Dog People v Cat People

I’m a mellow dog, but sometimes an article comes out that really gets my hackles up. Take for instance this piece of journalism discussing the psychology of dog people vs. cat people. We all know there’s a big difference between the two sets of owners, but not so according to the researchers.

There may be no such thing as a “cat person” or a “dog person” after all.

A new study by Ball State University has found that matching yourself with a pet suited to your personality may be more important than whether that pet is a cat or dog.

Let me clear this up. There is a big difference between a cat person and a dog person with the biggest being cat people are narcissistic and smell funny.

The study of 266 pet owners found that a majority of cat owners see themselves as having cat-like personality traits, such as being independent and being at the center of attention, while most dog owners believe they have the characteristics of canines, such as being friendly and social.

I have a different theory. Owners are just like clay, ready to be molded into what their pets want them to be. Even cats have this transformational ability. Take for instance my old man. When we go on a walk he’d prefer to ignore the world all the while asking me, “Wanna go poopie?” How humiliating is that? It’s me that broke him out of his shell by introducting him to other dogs and humans. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great wingman, but you certainly wouldn’t have wanted him leading your pack if fun is what you were after. Today, thanks to me, he’s an extrovert based on the Briggs-Meyers personality test.

Woodward offers advice for those looking for a cat or dog:

“… ‘cat people’ should seek independent pets that are also low on submissiveness while ‘dog people’ should seek pets high on friendliness and low on dominance,” she said.

I guess my parents got lucky on the friendliness front, but not so much on the dominance part. In fact I have to go upstairs now and untie my father from his chair. Hey, somebody has to be the alpha dog in this family.