A dog's loyalty is the point, not a consolation prize

The clever line is that a cat's love means more because it is withheld. It is a clever line and it is wrong.

A dog offers its loyalty without auditioning you for it, and unconditional is not the same as cheap. A dog gets you outside, gets you moving, gets you talking to strangers at the park; it is a standing invitation back into the world. It reads a bad day off your posture and simply stays close. 'You have to earn it' is a story we tell to make aloofness sound like depth.

Given the choice between an animal that tolerates you and one that is overjoyed you came home, the overjoyed one is not the naive pick.