EXTENDED TO 16th Group Discussion Contest 4th January 2012 to 10th January 2012!

Here are some fun facts about dogs:
-dog was one of the first animal domesticated by humans.
-dog was the first mammal to go into outer space,
-It is a myth that dogs are color blind. They can actually see in color, just not as vividly as humans.
-A one year old dog is as mature, physically, as a 15 year old human
-Dogs have no sense of “time”
-They are naturally submissive to any creature with higher pack status – human or canine
-A dog’s smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than that of a human’s
-The world’s smartest dogs are thought to be (1) the border collie, (2) the poodle, and (3) the golden retriever
… while the dumbest dog is believed to be the Afghan hound

I think if loyalty is what you are looking for than go for dogs because they are the most loyal of all animals and their loyalty is what has been talked about since ages.

And if you want to learn self love then go for cats, they are the smartest animals and very well know how to safeguard them. Cats are smart but don't expect loyalty from them.

I feel both cat and dogs are same but our elders says that dog will have alot faith . The dog and cat are loyal to its owner

I feel both cat and dogs are same but our elders says that dog will have alot faith . The dog and cat are loyal to its owner

I think cats won't be as loyal as dogs.

Dogs have very well developed senses, they can sense and smell more sharply, sniffer dogs are kept in police for the same reason.

The dogs are more usefull than cats.Dog's are the human best friends as they help for humans very much than cat but cat's not help to human's many dogs will give their life for their owners.

They help us in searching the theives with their nose but they cannot see clearly.

When we talk of friendliness, enmity or other emotional relations with animals, this is not exactly like human relations. Neither a dog nor a cat nor any other animal can really be man's friend. every animal is a distinct creature and not made as man's friend or enemy.

After discovering use of an animal, we domesticate them and use to our advantage. Thus stray dogs are not our friends. Having discovered the various qualities of dog, we domesticated, trained and used for various purposes like play, watch keeping, detective work etc. This is also about other animals like cows, oxen, horses whom we domesticated for our own purpose. In a way, we consider all useful animals as our friends and harmful animals as our enemy. Thus mosquito is our enemy and lizard our friend.

As for my opinion I feel that cat is a better pet than a dog

Cats are funny, smart and every enthusiastic. They are not like dogs who wait for someone to say something and then do.

I myself had an experience about cats.

My sister adopted a stray kitten and named it 'whiskey'. Whiskey was well trained to behave as my sister has a penchant for cleanliness. It would stay in a corner if my sister is not around. When my sister leaves to work, it also leaves and likewise when she arrives,it also arrives. There has been times where her neighbors reported that whiskey was hiding near their door because my sister was not around.

It was almost like a dog but a noiseless one. It played fetch with us, buttered our legs and mewed that was soft to our ears. I had a really wonderful experience with a cat

Moreover, due to the present age; we prefer to stay in a community that is noise free and free from mice. Cats are a better bet as they like not only the place, but also the owner. It will scratch unknown predators and catch mice with ease. It is a very good pet for those who likes to cuddle, as cats love to snuggle. Cats dont bark like dogs do in middle of the night and they are noiseless when compared to dogs.
Dogs on the other hand barks in middle of the night and may disturb you with its presence. Yes, i agree there are many good aspects of a dog , but most of the time dogs stink and it is very difficult to get it cleaned.
Cats are seen cleaning themselves and always ready for action. They donot need to be told what is to be done, so when cats try new things, we get inspired to try new stuff too.Cats dont mess around licking everyone like dogs. This way we can assure our self of noise free and mess free environment.

For safeguarding purposes we need dogs, if the couple is old and living aloe than dog can be their guard and it gives them a feeling of safety. Dogs if trained properly are very obedient and they would follow their owners and would stay with them till their last breath.

The category of animals as friends or foes is misleading. There can be friendship only between persons of equal status. There are only two types of animals- wild (free) and domesticated(slave).

The human decides how to use an animal. The dog is useful for play, tricks, spying etc. Thus, we may consider dog as man's friend. There is a proverb- a friend in need is friend indeed. Dog never deserts. So dog is friend. Some members have also referred to man as 'master'. A master is never a friend. In this sense, a dog or any animal can be only slave or living toy and not a friend.

Dogs are useful not in our house but also when they are trained,they could guard and might be well useful to check dangerous and poisonous things,which can't be checked by humans easily.
Neighbors definitely don't like noise of barking of dogs,but if a person is good enough to tell the dog when to bark and when not to bark,then it can make things it easy to work.
A hybrid of dog doesn't not make things worse. If we bring those dogs in our house,which are well trained and had adapted to live in such environment where they are taught to behave well with humans,then it makes things easy for neighbor as well as the owner.

