These two herding dogs love their couch and their kitty.
Dogs and cats often get along splendidly. But not all dogs love cats, and not all cats like dogs. In this case, the best advice is everyone else's advice.
Please COMMENT and share your experience of introducing cats to dogs and vice-versa.
Things to consider sharing:
Who was in the house first?
Was the cat/dog around other dogs or cats as a kitten/pup?
Was the cat the decider (just hated the dog)?
Was the dog the decider (could NOT stop chasing the cat)?
Did you use a management device--gate, door, cat escape tree?
Who did you confine?
What helped the situation the most?
When did you feel everything was OK?
When did you realize it wasn't gonna work?
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Anonymous
December 11, 2008, 1:33 pm
Oh boy, I can say a lot about this one. We were a one dog, three cat home until recently when we decided to get a second dog. Our first dog had been with us about five months and while she and the cats weren't the best of friends, lets say they were cordial. She didn't pay much attention to them, and they didn't pay much attention to her. They could at least stand to be in the same room together!
When we brought the second dog in, he was a chaser, big time. With some great training help and advice from Kelley, we managed to alleviate the chasing and increase the tolerance some. We used a gate at first, so they could see each other, and lots of treats/clickering for both the new dog and the cats while in each others presence, and eventually our two male cats and the new dog (also male) were pretty much OK with each other.
But, our female cat, the most skittish and shy of the three, was more susceptible to the chasing and unfortunately reacted in a negative way by using our den as her litter box. I think the second dog knew she would run if he chased her, and took advantage of that "fun" which was terribly frightening for her. After having him for a more than a month, chasing her improved but still happened regularly, just not all the time. This was when we realized he may not be the right dog for us, and we made the tough decision to take him back to his old foster home. Since then, our frightened cat is back to normal which is great.
Anonymous
December 23, 2008, 2:12 am
It's really quite a challenge to bring all types of pets together.Lots of people are bringing home second dogs this season as gifts to their kids. Speaking of Christmas and pets, I found this cool site today, http://www.petcentric.com/crittercarols/?DCMP=RAC-PETC-DogTm-Carol08&HQS=Blog. It allows you to create animated e-cards featuring a chorus of singing and dancing pets that bark or meow your favorite holiday songs. What's more fun is that you can even use your friends' or your own pet's photos. I sent one to my friends, and boy, it was a sure hit!
Anonymous
March 13, 2009, 3:50 pm
I have a seven-year old cat who was raised with a basset. When that dog died we got a westie pup who chased the cat, so the cat attempted to lure the dog onto the road- he eventually succeeded and the dog was killed. He did the same thing with a neighbour's dog, who also chased him. The dislike was mutual. The dogs were playing, not hunting so we felt no need to confine them- the cat had to aggravate the dog to get her to chase him onto the road. I think the moment we realised it wasn't going to work was when the cat came home and the dog didn't.
Fortunately the next westie and the labrador both get on with him very well (they were also brought into the house as pups).
Kelley Filson, CTC, CPDT
March 17, 2009, 11:33 am
San Francisco, CA
I'm sorry it did not occur to you sooner that your animals, for whatever reason, should not play in the road. Fences, leashes, gates, and supervision can never be replaced -nether can the life of the dog's whose was lost.
