I have this theory. If you self-identify as a dog person, you have stereotypically cat characteristics: self-sufficient, transactional, fickle, aloof. People who prefer cats, meanwhile, are warm, friendly and open with their love. My thinking is that we gravitate to those qualities that we feel we don’t possess. “I envy their insouciant air,” a friend said recently, unprompted, of his love of cats. He just so happens to be the neediest man I know, with a labrador-like ability to see The One in every woman he meets.
Of course, if my pet theory is revealing about anyone, it’s me. Dogs have been my first, longest and most straightforwardly enjoyable love. My first word was “woo-wah”, meaning dog, as I made clear with enthusiastic gestures. About 30 years later, I still delight in pointing out every dog I see – much to the frustration of some. “Yes, yes, it’s a dog!” a boyfriend once burst out, a few months before breaking up with me.
