I am preparing to bring home my very first GSD. I am adopting a retiring breeding female who is five years old. She has been raised around cats, and the breeder hand picked her out for me because they knew I was looking for a GSD that was good with cats. I have three cats: an 18-year-old, 5-year-old and 3-year-old. I'm actually not nervous at all about the dog being aggressive (but, for the record, I'm not being naive and will follow all of the advice I've seen about introducing GSDs and cats), but I am nervous about one of my cats not being great with the dog - at least in the beginning.
I have always had dogs as long as I've had the cats, but I put my last dog down about nine months ago. So, the cats been without a dog for about nine months, and I always had much smaller dogs than the GSD. My 18-year-old has been around many dogs all her life, and she loves dogs. My three-year-old loves all living things, although she is shy at first.
My 5-year-old has far more energy than a normal cat. The other two cats tire of her wanting to play with them. My last dog was terrified of her and largely steered clear of her. I should clarify that she was a nervous dog that was largely terrified of everything, and it was the cats high level of energy that made her nervous, not the cat trying to hurt her. That particular cat is declawed on the front, so she can't cause any real damage that way. She's just very much an alpha and likes to show everyone she is the boss. she did live with several big dogs in a foster home when I first got her, but that was five years ago. Since then she has only been around the small Italian Greyhound I previously had.
I saw a lot of posts on the forum about introducing GSD puppies to cats, but I'm wondering if anyone has brought home an adult GSD and introduced to them to adult cats. I've read a ton on the internet about the appropriate ways to introduce them, but I want all of the advice I can get!
I have always had dogs as long as I've had the cats, but I put my last dog down about nine months ago. So, the cats been without a dog for about nine months, and I always had much smaller dogs than the GSD. My 18-year-old has been around many dogs all her life, and she loves dogs. My three-year-old loves all living things, although she is shy at first.
My 5-year-old has far more energy than a normal cat. The other two cats tire of her wanting to play with them. My last dog was terrified of her and largely steered clear of her. I should clarify that she was a nervous dog that was largely terrified of everything, and it was the cats high level of energy that made her nervous, not the cat trying to hurt her. That particular cat is declawed on the front, so she can't cause any real damage that way. She's just very much an alpha and likes to show everyone she is the boss. she did live with several big dogs in a foster home when I first got her, but that was five years ago. Since then she has only been around the small Italian Greyhound I previously had.
I saw a lot of posts on the forum about introducing GSD puppies to cats, but I'm wondering if anyone has brought home an adult GSD and introduced to them to adult cats. I've read a ton on the internet about the appropriate ways to introduce them, but I want all of the advice I can get!