I come from a typically cat owning family, although my sister and her boyfriend in Oz have a wonderful Springer Spaniel named Max. My take on it, is that Cats are generally low maintenance, and can be left mostly to themselves (especially if you have a cat flap on the door), while a Dog like max needs to be fussed over, and part of everything that you are doing. Also, he can't stand to be left on his own. I suppose as a gun Dog (as a bredd, not that he is used as such), he naturally is needing more exercise and all that.