many locales served by this one site. Whether it includes ones specifically of interest to you, I wouldn’t know, of course.
This site goes back centuries. I found several lines of my own ancestry dating from as late as 1850 back to about 1525. It is mostly written in German, but not prohibitively so!
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 22 Aug 2012 at 2:13 pm #
Mindy:
You live in western VA, right? Actually, anywhere in North America would lead me to question “hedgehog”. Hedgehogs are Eurasian, and maybe African [several spp.]. Do you mean porcupine? Do they range that far south? Or is hedgehog a common name for some other mammal in your area?
Mindy on 22 Aug 2012 at 2:55 pm #
eMb, I meant hedgehog.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 22 Aug 2012 at 2:58 pm #
Love cats and dogs, but had issues with dogs getting run over by cars as a kid, so I was hesitant to have one as an adult. The biggest issue was boarding the dog or bringing it along if we leave for a weekend. When we leave for a week, we have somebody come over every other day to feed the cats and pick up the mail.
Dogs are a much bigger responsibility than cats. Except for the weekly litter box change (we have indoor cats) the cats are much less maintenance than dogs. Dogs also bark. That is good for security but bad if they bark late at night. My son has a dog and like grandchildren, I love having the dog over, but glad that I don’t have to take care of him on a daily basis.
Mark in TTown on 22 Aug 2012 at 3:33 pm #
As far as Arlo and dogs, that link to the archived strips answered that. The 1999 strips include a series where Arlo describes growing up with a dog. Arlo says his family had cats, but they weren’t really part of the family. Maybe Ludwig came by way of Janis?
sideburns on 22 Aug 2012 at 5:02 pm #
Thank you, Yooperbill, for that comment. I’ve added it to my list of random signature quotes for Usenet.
Personally, I’ve always been a cat person, but I get along just fine with dogs. Two or three times a year I house sit for a friend who lives down in Studio City and take care of his dog, Sable. She’s a Siberian Husky and needs at least two miles of walk per day. I was down there early this month, and the heat was so bad that I lost six pounds of water-weight while I was there, but Sable got her walk, every single day. Like all dogs, Sable loves chasing squirrels and gophers, and from what I’ve heard, she actually caught one a few months ago.
BTW, if you’re worried about a pet being a tripping hazard, a medium-sized dog like Sable isn’t one. You may find her hard to step around or over, but tripping isn’t likely to be an issue. Depending on your health, of course, walking her might be. Still, her owners are nearing 80 and manage just fine. In fact, they take her uphill to Mullholland Drive and back sometimes, about five miles. I’m just guessing, but she (and earlier huskies) might be the reason they’re still so active.
Mary in Ohio on 22 Aug 2012 at 5:02 pm #
I love both cats and dogs. As I’ve aged, I find I like the cats more and more (though not the dogs less) Maybe this explains why there are fewer young Crazy Cat Ladies. And maybe as one ages, one gets more amused by the attitude of cats, vis a vis the attitude of the humans you have encountered.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 22 Aug 2012 at 7:50 pm #
Mindy: Sorry, I was thinking, with no justification, that you were talking about wild critturs used as pets. The reason is simple: I and lots of other mammalogists have done that, where it is or was legal. My wife and I have had captive golden-mantled, Belding’s, and white-tailed antelope ground squirrels, American red squirrels, woodmice, porcupines [one for 9 years], and probably others. Some we have shared with the biology dept. where I taught. Also domestic rabbits, but they were livestock, not pets. Were your hedgehogs the pygmy species I’ve seen in pet shops?
Ghost Rider 6 on 22 Aug 2012 at 7:56 pm #
Yes, I’m sure cats are cleaner than dogs, what with being covered with dried cat saliva and all.
For the record, I like both…I’ve had a number of dogs over the years, and several cats have had me.
Good to hear from you today, John. Of course, I knew that Mindy wouldn’t actually do you any harm…at least not using any method she didn’t devise herself.
yooperbill on 22 Aug 2012 at 8:41 pm #
Ginger in Auburn:
I believe the PC term is “Rodent Control Engineers.”
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 23 Aug 2012 at 6:56 am #
c ex-p-
Do you have the name of the web site?
Burns on 23 Aug 2012 at 4:53 pm #
Ok, I’ll step up and say it: “I don’t like dogs”. I have friends who love their dogs, and that’s ok. For all I know, my kids may get dogs. I love my friends and kids, and I do or will love their dogs for their sake. That does not mean that I like 70 pounds of fur that runs at me, jumps up on me (“Oh, he’s just being friendly!”) and either slobbers on me, molests me (you know what I mean) or both. Nor constant yapping (“He’s just lonely”).
There is a dog that I really like and that is my neighbor’s dog. She’s a female named Spike. She is quiet, and friendly. She comes over to see me when I go to the mail box. We commune a bit, sometimes I pet her, and then I tell her it’s time to go home. She goes. What a dog!
Jerry in Fl on 24 Aug 2012 at 6:55 am #
We are allowed to live with and care for 3 cats, a brother and sister and one adopted little sister. They are indoor cats, except for evenings when the girls like to go on the screened back porch and exchange kitty girl gossip. Also in the late afternoon I let them on the front porch while I sit on a rocker and keep an eye on them. That is their time for pest control duty as they look for lizards, bugs, worms, etc, none to be consumed but only played with until they expire. During that time the neighbors are allowed to bring leashed dogs by to visit and the cats, especially Elvis, will approach them and say hello. Most of the dogs are curious and friendly. If one of them seems slightly aggressive or too loud in saying hello a verbal warning from Elvis along with a display of his teeth usually will suffice to calm them down. They love puppies and a friendly game of chase around the yard is enjoyed by all. Some people are amazed that they come when called and go inside when told to do so. Knowing that kitty treats followed by canned dinner will be forthcoming no doubt helps in that regard. As a group they operate like a pride of lions with Cilla waking me and making sure that breakfast is served at whch time Elvis rouses himself in time to make sure that he has dibs on the best parts although the girls are allowed to eat in his presence, possibly due to my presence at times to assure that everyone gets a fair share. They have distinct personalitys and Cilla especially is excellent in communicating her desires either vocally or by sign language. Woe is me if I ignore her when she tells me that it’s time to brush her. I never had cats before but I also never had the opportunity to raise children and they are the children that I have now.