Any tips for dog and cat getting along

[Olivers mama]

You have the same exact problem we had & Rowdy's method works. At least, it did for us. GSD Rescue people said Ziva was "good with cats". That was an important factor for us, as we have 4 housecats. And 1 of those was born crippled (Oliver) & I did NOT want anything to happen to him. Well, the rescue people must've beern looking at another dog, cause Ziva went postal every time she saw a cat. Her crate would bounce & she'd kick the tray out about 6". Snarled, barked, growled.

We tried all the normal commands, nothing worked. One night, I held Oliver on my lap while hubby approached with the dog. She's allowed to sniff, that's all. Lots of praise. (We'd stopped the treat frenzy by that time). It's been about 8 months now - Ziva stays in the living room, outside her crate. The cats enter by way of walking thru their cat tree - they all prefer her water bowl to their own (yuck - don't know why, with all the gooble-de-gook that lands in the bowl when the dog drinks...) She does not close her eyes --- watches them ever-so-closely.

Wanna borrow my Sam? (8 yrs old, big black cat, declawed fronts) He gave the dog a couple of lessons & that's all she needed to put her over the top. He decided he wasn't going to back down any more, sat on his haunches, & boxed her muzzle.

She'll still chase, if she can, but at least now we can stop it. And she walks wwaaayyy around Oliver & Sam now.

[GSDSadie]

Originally Posted by Olivers mama

You have the same exact problem we had & Rowdy's method works. At least, it did for us. GSD Rescue people said Ziva was "good with cats". That was an important factor for us, as we have 4 housecats. And 1 of those was born crippled (Oliver) & I did NOT want anything to happen to him. Well, the rescue people must've beern looking at another dog, cause Ziva went postal every time she saw a cat. Her crate would bounce & she'd kick the tray out about 6". Snarled, barked, growled.

We tried all the normal commands, nothing worked. One night, I held Oliver on my lap while hubby approached with the dog. She's allowed to sniff, that's all. Lots of praise. (We'd stopped the treat frenzy by that time). It's been about 8 months now - Ziva stays in the living room, outside her crate. The cats enter by way of walking thru their cat tree - they all prefer her water bowl to their own (yuck - don't know why, with all the gooble-de-gook that lands in the bowl when the dog drinks...) She does not close her eyes --- watches them ever-so-closely.

Wanna borrow my Sam? (8 yrs old, big black cat, declawed fronts) He gave the dog a couple of lessons & that's all she needed to put her over the top. He decided he wasn't going to back down any more, sat on his haunches, & boxed her muzzle.

She'll still chase, if she can, but at least now we can stop it. And she walks wwaaayyy around Oliver & Sam now.

Oh wow, thank you for your story How did you get her to not get all excited/agitated when she first saw her up close?

I don't doubt our kitty would swipe her lol (she hides around corners thinking we cant see her and she attacks our legs, it really is cute but ouchie sometimes) and she lets the kids know when she's had enough of them but when there's a huge dog she doesn't know she just gaps it as soon as the dog gets rowdy.

When Sadie is asleep on the floor the cat wants to go up to her a sniff her. I think it would be wise for us to use a muzzle for the sniffing? (obviously supervised on a leash )

[RocketDog]

I just wanted to comment on something that each "success" story has in common: a cat willing to stand its ground and whap the dog. One of my two cats is declawed and HE will whap Rocket, but the other one won't. WILL NOT. Very frustrating. It's taken me a long time and the cats, who are outside cats anyway, still can't really come inside to visit. They do occasionally, and if Rocket has a bone he will leave them alone, until they start to move. Sigh.

Patience.

[BowWowMeow]

I'd like to share a different story, a cautionary story. My cat Cleo (who died last year at age 19) was raised with a gsd and lived with and was exposed to many dogs over the course of her lifetime--I'm talking 50 to 100 dogs. She stood her ground with dogs and would hiss and swat if they acted inappropriately.

So along comes my friend with her new adopted german shepherd who is supposedly "good with cats." He rushes up to Cleo (on leash) and is getting too excited and hovering over her so Cleo hisses and swats him. What does this dog do? He grabs her and picks her up in his mouth! I got him to drop her right away but Cleo ran upstairs and literally would not come down again for 3 days. She was not hurt but this german shepherd savvy cat was really scared. It was horrible and if we hadn't have been right there he might have killed her.

So please be careful and be sure that your cat's safety is number one.

