Hi, I am moving out on my own and am wanting to get a dog to help feel safer. What breed of dog is good with cats. I have a cat named Star and would not want anything to harm her.
Annie
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Hi, I am moving out on my own and am wanting to get a dog to help feel safer. What breed of dog is good with cats. I have a cat named Star and would not want anything to harm her.
Annie
Most dogs can be trained to be nice to cats. I have three dogs and a cat, and they all get along great.
But that being said, when you are out of the house, it is best to keep them seperated, at least for the first couple of days
I don't think there's a certain breed that will always get along with cats. Every dog is different. A lot depends on the environment they grew up in. In general, high prey dogs such as huskies and malamutes are not good with cats. I think a good idea would be to either get a puppy and raise it with the cat or get an adult dog from a rescue that has already been tested around cats. Either way, it's usually not a good idea to leave the dog and cat alone together.
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What Wolf_Q said is true. Some dogs have a higher prey or herder drive.
I got Lucy after I had gotten my cats. She was a pup and realized the cats were boss. She has never hurt them and always respected them. Save a life if you can.I don't think you will have a problem. Good Luck!
I think it totally depends on the dog. I have a lab and a german shep mix who get along great with my cats. I never thought my lab would though!
Lots of times rescues and shelters are able to provide background information on dogs that have been dropped off. You can always find a dog that has been raised with cats and gets along with them.
We have always had both cats and dogs. We have had an akita, doberman, mini doberman, dalmation, german sheppard and several mutts all have gotten along well with the cats and have never hurt them. I don't think breed has the slightly thing to do with it. Here is our Akita with my 2 girls.
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Jackie that pic is adorable! :D
I have a siberian husky and I've always thought I could train him to be ok with cats (at least leave them alone). From what he's met of cats (through bars of a cage at a pet store) he was only mildly interested and just wagged his tail...except when a kitten swatted at him, he jumped back scared lol. My theory has not been tested (can't have a cat where I live) but I have hope...I know there are other huskies that are cat-friendly. But anyway (sorry I'm in a rambling mood) high prey drive dogs are usually going to be a lot harder to train to be nice to cats than your average dogs...herding dogs too as they have the instinct to chase and herd obviously.
Maybe a smaller, calmer dog. You said you wanted a dog to feel safer, small dogs can have big barks and enjoy defending the door when the doorbell rings, trust me. ;) Most rescue groups will test their dogs around cats, children, etc. to know if they would be ok to go to a home with them.
I think if they are brought up with cats they will more than likely be fine.
Nala my Lab/Dane??/Grey?? loves cats. She lets them crawl all over her. She's seen cats since day one.
Kiara my Rottie mix is fine with cats but is very curious around them. She hasn't had as much experience with cats as Nala has.
Simba my Shepherd/Pit is very anxious and upset around cats. I'm not sure if he'd actually attack one, I don't want to find out, but he pants and whines and cries when near one. He was never around housecats until a few years ago when my brother got his cat.
Here's a picture of my Nala with Caeleigh the cat. :)
http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v...mmy/caenal.JPG
I love all these dog & cat pictures! Sooo cute!!
We have 2 labs and a cat, and though nobody cuddles, we all get along fine. We allow Marigold to have the safe haven of tables and counters so she can jump to where she feels safe (like when the dogs get to wrestling and such). But lots of times they will all 3 be on the floor at the same time, and no issues.
My sister has eight cats and where she lived before she bought her house, her neighbors had a part-huskie dog that would come over to play with her. The silly puppy kept her cats herded onto the porch! Every time one would jump down, it would herd it gently back up! It was so cute to watch:)Quote:
Originally posted by wolf_Q
In general, high prey dogs such as huskies and malamutes are not good with cats.
Annie, you know I wanna see pics of the new puppy when you get one, okay?:)
alex the wonder dog is a lab-terrier mystery mix. he has been in cat households since his first day with me.his prey drive is very low,so he is fine with cats. eileen and her cats moved in last month, after some preliminary curious sniffing attempts (all of which were met with cat slaps), he's more interested in their food and litter pans. glaciers' story with cats and dogs are very different.
rescues and shelters often temperment test dogs and can give you some insight . hope this helps.