I donot understand why dogs are mentioned only for old people?

Have you lived with old people? They dont like noise, they like less disturbance and they dont have energy to move around.

What about dogs for young people? what about dogs for the present age generation?

First of all we donot have time to look after our own self, how will you buy a dog and take care of the dog?

Do you know if you leave a dog alone in the house, it will mess the house thinking that you have gone. There is so much hard work when raising a dog for this kind of generation.

If people are addicted to online sites, how are you going to take care of a dog?

Answer me?

(This is a discussion right,why are everyone posting like essay writing competition?)

I Agree with most of points made by Swetha. Once, i had a dog when posted at Shillong. One day, the dog was alone inside the house. On return, I found that many things had been damaged. A dog also cannot remain alone.

Basically, a dog is an animal and neither friend nor foe. A dog needs be trained for particular purpose or persons. Swetha rightly commented that old men and young have different needs. So dogs also have to be trained differently.

The dogs or cats are just living assets and not friends or foes. Their suitability depends on circumstances.

What is the reason for having a pet in our family ? The reason is that if we like a pet,we like to own it and make a good relation with that. We make a relation that doesn't know our language and the pet also adapt in our life.
Cat and dogs both are pets. Cat is good pet,and Cat's skin is so smooth and very fury and also Cats likes to be clean and tidy,so many people would like to be with Cat,especially girls.
Dog's skin is also good,but Boys would definitely like to Own a Dog. Dogs can make a good connection with us and lot of love could be share between them indirectly,without any language. Dog can understand us what we feel. Protecting our house is another issue which is not the only reason of having it.

Swetha,you did wrote good points,which i agree to all of them. But, i wanted to say that mostly now a day,we buy a trained dogs and they don't mess up our house,as they had already taught that how to live with humans.
There are many hybrid available which are very good in nature.
I don't think we need to take care a lot for the dogs. Feeding,bathing,taking care of toilets and more small little things, that's it !
We create a small house for dogs outside and inside of our house and he/she plays there. If a dog is small,then the messing up issue goes.

Well the topic is really different and something special for this New Year. :cheer:

I appreciate that all the members have taken interest in posting their opinions.

Regarding companionship, I cannt agree with gulshan ji as he told that it should be done with persons of equal status. Friendhip does not have any barrier. I hope gulshan should agree with that.

Ya, but i will agree that the word friendship here will be misleading if the category is not selected between domestic and wild animals. But still I feel that wild animal are also treated as friends by some daring human ( which we can see in National Geography channel), where a man traines and even sleeps with lions as he consider them as companions.
By the way the topic is between cats and dogs, so we have to select between these two. Personally I like dogs as companions rather than cats. The reason for this, dogs are considered as sincer, lovable and friendly animal. Even some people like cats as they think that they are sincer and efficient like dog. But after seeing some cats i feel that though they have some good qualities they are not at all trustable.

U agree with Sarala that friendship is not necessarily between persons of equal status. But friendship is not consistent with master slave relationship. You are owner of dog, which is your pet and asset. As such, this is not friendship as commonly understood. But even then, we play with a dog and enjoy the company. Hence, we can say that dog is our friend.

Swetha,
Cats dont bark like dogs do in middle of the night and they are noiseless when compared to dogs.
Swetha i think even cats purr or shout in strange manner and it is more irritating than dog bark. However, both of them use to convey some danger or if they have any pain. Both of them cause distrubance which is to be taken in consideration.And regarding noise pollution, it is unavoidable and is not so severe than human created noises. :)

but most of the time dogs stink and it is very difficult to get it cleaned
I agree that dogs stink sometime if they are untrained and it will be headache for the owner to clean them. Cat have unhealthy eating habits and they eat everything for instance, my neighbours had a cat which once ate cockroaches and vomitted in our coridor. :huh: It really took us 4 hours to clean that place.Then how can you confirm that they are clean..animals do not have attitude to be clean.

When comparing about cleanliness, gestures and habits, trained pets would differ from stray pets. Proper training can make dogs as well as cat good personality and owner may not have any headache except their exceptional love.

I want to conclude about my opinion regarding suitability for companionship with humans between dogs and cats --which is DOGS. Here companionship includes loyality, security and relationship. Dogs are loyal than any other animals and they even do not eat without the permission of their owner, which is not in the case of cats. I agree that for funny and enthusiatic pet we can choice cats but people who wants more other than these will like dogs. Anyone expect his/her companion to protect them too,which is possible only in case of dogs. So, for better companionship Dogs can be the best choice. :)