does you gsd like cats?

[misplacedsooner]

we have 4 indoor cats and when we adopted sam this was a big worry. how would he get along with them? he has been great thus far. he was a little shy of them at first and of course they were kinda scared of him. now the cats show no fear and act as they do when sam is outside while he is in. we have not left them inside alone for any length of time yet. if he is not bothering them while we are there do you think they would all be ok alone? so far sam seems very friendly with every animal and person he meets. he doesnt even bother the wifes guinea pig but does perk his ears when it squeals but shows no signs that he would bother it.

[doggiedad]

how long have the dog and cats been together?
if you're feeling uneasy when you're away from home
keep them seperated during that time.

only you know when it's time for them to be
together when you're not home.

my dog is fine with cats. there were cats
in his puppy class.

Originally Posted by misplacedsooner

we have 4 indoor cats and when we adopted sam this was a big worry. how would he get along with them? he has been great thus far. he was a little shy of them at first and of course they were kinda scared of him. now the cats show no fear and act as they do when sam is outside while he is in. we have not left them inside alone for any length of time yet. if he is not bothering them while we are there do you think they would all be ok alone? so far sam seems very friendly with every animal and person he meets. he doesnt even bother the wifes guinea pig but does perk his ears when it squeals but shows no signs that he would bother it.

[IllinoisNative]

I was blessed with a wonderful temperament...with my dog. What, you thought it was me?

I adopted a cat when my shep/rottie mix was 18 months old. My dog was scared of the cat. My dog doesn't like to share food with other dogs but, when the cat stood in front of his food, he whined to me because he couldn't get it. It was hysterical. The cat I adopted was very dog savy. The dog didn't intimidate him at all...but the dog was scared. I knew they would be fine.

Because of my dog's reaction and the cat's, I never had to leave gates up or get them used to each other. By the end of the week, they were sleeping together. My cat is a snuggler and my dog was too scared to move...lololololol.

It helps that my dog didn't have a kill instinct. He had moderate prey drive but his pack drive was higher. When I took him to the dog park, he would chase the ducks in the water. He would swim out to them...but he would turn around if he got too far from me.

As for your situation, it seems like you are on the right path. At this point, I would probably still supervise for a while longer before leaving them alone together...since it is a rescue dog just to be on the safe side. Good luck!

[misplacedsooner]

not long at all. sam when we got him was an outdoor dog who got to come in at times. since we have had him..3 months approx. he has been great inside. he has made no messes, torn nothing up, gotten into anything other than the cat food,lol.
we really want to make him into an indoor dog as he has the separation issues when we both leave and digs out of the yard then just hangs out in front or goes over to our friends across the street and sits on their porch as thats where he found us before. i am in the process of buying a crate for him on ebay as i dont want him trashing the house or god forbid killing the cats if he gets stressed when we leave.
thinking about it he did have 20 minutes or so yesteday with being in the house with the cats alone. i was gone to the store and the wife was in the back yard working and she had to have the gate open so she just let him in. all went well but he could see and hear her too. i just dont want to make a mistake here.

[DCluver33]

my dog wants to kill my cat literally. He got in to our garage where my cat lives and chased her around my step dad's antique car at first I thought he was herding her then i realized he wants to kill her. we tried to introduce the two of them twice but each time he's almost bitten her head off. When we walk him and there's cats walking around he goes ballistic and wants to go after them with way too much intensity for my taste. I feel bad about having my cat in the garage 24/7 because before we had dogs she was inside all the time. She doesn't have a a problem with my Border Collies just my GSD. We have to put Dodger outside just to go out to the garage to do laundry or take out the trash it's annoying. I don't care if the cat and the dog don't get along I would just like to be able to go out to my garage without having to put the dog outside every time.

[LaRen616]

I have a GSD and 3 cats. My GSD wants to play with all 3 of them but 2 of them cannot stand him. None of them are afraid of him but the 2 cats that I had before I got my GSD dont find him very amusing. They ignore him and slap him when he gets pushy. My 14 week old kitten and my GSD are the best of friends though. They get along great. He is very gentle with her and she likes it when he licks her. They are so adorable together.

[jakeandrenee]

no, but I am trying to get Jake not to chase her....I hope someday they can be in the same room...

[misplacedsooner]

i guess im so lucky with this. the cats loved our siberians but we fostered a golden retriever for awhile before we got sam and he was great natured but the cats didnt like him at all, our tabby would stalk him.

[Mac's Mom]

I've had Mac for over 2 months and I have kept the cats separated from him from the beginning. At first it was to protect Mac because all 3 cats hissed and clawed at him. He's literally doubled in size and now he barks at them. Is it too late to socialize them? Any ideas on how to start w/o putting the cats in danger?

[JudynRich]

Both dogs are good with our two cats...they were both puppies when introduced. My breeder tried to rescue a cat though and it just didn't work since they were adults. The cats at my house are aloof w/ the dogs and tolerate the excesive sniffing.