[kiya]

How is her obedience?
The 2 most important commands are "Leave it" with a long "down stay". If possible working with "threshold" tolerance, perhaps a glass door or gate the cat off in a separate room and have the dog at the furthest part of the room. Whatever food treat you use it has to be the dogs highest value, for Kiya it is liver brownies. I just say "moma's making brownies" and they get excited. It's also helpful if the cat at least learns to be dog "savy". We taught the kitten to stay up high counter tops, the back of the couch, eventually he was able to walk freely but it took almost 6 months for Kiya to chill out. I remember when I tried keeping her on leash while the kitty walked on the floor and she would just turn into a raving lunatic barking and lunging at the kitten. The muzzle was no better with her, as soon as the kitten was close she'd try to bite him. When I started letting her sniff the kitten while he was on the counter (knowing she couldn't jump up there) she'd try to nip his paw, as stupid as it was I had my hand by her mouth, I know she would not bite me.
We adopted the kitten from the pound, then poor kitten still had to live in the dog crate at least when Kiya was around, we kept telling him don't worry it will get better.
You may never get the dog to be safe with the cat, only you can determine that. I did not give up and I was determined to make it work and it took almost 6 months. I still would never trust the dogs and cats alone unsupervised, no way.

[msvette2u]

a cat willing to stand its ground and whap the dog.

Be aware that in some dogs, this triggers escalation.

We actually pulled a dog from the Pasco shelter a number of years ago to go to service training.
He was calm, and perfect in every way.
Except...when he intro'ed to the cats up there at the service training place (women's prison in Gig Harbor) if the cat ran, of course he'd give chase.
But the cat who stood still and stood it's ground, and even growled or tried to swat? The dog went ballistic trying to kill it.

So some dogs do indeed take the cat challenge and raise it a few notches, with escalating and attacking the cat.
Like Bowow said, and you never know which dog will do that until it happens.

[RocketDog]

Yes, I know.

I should've clarified I'm talking about your own dog that you know. Or puppy. I saw Rocket around my breeder's cats, I saw how he reacted when those cats raised a paw and just SHOWED their claws. Also, he cornered the non-defensive cat once late last winter on the deck; it was dark, we didn't see either of them, and finally I just heard this yowling/meowing noise. I went out there, and the cat was totally sopping wet from Rocket licking him to death, but unharmed. If Rocket had wanted to hurt him, he would've then, I'm sure. It's too bad in our case the cat WON'T give him a slap to the muzzle. It would only take once. Our problem is Rocket loves them too much and gets too excited.

I don't really see anywhere in my post where I advocated just throwing the cat and dog/pup together and letting the cat stand it's ground. Anyone with some common sense would realize you have to be RIGHT THERE, IN CONTROL, to protect the cat.

Sheesh.

[TommyB681]

All depends on the dog and cat. If the puppy is raised with the cat it can help but it isnt a necessity. Abbi first met my parents cats a 2.5 years old. She loves being around the cats and the one cat likes being around her. The other cat doesnt want anything to do with her.

[GoSailGo]

I was told that my fiance's dog (a nutty boxer and also a little rat dog) would kill my cat if I introduced them, but I decided to try anyways. First I put my little guy in a cat carrier and put him in the living room for a few hours a night for about a week. Kitty growled and moaned since he'd never seen dogs before, and the dogs inspected the carrier, whined and wanted to play. After a while they would calm down and sit and watch the carrier. About a week later after they were desensitized to seeing him I brought kitty up in a harness. I set some pretty strict rules about how close they could get, but eventually they HAD to meet. Half the problem was all the excitement and buildup to coming face to face. We had a few "chase" mishaps, but nothing serious. Kitty defended himself quite well with a poofy tail, hissing and growling. They're all happy together now. Actually my cat is the one who pounces on the dogs now. He still "poofs" when the little rat dog gets a hair cut though, which is REALLY funny. I think I have had it pretty easy. I've always just let my cats and dogs "sort it out themselves" with a few ground rules and they all end up getting along great.

If you do introduce them this way, make sure you trim/file your cats claws just in case.

[GSDSadie]

Originally Posted by RocketDog

Yes, I know.

I should've clarified I'm talking about your own dog that you know. Or puppy. I saw Rocket around my breeder's cats, I saw how he reacted when those cats raised a paw and just SHOWED their claws. Also, he cornered the non-defensive cat once late last winter on the deck; it was dark, we didn't see either of them, and finally I just heard this yowling/meowing noise. I went out there, and the cat was totally sopping wet from Rocket licking him to death, but unharmed. If Rocket had wanted to hurt him, he would've then, I'm sure. It's too bad in our case the cat WON'T give him a slap to the muzzle. It would only take once. Our problem is Rocket loves them too much and gets too excited.

I don't really see anywhere in my post where I advocated just throwing the cat and dog/pup together and letting the cat stand it's ground. Anyone with some common sense would realize you have to be RIGHT THERE, IN CONTROL, to protect the cat.

Sheesh.

I knew what you ment