Why (farm) dogs rule.

There has long been a war between cat and dog people over what pet was the better of the two.
I am here to tell you why dogs win.

First off let me be clear, I have lived with both pets my whole life, I had loved many a cat, cried when they died of old age, and cherished them for their gifts.
This is who I would choose if forced.
Dogs are better!

First off dogs (usually) don't go to the bathroom in the house!
(Good training helps.)

Side note: dogs, with proper training also tend to be much more polite than cats.

Cat litter boxes are gross! They smell and need to be cleaned far too often. Even with our cat who lives outside a big chunk of the time, we still need to clean his box.
 I repeat it's gross!

Our dog, on the other hand, gives me 'the look' asking to go outside, I open the door and let him out and that's it I'm done!
 I understand people in cities have to pick up their dog's poo with little baggies. 
That too is gross!

 Farm dogs do not need this cleanup crew, they only need to be let out, here they have a 130-acre bathroom. 

Our dog is very shy and he prefers to go in the woods behind the ferns in private, and I am grateful for this.

The one time I did have to pick up his poo, when we were camping, he looked at me with this expression on his face and I knew he was thinking- "Mom! What are you doing!"

Also when we took our dog to the vet because he seemed under the weather, they ask me how his bathroom habits were, I had no idea! 
I'm okay with this, I really am.

 I have Family members who treat their dogs as if they were children and I mean really as if they were children. They would even update us on their bathroom habits and how colored their little poopies were.
 I love this family member very much but I could not stand this, I do not need to know how your dog poops were this morning, thank you very much!

I've heard pro-cat people argue, dogs chew things and the cats do not. 
This is not true. first of all, I have had many a cat chew something that they were not supposed to chew, for instance, when I was young my Barbie's hair. They threw it up on my bed later that day.

Puppies only chew things that they're not supposed to if they have not been given enough proper chew toys and Direction on what is okay to chew and what is not.
 They also need lots of choices, because as with children they bore of something quickly, so lots of chew toys for the little guys when they are teething.
Also, for the record, I have never lost a single pair of shoes to a puppy dog. I have however found decapitated mice in my shoes, along with Chipmunks and other things placed there by, Guess Who the cat!

I have also heard the argument by pro-cat people that cats are cleaner. My answer to this is, um no! 
Cats crawl in behind things where it is Dusty and cobwebbed and they chase rats and mice. They go to wear those rodents have been and come out with their poop stuck to their paws, That's gross! 
Dogs also do not walk on you with cat-pan paws. 
As far as I know, I've never seen a dog dip its paws into the toilet and then jump up on my bed, but our cat does!

dogs are also much easier to bathe their for easier to keep clean, also our dog swims a lot so he tends to keep clean "mostly," on his own.

I've also heard the argument that cats are better groomers, this is not always the case.
We have a long haired cat that constantly gets mats because he does not groom his hair. We have to cut and brush the mats out to keep him up. 
My dog, however, trims his own nails with his teeth, pulls his own burdock out of everywhere he can reach, and if he can't reach the burdock, he comes to me and asks for help.

Meanwhile, we have to hold our cat down in a towel and try to brush him, he doesn't like it!

I've also heard people say they do not like how codependent dogs are.
I love that my dog loves me. I love to be greeted at the door and have somebody excited that I'm home. (Although truth be told my husband's always happy when I'm home to.)
All though, I believe this is attached to personally and treatment, you can make your dog codependent if you want to, I don't recommend it.

Please do not think that I am one of those people that needs a dog's approval to be okay with who I am because I don't! 

The only approval I need to be okay with who I am is on my own, and I have that.

 I love dogs because we have a mutual love and admiration for each other, and I love that my dog seems to know what I'm thinking. He knows me, he knows who I am at a deeper level than most humans. (discluding my husband from this statement)
Jack, (the dog) just gets me because we are very much the same.

I connect very well with animals on most levels, but dogs are special.

It's very rare that we do not bring our dog with us but the few times we do leave him home what happens as soon as we open the door? 
Both the cat and dog are there but the cat runs out and disappears into the woods, acting as if he was dying waiting for us to open the door like, "its about time!"
The dog, however, Wiggles his tail and greets us with a smiling face.

I understand that there are a lot of wonderful cats in the world and they have a lot of great things about them, but I have known many cats in my life and only a handful of them weren't jerks.

Our current cat is a jerk, he scratches and bites and growls and annoys. He comes in smelling like skunk and lays on the sofa, or Worse the bed! Then he tries to attack you when you try to wash the skunk off.

Yeah, Whiskers is a little bit of a jerk.

I have met very few dogs that were jerks. Most of them are kind and friendly and loving and willing to be your friend without question of what kind of person you are, at times to their detriment. This is also part of why I love dogs. They are so optimistic and trusting and easy to please. Some dogs can size up a person actuarily in a few seconds, I listen to my dogs when they don't like someone, you can learn a lot from them.

I still don't know what would please my cat, sometimes I think it's a can of tuna but half the time he won't eat it, so I still don't know.

 Dogs can be trusted with your deepest darkest Secrets.
They don't tell you when you're wrong, they don't judge you when you're sad, they don't make fun of you because you're imperfect. They love you regardless of all those things, they might even love you because of them.

Our two farm dogs recognize the sounds of all of our vehicles, from four-wheelers to our tractors. They are smart enough to know that is us coming up the driveway or across the field. They bark at strangers vehicles, but not ours.  Meanwhile are cats run frantically away from anything with wheels, and it doesn't matter who's driving, or how many times they've seen it. The fact that we've never hit them or even gotten close to that doesn't seem to matter. scaredy-cats!

Dogs protect you and your animals, they are intelligent skilled and good at their jobs. 

I'm not arguing that cats are not smart because they are, I just don't think they give a flying fig. 
 I have never seen a cat fight off a bear to save their person, bring a herd of sheep around to save the farmer the trouble, or protect the farmer from an angry bull.

Farm Dogs make our lives safer, fuller, better!
Farm dogs are awesome!