Which do you love more - your horse or your dog?

[Patchworkpony]

Which do you love more - your horse or your dog? Tricky question but I'm hoping for some interesting answers. With me it is always my ponies, possibly because I don't mind a big slobbery lick on the face from an affectionate equine but not a dog. As my vet says dogs lick their bums then lick you - think of all those lovely roundworm eggs going into your system! Doesn't mean I never adored my dogs though, but I can't stand people treating them like babies and even letting them lick their ice cream or take a bite out of a jam and cream scone - yes I've witnessed both lately.

 

[alainax]

I never measure love in a league table. I love them all, you can't measure love and there's no need to rank one over the other.

 

[Snuffles]

Dog, I get "love" and companionship from dog, Horse couldnt care less who feeds him, etc.! also he doesnt live in the house with me so not the connection I have with dog

 

[Moobli]

I am a dog person and I adore my dogs. I do love my ponies but don't have the same relationship as I do with my canines - we are a team. Dogs have always been my number one passion. I came to horses a little later in life compared to many, and as I now have ponies that I don't ride that also might have a bearing on it.

 

[Mahoganybay]

I had my horse before I got my dog, and I recall after only having my dog a couple of weeks saying to my friend, if I had to choose between them it would be my horse as he had been with me for longer.

But, I have had my dog for 11 months now (horse 8 years) and he really has wriggled his way into my heart. The devotion of him, he makes me laugh & smile daily basis and gives the best cuddles.

If I was asked again, my dog or my horse, I'm not sure I would give the same answer as last time.

I care for my horse very well, do I love him, hmm, not always, sometimes I don't even like him. He is not going anywhere, but his position in my favour has slipped slightly.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

What a strange question to ask: and one which I'd find very hard to answer if I had to choose between one or the other.

Personally I don't think I could ever say I have more affection for one or the other: to the dogs I'm their Pack Leader and we all get on fine, us dogs together. To the horses I am their Herd Leader, and we are all a Herd together.

The difference is that one lot live in the field, the other lot in the house!!

But as for loving one lot more than the other, nope, it just couldn't ever happen.

 

[Clodagh]

When I hunted and had a horse who made me look like the bees knees (I never was) I loved her the most. now I work a dog that I pick up with I love her the most. I think when you work with something you love it more than when it is a just a pet.

I wouldn't define love as treating something in a stupid manner though!

 

[Patchworkpony]

Really interesting answers. Thank you all so much. I totally agree with Clodagh though - when you work with something you love it more than when it is a just a pet. It's that bond that does it for me - like a good marriage the more experiences you share the more you love each other.

 

[dollyanna]

I think when you work with something you love it more than when it is a just a pet.

I was just thinking how much bearing this had on my feeling in answer to this question. I have a tremendously close relationship with my dog because we have worked hard together, and we work together as a team every day in whatever venture we are currently doing (scentwork now, but previously obedience, HTM, trick training, agility and demoing for training deaf dogs) and so know each other inside out and back to front. It took quite a while for me to like him, and I remember thinking I would never love him, but now the thought of being without him is unbearable.
The ponies are different, I have known them since they were foals, but they are still growing and developing, and much as I love them I know I will love them more as time goes by. The one that is more in work is easier to love, because we do more together. The other I love tremendously at times but he still has a lot to show I think, so I'm sure that will develop. I love them both dearly, and wouldn't be without them, but it just isn't the same depth yet as it is with my boy - we have been through so much together it is like a difficult marriage where you have just stuck by each other and come out the other side still smiling!
I'm sure love is different for each person, but for me it comes from the depth of understanding between myself and another creature, and that can only come with time and working together through thick and thin.

 

[Patchworkpony]

I'm sure love is different for each person, but for me it comes from the depth of understanding between myself and another creature, and that can only come with time and working together through thick and thin.

What a wise comment and thank you.

 

[Chiffy]

That question is like asking which of your children you love most!

Not sure of your comment 'just a pet' either Clodagh. Pets can be very important to people and much loved.

Oh dear, I never get controversial on here!!!

 

[Clodagh]

It was which do YOU love the most though, and I was explaining MY reasons why.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

They both mean very different things to me I think so can't really compare. Dogs are very much part of the family and (I don't work them) I spend a lot of time with them, but there's a lot of dreams and aspirations tied up with a horse and much reward with both.
I could do without the horses if I had to but after being without a dog for just two weeks this year I know I wouldn't want that to happen again. Its a bit like when I'm asked if I'm a cat or dog person-I am not really sure why I have to choose-I like both, for different reasons. Maybe I am just a hopeless liberal.

Its got nothing to do with which one I would let lick my face though.

 

[ihatework]

Couldn't say. It depends on the dog and the horse.
I love both for different reasons. If pushed I'd say I'd probably struggle more with not having horses in my life.

 

[marmalade76]

Horses - no contest!

I didn't want another dog, I'd got used to not having one - the smell, the hair, the dirt both in the house and the car. And having turds on my lawn. I do like dogs, but quite happy just to fuss other people's!

But I was out voted, children wanted one and OH felt that as we'd both grown up with dogs it would be good for the children too. But as the rest of them are at work and school who ends up looking after the dog? Who does the dog hang out with? Yep, me! Just as well she's a very good dog or I wouldn't tolerate her.

I don't like dogs being treated like babies and as a mother I am offened by people who compare dogs to children (there is NO comparison, ever). I also find the licking, sharing food and beds absolutely revolting and dirty (and I am no clean freak!)

