“The cat is such a perfect symbol of beauty and superiority that it seems scarcely possible for any true aesthete and civilized cynic to do other than worship it.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, Cats and Dogs

When I was a tiny child, I harbored the belief that all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. I’m not sure how I formed that notion, but when I mention it in conversation, sometimes there’s another person who also remembers thinking that. The first family pet we had joined the household when I was about seven years old – a male cat – and I had to abandon my theory.

“The dog appeals to cheap and facile emotions; the cat to the deepest founts of imagination and cosmic perception in the human mind.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Cats and Dogs

I was afraid of dogs for many years. When I was five or six years old, I was running on the shore of Lake Michigan in front of our family cottage when an Irish setter spotted me and presumably thought I was a potential playmate. He started running toward me, and I started running away, probably screaming. I could hear an adult voice in the distance yelling, “King! King! Come back!” When the dog caught up to me, he jumped up and knocked me over. I was sure I was about to be eaten. The dog’s owner finally appeared and told me that King was a friendly dog and calmed us both down a bit. But I wanted nothing more to do with dogs for a long, long time. In fact, it wasn’t until my adult children had their own dogs that I really began to learn to trust and bond with canines.

At this point in my life, I find myself stepping in to care for friends’ pets when they are traveling. I have learned a lot from my kids about pet care and pet psychology. There’s a sweet reality TV show produced in the U.K. call “The Dog House” which films the matching of rescue dogs with people searching for canine companions. The backstories on each episode illustrate that we are all searching for safety and love, even as we are all uniquely quirky.

Dogs and cats provide a very important service to us humans by teaching us compassion and responsibility. Learning to love and care for a living being that doesn’t look like you, speak your language, eat the same foods or behave in the ways you would is a very important developmental process. I think it helps us be better parents and citizens of the world.

May I update my theories when evidence proves them inaccurate. May I be at least as kind to other humans as I would be to pets.

Our Challenge host this week, Tina, has put together a stunning display of photos of cats and dogs both tame and wild. Do visit to see for yourself! Click HERE.