I love dogs. I would have one right now if I could.
Two majors problems with them though :
First, they are loud. Almost all landlord here have banned dogs in their appartment complex.
Second, they are very dependant of you. You just can't leave them alone for a long period. You would have to do lots of training if you want to, and even then, there are high chances it would fail.
You have to take them out when they need to poo/pee, which you can train them to do on a specific area in the house (plastic mat, litter, etc.). As for the food, you just cannot give a lot of food before leaving. All dogs, no matter the breed, no matter the gender, no matter how you raised thejm, they are ALL glutton. If you give them lots of food, trust me, there won't be enough. You can buy a food dispenser, but :
No matter the training you give your dog, if you leave them alone for a long period, call all those training "useless". The stress of not having anyone around will make them panic. They may shit anywhere, they might start eating anything, including your furniture.
Cats, on the other hand, are much more independant by nature. No matter the breed of the cat, they are more independant than dogs. They are quiet. They burry their "waste" by instinct. Most of them will eat only when they are hungry (not glutton in most case).
Also wanted to say, those who say "dogs are more intelligent than cats. Have you ever seen a cat working with cops? A cat trying to find drugs?" Well, the reason has nothing to do with their intelligence. First of all, notice that for most of these jobs, there are specific breeds for them. In most case, cops and border security will work with German Sheperd for their sense of smell. In most case, Labradors will work with blind people due to their intelligence (that is a fact though, this "family of breed" (which include labrador, golden retriever, newfoundland dog) is more intelligent than most other dog breed.)
Dalmatian were working with firefighters a while ago, never knew why actually (Searched online, apparently, it was due to their great speed)
You can also teach stuff to cats. The reason why it may be harder in some case, is that you must find a way to bring you cat to love learning something. If you start teaching to your own 10 years old kid about laws and how to become a good lawyer, but your kid just doesn't care about that, do you think he will learn anything, that what you tell him will stick in his head? It's the exact same thing with a cat.
The difference with dogs, is that they like to learn pretty much anything you are willing to teach them. As long as they are with you, they will be happy.
If you find a way to bring you cat to like to learn something, to make them more receptive to this, they will learn much more easily. When you see videos online of cats doing tricks and you are "oMg thIS cAT iS UNiqUe, I wISh I haD onE lIKe tHAt!1!111!!11!". It is not unique. All cat have the ability to learn, just like all humans have the ability to learn. You just have to find the right way to teach them
