It's not "1,000 wasps or 1 dog", it's "1,000 dogs at once, or "1 dog at once, 1,000 different times". Rare but huge and coordinated siege, or a steady and predictable background radiation of small issues.
The latter is easier to handle, easier to fix, and much more suvivable if you do fuck it up a bit. It gives you some leeway to learn from mistakes.
If you make a mistake during the 1000 dog siege, or if you don't have enough guards on standby and ready to go just in case of this rare event, you're just cooked.
I don't quite see how this maps onto the situation. The "1000 dog seige" also was resolved very quickly and transparently, so I would say it's actually better than even one of the "1 dog at once"s.
The latter is easier to handle, easier to fix, and much more suvivable if you do fuck it up a bit. It gives you some leeway to learn from mistakes.
If you make a mistake during the 1000 dog siege, or if you don't have enough guards on standby and ready to go just in case of this rare event, you're just cooked.