Living in Harmony

I thought I would share my story of the long road it's been for Domino and the cat to learn to live in harmony.

When I first got Domino the first thing she did when she saw the cat from across the room was stare hard, meanwhile the cat (Pixel) hissed and ran off. I think this may have been Domino's first experience with a cat. I adopted her at about 8mos old from someone who found her on the street, so who knows what her life was like before.

Anyway, after that Domino discovered that the cat is crazy fun to chase. But I don't mean that she was just playful about, she was super focused and was chasing to catch. She never did hurt the cat, although the cat certainly hurt her, but it was something that had to be fixed or it could've led to something bad. (And trust me, I know I dropped the ball on the initial greetings. Jasmine was just so good with the cat from day one, it caught me a little off guard.)

So the computer room became the cat's sanctuary where Domino was not allowed without direct supervision. There were a few times where we had Domino laying down in the computer room but suddenly bolted after the cat before we could stop her from getting up. Two steps back...

We got a baby gate for the door to the computer room so we could keep the door open and let them see each other without actually giving Domino the opportunity to chase Pixel. Of course, we still watched to make sure Domino didn't focus stare at her through it.

All this time Domino's getting treats for seeing the cat to make being calm around the cat a really good thing.

Pixel starts to get braver after awhile with no big chase scenes and starts jumping the baby gate even while Domino's around. She'd hiss at Domino anytime she saw her. Anytime Domino would notice and start to focus, we'd distract her the best we could and reward her with lots of love and treats.

An unexpected thing that happened with the baby gate was that Domino got to where she really was just interested in the computer room that she never got to go into. So we started letting her come in when the cat was elsewhere and let her sniff all around. At first she seemed a little overwhelmed with the cat smell and the newness of the room and would kind of whine a little. We started doing some long downs in here and letting her in more often to make the room ordinary.

Now we get to over a year after adopting Dom. The baby gate is never up anymore, Pixel goes wherever she wants in the house and when she crosses Domino she rarely hisses. Domino watches her sometimes but is easily redirected simply by saying her name or telling her to "leave it". Now anytime she does anything with the cat it's a play bow and a tail wag (which the cat still doesn't care for but Dom doesn't follow through with anything else so she's okay). And right now the three of them (including Jasmine) are hanging out around the computer with me at the computer, getting bits of Natural Balance.

And here's the first picture I have of my three girls together!


Sorry this has been so long but I wanted to share everything that's worked and hasn't worked in case anyone else comes across a similar issue. It can be done even if both parties are working against you!

Congratulations! It's so nice to see someone put in so much hard work for their dog! Every day we hear about or read on craigslist someone who's rehoming their dog because it doesn't get along with the cat. It takes a LOT of work to manage that situation, and you have done a great job!

Thank you so much lizzybeth! It's been quite an experience but it feels great to have succeeded! I know lots of people give up their dogs because of various issues but I'd never want to give up my Domino no matter how much work she may take. I love that stinker.

Good for you for actually taking the time and actually training her. I have had it SO easy with Blaze and any pet we bring in the house. Its going to be hard when I get another dog to teach them Im sure not to mess with Miss Marley the cat. who thinks all 5lbs of her is the queen and all must obey her.

It is so good when it all finally works!!

We also had a long, slow cat-puppy intro. With our last cat and puppy, the cat settled in a very short time, like immediately, the pecking order, and that was the end of any problems between them. I was prepared with something similar this time around.

I guess the present cats ae not as 'take charge' and our present dog is a little more persistent. Spanky, from day one, wanted nothing more than to play with the cats. They were none to happy, and they stayed up somewhere at all times. Since he was being potty trained and relegated to the downstairs, the cats just moved upstairs. I knew that was going to be a relatively short-term solution because Spanky would, hopefully, get trained and get the run of the house. Venus is an upstairs cat anyway, but Charles would never be as happy if he had to limit his existence to upstairs.

I started taking Spanky upstairs every day on a leash and giving him treats galore for being controlled, sitting, going into a down.....good behavior and not becoming a little maniac anytime the cats were around.

It took a long time, and I wondered if they would EVER hang out in the same room or be able to all be left with access to each other without supervision. They not only 'hang' in the same room but will nap on the same bed....human bed. They're not snuggly by any means, so they would not share a dog or cat bed.

Spanky does chase Charles sometimes, but it's only when Charles lets him. If he doesn't want to be chased, he doesn't run when Spanky playfully runs at him. To Spanky's delight, Charles will occasionally chase him back.

Venus is the timid one, and it's taken MUCH longer for her to be comfortable being on the floor at the same time as Spanky. She reads his mood, and if he's in a quiet mood she gets on the floor with him, but if he's in a rambunctious mood she doesn't. He seems to realize she's different than Charles. He doesn't try to play with her, and he's gotten to where he controls himself around her even when he's almost shaking with desire to play. He has chased her before, but he would NEVER catch her. It would scare him to death!!

Will all her timidness, Venus is the one who will keep stretching and stretching on the bed when Spanky is up there until she finally is touching him a little. He stays very still when this happens. It usually makes him wag his tail, but he won't look at her. He found out that, even though she is the one who purposely touched him, if he looks at her she will hiss!!

Like you said, it can work out even when it's not quick. It is so much easier when they go ahead and work things out on their own in the very beginning, though!!!

Oh, and by the way, very cute pets you have!!!
(And sorry for such a long post on your thread).

mjb I'm glad to hear your success story too! And I'm so glad to hear that your cats will actually sleep on the bed near Spanky. Domino and Pixel haven't gotten to that point although Pixel will actually lay relaxed on her back around Domino sometimes which makes me so happy. I wasn't sure if it was going to be possible at first but now I think they'll actually get to the point where they might play together. The other day Pixel snuck up on sleeping Domino and batted at her foot. Of course as soon as Dom woke up and looked at her she hissed and ran - but it's a start!

Oh, I'm sure they'll get to the point where they're co-existing without a thought. Whether or not they're best of friends, I don't know. Mine aren't cuddly and hanging out together 24 hours a day, but they do make the choice to be together in the same room frequently.

It would be wonderful if they were best friends, but it's all I ask for to know they're not miserable because I brought them together, and they're not out to hurt each other!

So glad they're all happy together. I like how you explained what you did to accomplish this. We have a household of 5 dogs and 2 cats living together. One of the cats rules over all the dogs!

Yeah I'm fine with them not be snuggly. Jasmine and Pixel play together and get along fine but they still don't ever snuggle. I don't think I have pets that care to snuggle together, but they all enjoy people snuggling!