fighting like cats and dogs

[b0bth0ny]

I'm still kind of new around her. Here is a picture of lady grace, got her on feb 7.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/attachme...&postid=620949

here is a topic that i started about a problem i was having with her. http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...407#post635407

I have a problem. We have silver, a 13 year old cat and Misty a 3 year old cat. When we brought Lady grace home the first thing she did was chase silver. We keep them in a seperate room with a kiddy door so the dog can't get to them, but they want their home back, but ever time the dog see's them she wants to chase them. And suggestions for cats and dogs getting along?

[K9soul]

That's a tough one. I've never actually had both cats and dogs, but I have birds and dogs. It's only natural of course for a dog's instinct to chase a smaller animal, especially if it runs! I have had my most tame bird, Dawn, around my dogs before. When I introduced them I had Tommy or Tasha sit and my hand on their collar, and then let them reach out and sniff a bit but not too close. The thing is my bird didn't take off so it was easier to control the situation, she was a little nervous of the dogs at first but not too bad unless they got close and then she'd peck their nose and the dog would back off.

When I had my Rainbow Bridge collie, Cody, the neighbor got a little kitten one day. The kitten just didn't seem to know to fear dogs too much, and soon learned she could bully Cody around by stalking him and pouncing out and startling him. He got to where he wanted nothing to do with her, but then again, she was a baby, and Cody was a collie which is a breed that especially has a tendency to be gentle to small creatures.

The only real suggestion I can think of at the moment is when they are in the same room to try to have a treat or toy on hand and try to distract Lady G from chasing the kitty. This gives her positive reinforcement too for leaving the kitty alone. I'd praise her like crazy if she breaks off chasing the cat to come check out what is going on with you too. If you were able to do something like this consistently I think she might start to lose interest in chasing the kitty.

Well, hopefully some of our people with both dogs and cats can offer some insight or advice too

[catnapper]

hmmm... when we introduced a very tiny kitten Allen to RB Sammy, she thought Allen was dinner. It took us weeks of introducing Allen to Sammy before we were able to leave them in the room without referees. They eventually bonded - when Sammy passed, Allen moped for the longest time for his buddy.

Could you try introducing and working with the two of them every night until they finally come to a peaceful co-existance?

[Twisterdog]

I have never owned a cat, because I'm allergic to them. I do know, however, from several bad experiences with stray cats, that my dogs view cats the same way the view rabbits, gophers, birds and snakes .... as a snack.

I know there is nothing I could ever do to train this out of my dogs. Their prey drive is too strong.

My sister's dogs are the same way ... in fact they killed her cat. A long story, with my sister at fault to be sure ... but nonetheless, the cat was killed.

I have seen a few examples of cats and dogs that truly seem to love each other, and a lot of examples of dogs and cats living in an uneasy, forced truce ... and a lot of examples of dogs like mine, where no cat is safe.

I don't really have any advice, I just wanted to mention my experiences and say to be careful and keep a close eye on the situation. Dogs can and do kill cats, and they don't have to be huge dogs to do it.

[b0bth0ny]

The little kitty just runs and hides every time. Silver, the older kitty is just too old to run so he stands his ground. He growls and hisses and has tried to strike the dog...if for no other reason then to show that he means business (a pissed off cat can be a scary thing). Lady does seem to be afraid of him and in time i can see them leaving each other alone. But with the little kitty, if all she wants to do is run, i think that will be a more difficult situation to deal with.

[countrycowgirl]

Your best bet is probuly to slowly interduce them I mean there is going to be conflict no doubt and i understand that you want them to be freinds i own three dogs and two cats my oldest cat taby we call her tabitha tayler (because she acts like Elizabeth tayler) will hiss at the dogs or strike at them and the dogs know its time to leave here alone it took them awhile to figure that out but its fine now and my younger cat beauty she starts everything she plays with them i mean she has literly jumped on lil bits back and they play like to dogs it gets a little loud after awhile so i tell them to stop but i am glad they are friends beauty used to be scared of them but now its okay i don't know if this helped at all but i hope it does and i hope that everything works out okay