Top 5 Reasons to Have a Dog (Instead of a Cat)

So, I have two cats and a dog. This leads to massive insanity, especially as our dog is part-Beagle and often has cases of the "crazies," running around and doing laps in the living room. One of our cats thinks he's a dog. The other cat is a total diva, who was so thrilled when she wound up left alone in our house when Baby was born, as Dog was at the kennel and the other cat was also at the kennel because he required medication. She thought we got rid of everyone else and kept her. Imagine the fit she threw when we not only came home with a baby, but also the rest of the animals!
Anyway, the last several days, I have started to realize that I have become a dog person. I used to be a cat person. Boy Cat is my very first real pet, ever. He's going on like 12 now, but he was the very first animal with hair I've ever cared for. And I loved him like nobody's business for a while, but now he much prefers Husband over me.



I've found myself drawn more and more to Dog, who is also a little crazy, but has a lot of qualities that the cats lack, so I thought I'd share my top 5 reasons to have a dog as a family pet instead of a cat.

5. Dogs go to the bathroom outside. Sure, you have to pooper scoop on occasion, but it's much less gross than cleaning the litter box.
4. Dogs actually like to show affection. Dog is happy to see me whenever I come home (though he's also really anxious when I leave). Boy Cat thinks he's a dog, so sometimes he shows affection, but Diva Cat rarely shows affection.
3. Dogs provide companionship and want you to be their master. Cats just want you to be their slave.
2. When your 10-month-old baby leans in to hug the dog, the dog doesn't run away so fast that the baby wins up hugging air and smacks his head on the coffee table.

And the number one reason to have a dog (instead of a cat)???

1. Dogs do not get hairballs. Especially the spite kind, where the cat aims the hairball into your favorite pair of shoes or your spot on the couch or on Baby's toys or where-have-you. Super-yuck.