 

[Chiffy]

Rather a grumpy post marmalade!
What about people who can't or don't have children? I live alone and my dogs are my company, I would have no one to speak to in the mornings when I get up or a friend in the house after I have been out.

Those of us who love dogs don't all let them on furniture and beds you know. We don't think they are children but they are often better company!

 

[Moobli]

There are loads of similarities between my dogs and my children. Maybe it is the way I have raised them

 

[marmalade76]

Those of us who love dogs don't all let them on furniture and beds you know. We don't think they are children but they are often better company!

Did I say all dog lovers did? No. In fact, from what I have observed, those who claim to be the most dedicated "dog lovers" and claim their dogs are "their children" and share their beds and food with them are often the people who feed their dogs food that is unsuitable or even dangerous to their dog's health, allow their dogs to become over weight and make them linger and struggle on when they should be PTS, even when their vet has advised them to (and yes, I actually know people who have done all this!)

The other aspect of my reply is this - I come from a very doggie family - agility, obedience, showing. Both my parents have treated their dogs better than their children and my sister has gone on to do the same and this plus being a parent myself has strengthened my feelings about it.

 

[Enfys]

I think the relationship between dog and human, horse and human, is different.

Horses are a little like cats, given the right (adequate feed, shelter, maintenance blah, blah, blah ) environment they can cope without daily human interaction, some better than others, dogs on the other hand crave attention .

I am moving to Central America, my dogs are coming with me, my horses are not. Question answered.

I can bear to leave/sell the horses, not the dogs.

My dilemma is my cats - bogstandard barn cats, I moved 5 with me when I moved here, I am NOT leaving them.
I am more of a cat person than a dog person.

 

[Mrs B]

My cats

 

[Apercrumbie]

I utterly adore all my animals and not sure I could rank them. I would describe both my dog and my horse as my "best mate" even if it's in different ways. My cats aren't my best friends but again, I adore them.

And sorry all but I do refer to my animals as "my babies"

 

[Patchworkpony]

Well this thread IS getting interesting - loving so many of the replies.

 

[jenniaddams]

Definitely horse over dog. Cat over dog every time too.

I don't mind dogs - but they are so needy and such suck-ups. I can't stand a dog giving you that 'love me' look. Puppy dog eyes annoy me!
Horses (and cats) don't suck up like that.
And don't even get me started on people who let their dogs lick them, or ice creams, or anything like that. My mother-in-law lets her cat lick the butter straight out the pack as a treat whenever she makes a sandwich. After a bit of stick from the family, she now gives it on a spoon instead...but it's still a human use spoon!

 

[quagga]

Love them all, but the dogs win for me! I am a dog person, have been obsessed with them since I was a child (amazed a woman in a park by identifying her Italian Greyhound when I was about 5).

I adored my pony, I had her for 9 years and cried buckets when I sold her (went away to uni), but if it had been the dogs I had had to rehome I wouldn't have gone to uni!! I can live without horses but not dogs.

My dogs love me, they live in the house, give me cuddles...... and yes boy dog sleeps on my bed.

 

[Patchworkpony]

And don't even get me started on people who let their dogs lick them, or ice creams, or anything like that.

Glad I'm not the only one who finds that unacceptable. A doctor told me once about the number of bacteria on a dog's tongue - you don't want to know!

 

[Tyssandi]

Which do you love more - your horse or your dog? Tricky question but I'm hoping for some interesting answers. With me it is always my ponies, possibly because I don't mind a big slobbery lick on the face from an affectionate equine but not a dog. As my vet says dogs lick their bums then lick you - think of all those lovely roundworm eggs going into your system! Doesn't mean I never adored my dogs though, but I can't stand people treating them like babies and even letting them lick their ice cream or take a bite out of a jam and cream scone - yes I've witnessed both lately.

My horse by a mile easy question for me

 

[Moobli]

Definitely horse over dog. Cat over dog every time too.

I don't mind dogs - but they are so needy and such suck-ups. I can't stand a dog giving you that 'love me' look. Puppy dog eyes annoy me!
Horses (and cats) don't suck up like that.
And don't even get me started on people who let their dogs lick them, or ice creams, or anything like that. My mother-in-law lets her cat lick the butter straight out the pack as a treat whenever she makes a sandwich. After a bit of stick from the family, she now gives it on a spoon instead...but it's still a human use spoon!

My dogs certainly don't suck up to people - you have to earn their respect and affection. They are loyal and faithful.

Dogs are incredible creatures - they work alongside us and protect us, herd sheep and cattle, guard our property and livestock, catch criminals, find lost people in varying conditions - mountains, earthquakes, avalanche, you name it; they save lives, detect bombs, guide the blind; there are hearing dogs, mobility dogs, dogs that detect cancer, that seizure alert, they can find dead bodies and the remains of dead bodies.

I just don't know how anyone can think any less than very highly of dogs

 

[Whizza]

Earlier my horse bucked me off, so I for today love my dogs more...

 

[PucciNPoni]

I've had some lovely horses in my time, and I've had some amazing dogs. But to be totally honest, a horse does not return the same level of affection that a dog does. Dogs are devoted like no other animal, not even human.

I work with dogs, all my current hobbies are about dogs, I live my life around dogs. I have never really felt the same way about horses as I do the dogs - even though for many years I had horses and my dogs were somewhat "neglected" for time as so much of my time was given to the horses. In the end I almost felt resentful of the time I spent away from my dogs.

I could go away on holiday and not particularly miss the horses, but I definitely miss the dogs!

 

[Mongoose11]

I adore my horse, she's my horse of a lifetime but I can say that I love my dog more.