I beg to differ on this point. You may be correct about old-school dog folks, but there is a whole different world out there now. Most folks I know from the training club I work at, the flyball team I’m on, the agility school I take classes at, and the breed clubs I know of are quite liberal.
The mindset of “control over all” is changing. Newer training and working methods emphasize working as a team, in a partnership with the dog. Clicker training and free shaping rely on the dog trying new actions and being rewarded for it. Venues like APDT Rally-O competitions reward you more for having a dog that is having a good time than having a dog that is a robot. Maybe this is why there is a whole new breed of lefty dog people out there!
To answer the OP - Our household is two way-left women, with 2 dogs and 2 cats, all spoiled rotten and loved greatly. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m a conservative dog person. At least I don’t know a dog who owes me any money. I’m thinking of owning ferrets rather than a dog or a cat when I next move, though.
Wow. You really have us dog owners read wrong. I like to share the love, like to get down and dirty and play, saved my dog from certain death from the pound, and had fun with my buddy. (He died last month). Do I sound like a conservative to you now?
Raised Republican (I got better though) and we always had dogs.
Married Democrat and into a liberal-leaning set of inlaws, who have always had cats. (as did we, before my immune system reacted to the threat by attempting self-destruction).
We have guinea pigs now. What does that make us? Libertarians?
OK, I do own cats - I even like one of 'em most of the time - but they came with my marriage. So I still consider myself a “Big Dog Liberal”.
However, Napier might be onto something, because as a card-carrying “dog person”, I have noticed that the primary difference between dog and cat people is the attitude about how much control one has over one’s pets. Dog people, IMHO, tend to believe that anyone can be trained, and look askance at people whose pets behave badly. Cat people, on the other hand (again, IMHO) tend to figure that they can’t control anyone else and are more willing to adjust their own behavior as needed (for example, hanging all of the ornaments on the uppermost 2/3 of the Christmas tree instead of trying to train the damn cat to leave the damn tree alone).
One thing dog and cat people have in common, however, is a tendency to blame themselves when something goes awry. Dog people blame themselves for failing to train the dog properly; cat people blame themselves for failing to adjust to the cat’s demands.
You could also say cats are independent rugged individualists while dogs are completely focused on handouts from above. I think you could spin it either way.
We’ve had lots of animals – cats, a dog (pit bull no less), numerous small parrots, fish, and a chinchilla recently – many, many pets in the morew distant past.
Our politics? The more animals I meet, regardless of species, the more green my politics are becoming.
winterhalk, you sould really make those five go out and earn there own living. Are there no mice? Are there no small flightless birds???
This has been a very interesting thread. I guess in many way inspired by this site. Which has to be agreed has a liberal bent, and a thing for cats (I just came here from a kitty thread).
Still wondering if there isn’t some (vague) corillation between liberals liking wanten independent cats and conservatives prefering nice dependable dogs.
Well, she barks. Other than that I don’t know for sure
I’m pretty sure she couldn’t care less about politics, even if we gave her a vote.
She’s pretty absent-minded.
Very liberal. Love dogs. Dislike cats intensely. I look askance at single women with cats. Yes, it’s a prejudice, but, you know, there’s a grain of truth in there.
