I was honestly a cynophobe for a year thinking of how dogs were everywhere and after several bad experiences with dogs. I’ve only had one good experience with dogs. Every other dog owner I’ve known has done nothing to train their dogs, so I’ve dealt with things like dogs who peed when they got excited, dogs who were constantly growling, dogs who were constantly anxious, dogs not on a leash AND unattended at the same time, etc. and it was ALWAYS passed off as cute. No. It isn’t. And then the dog was pushed on me anyway. I don’t see dogs as friendly so much as I see them as overly attached and anxious.
There’s also some push to allow dogs, not emotional support dogs but regular untrained pets, everywhere like restaurants, workplaces, etc. which truly makes me cringe. Some people even dress up their pet dog like it is an emotional support animal and lie about it, because there isn’t much regulation there, and people are honestly too open to allowing dogs everywhere. It does not happen like this with cats.
The one good experience I had was ironically with this old dog and a puppy. I was stunned that the puppy was so well-behaved. Iirc, she was actually trained to sit. The amount of dogs who I’ve seen told to “sit” who blatantly ignore it is ridiculous. These dogs were like two best friends. The older dog was a bit nervous, but calm. The puppy was curious and friendly, but not overly energetic. They were both welcoming to me, a total stranger who probably had the scent of cat on. But they weren’t jumping all over me. They had a noisy tool right next to them, but didn’t jump or do anything inappropriate or annoying. When dogs are actually calm like that, they seem awesome, but that’s the only time I’ve had such an experience.
Cats I love very very much. A cat has never genuinely bothered me, I’ve always had cats, etc. I’ve never known a bad cat owner. Stray cats suck, but that’s a failure of the council/animal control more than it is on the animal to me. Sometimes it can be a little lonely if your cat wants alone time, but that’s ok. And the respect needed for a cat, to pay attention to its body language, etc. and the moments where a cat really is affectionate, make it feel very rewarding and genuine to me.
I don’t like us and them isms but there’s no competition. Cats are so much better. Dogs are genuinely annoying to me.
my cat is my baby and I totally adore him 
My family had dogs and cats growing up so I like and am used to both but I vastly prefer cats. I connect to them more and they are cuter.
