[GuardianCaveman]

You have to keep a dog on a leash because it wants to explore the world around it. You can train a dog to be by your side no matter what which you definitely cannot do with a cat which definitely needs a leash no matter how hard you’ve worked for its approval.

Cats won’t alarm you if a stranger sneaks into your tribes living area or your apartment. I have a 10 pound mix and I guarantee you she would take on a thousand pound grizzly knowing it was fruitless but in order to protect her pack including me. A cat is going to just run away from things like that and yeah I’ve seen the cat saves toddler from bobcat stories but those are the exception and probably more related to territorial. Who do you want a person who was raised to be a loyal friend and would sacrifice themselves for you or a person who is fickle and hard to win approval of and even when you do win their approval they start eating you within a few hours of your death.

[mingus88]

Dogs have all kinds of behaviors.

Not all dogs can be trained to stay next to you. At least, not by all owners

I have a husky mix whose prey drive means he will charge at other dogs, kids, usually playful but not always. Positive reinforcement is meaningless because he cares more about the chase than any treat.

Also dog owners don’t seem to understand that the sweet loving animal they have at home can be very aggressive towards anyone not part of their pack

I have had off-leash dogs start scrapping with mine on walks and I GO OFF on those owners. 100% of the time they never apologize and tell me how gentle their dog is

Well lady, your dogs charged mine, barking and growling. And and I don’t like breaking up dog fights.

Point is dogs and owners come in all kinds. Lots of bad ones out there.

[fleebee]

You can go on walks with a cat without a leash. I do it every night. It's a bit different to walking a dog, sure, but he never strays too far from me. It might not be for everyone, but it works for us.