The Doggie Diaries -- Pooch People?

Do "dog people" and "cat people" really exist?

If so, Anna is the former and I am the latter. Before we started dating and I brought my cat, Nora, into her life, Anna had zero interest in kitties.

Similarly, before we began our two-and-a-half-year courtship, I was absolutely uninterested in getting a dog. We never had dogs when I was growing up in St. Paul, and I was scared by their incessant barking and likelihood (in my mind) of possessing rabies.

I brought Nora with me when I moved to New York in 2007, and quickly decided that pooch possession in an urban environment was even more foolhardy. Take, for example, an acquaintance of mine who kept a small dog in her apartment. Since she worked all day and had no yard, she laid out a 3'x3' square of absorbent paper for the dog to poop and pee on during the day. Which he did! Disgusting!

Anna, meanwhile, grew up surrounded by dog lovers who hated cats. Her grandmother would scream "Scat, cat!" whenever one came into view, and Anna's prejudice stayed with her into college. She once engaged her roommate in a spirited debate about the psychological profiles exhibited by cat and dog lovers: He maintained that she was a shallow weakling in need of constant reassurance; she insisted he was a masochist who enjoyed lavishing affection on the unappreciative.

Anna's opinions changed when she got to know Nora, who wasn't aloof like she'd imagined. In fact, the two of them have become fast friends. Meanwhile, I've become convinced that having a Spot in my life could be just the ticket. Anna believes I'll love a highly-interactive, loyal pet, and I expect she'll be right.

Are any of you out there reformed cat or dog people? Is it true that once you go cat, you never go back? Or is a doggy conversion entirely possible?