Dogs

There have been books, films and countless articles on the dogs v cats debate. I've always favoured cats mainly because I like their independent nature and the fact that they take very little looking after. What's more, they don't smell and don't jump up at you and whiddle all over you and put their muddy paws all over your clean clothes. But the main point, and what dog lovers always fail to mention when stating their case, is that cats don't savage you and kill you. Not the domestic variety, anyway.
My anti-dog bias came home to me this week when I was on a run - part of my marathon training. A big mongrel dog ran straight at me causing me to slip on the wet grass and twist my knee. For a few minutes as I ran through the pain, I thought that six months of hard work had suddenly gone down the drain. I rested it for a day and then began a scheduled three-hour run. After 20 minutes the knee gave me shooting pains and I was momentarily in despair. Thankfully, though, I was able to run it off and all appears well now.
But my antipathy towards dogs, guide dogs excepted, remains stronger than ever.