My Golden Retrievers and our Lab are fine with our cats. In fact, they can be found cuddling many times! Don't know how good my sappy ones would be for making one feel protected, though! LOL!!!! :o
It depends on the dog's past experience. My dog is great with cats because she was brought up with one from 8 weeks old on. I'd be hesitant about bringing a cat or dog into a house where the other animal had never had any sort of contact (or extended time) with the other species.
When I adopted Kia, her paperwork said that she was good with cats, unknown with dogs. This really surprised me as she's a Husky/Cattle Dog mix. Both breeds are considered high prey drive/herders.
But she loves her kitty siblings.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...s/IMG_3581.jpg
when I used to have a cat that had kittens and Muneca was like 2 or 3. Muneca saw my cat taking her kittens by mouth and taking them from one spot to another. So muneca went up to a kitten grab it by the neck like my cat did and she helped my cat everyday with the kittens. It was so cute Muneca is so nice to cats she loves to play with them but sometimes cats won't go near her becuase she is too hyper lol. but once they get to know her then they will be playing with each other.
I have 5 dogs and 5 cats and they all get along just fine. Granted they are small dogs. Nova, my dachshund mix was the only one who wanted to give the cats a hard time when I got her. I kept her crated when I wasn't home so she couldn't harm the cats. She now does great with them. It took some time, but she learned to not chase or bother them. I no longer crate her when I'm not home, but I do use a baby gate to confine her to the Kitchen. She has free run of the house when I'm home, but not when I'm away.
Generally speaking there are some breeds that do better with Cats, even if they're not brought up with them. I've had 2 Cairn Terriers and 2 Collies, none of which were socialized with Cats. Later in life they've all had encounters with Cats at one time or another. The 2 Terriers were just horrible towards'em. Definitely in kill mode.
The 2 Collies though have been very good. They just don't have any instinct to kill anything. Oz was nose to nose recently with a stray Cat that was all hunched up and hissing ready to attack him. Oz just stood there, looking perplexed that anybody wouldn't wanna be his friend. I called him to me before he got slapped though. Gull's got a lil' more herding instinct and would like to prod'em in the butt with his nose, but any kind of cross word and he's heading for the hills too. Barking at'em from a safe distance.
I wouldn't hesitate at all to bring a Cat into the family when it's just the 2 Collies and me. I won't even consider it while my lil' Cairn is still alive though.
I've also never felt safer since I've gotten the Collies. They are so alert and have barks that could wake the dead. I never worry anymore about anybody breaking in the house. They won't even get in the back yard without me knowing it.
The drawback of this though, is they would not make very good apartment dogs. And even in the suburbs, you've got to do quite a bit a training on controlling the amount of barking. Also, being herding dogs, they need a certain amount of physical and mental stimulation everyday to be well behaved.
Edited cuz I forgot to add my picture of Oz's sister with a Cat:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8.../CollieCat.jpg
Par...
Buster and Miagi get along! It's probably because they grew up together!! :)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...5/f3728a73.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/f51570b1.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...4/f5156e9f.jpg
:D
I recommend going through a rescue that uses foster homes. The problem with shelters is that a lot of times the previous owners (if any) don't provide very much information about the dog. A foster parent can give you a better idea about the dog's temperment and their behavior towards cats.
If you do a search on petfinder.com for dogs in your area, a lot of times the profiles themselves will let you know how well the dog gets along with cats.
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Of course, I ended up going through the city pound to get my dog, a Jack Rusell Terrier mix (not known to be very good with kitties...), and he's fantastic with my cats... So, just to show you...
I have a pit bull pup, a pit bull mix and a ACD mix. I have a cat. My dogs are all great with the cat. They have been raised with him. I dont let them gang up on him at all. Ebony, she is the pit bull pup and the cat play together. Its so cute. I need to take a picture next time they play together.:)
I think as long as the dog and cat are raised together then they will get along fine. We have had both our cats before we even got our 2 dogs and we introduced them Day 1 and they have been fine ever since. Oh by the way, we have a lab and a chihuahua.
OMG Krista !!!! This picture had me lauging out loud
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/f51570b1.jpg
Miagi and Buster wrestling in adorable. They must be a riot together. :)
oh they are! :DQuote:
Originally posted by kittycats_delight
OMG Krista !!!! This picture had me lauging out loud
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/f51570b1.jpg
Miagi and Buster wrestling in adorable. They must be a riot together. :)