Who rules, cat or dog?

[Gempress]

For those with "blended" families, who rules the roost, the cat or the dog? My kitty Max is the undisputed king of the house, and Zeus always gives way for him. He'll even surrender his toys and food if Max demands access. I know Max has no interest in the food or toy, he just does it to aggravate the dog. Poor Zeus. But kind of funny, considering Zeus is 10 times the size of Max.

[femke]

Our dog rules I guess... she simply isn't afraid of the cats and will jump on them, trying to play with them on every occasion. They however don't like her at all and try to swat at her and get her to leave, she never does tho lol so it usually ends with the cat escaping upstairs...

[Irish]

There used to be no question in my house: Cats rule and dogs drool. But, now that Jake has passed away (she was queen) and Murray has come to live with us - its kind of a toss up. Murray and Frisky have gotten into one or two real fights and its been a draw. Now they glare at each other from across the room. Bear just wants to to live in peace, he is a real diplomat but Murray, well he's always another story.

[Renee750il]

Mine have always seemed to have a cooperative society. Gulliver (cat) was the only being Mickey (Terrier) ever acknowledged as an equal and didn't terrierize. Bear and Gonzo were always pretty much a team, after the initial meeting when Gonzo slapped Bear so hard in the snoot that he gave poor Bear (a 110 pound GSD/Akita) a nose bleed. Bimmer grew up playing with Gomez and they just think of each other as buddies.

[Fran27]

Contested territory at the moment The cats usually end up hissing if the dogs get too close, but the dogs still chase them when they can (to play.. although the cats don't want to). But the cats still get the bed at night, and not the dogs. Hopefully it will get better when the dogs grow up.

[Becca_]

The cat! She allows them so much play time with her, when she's tired of it she gives a look and a warning and they back off, lay down and either bark or whine! Same as when she's in no mood for them, she gives this look and it's amazing because they know the look and go away feeling sorry for themselves. She isnt afraid of them in the least.

[AnimalsAreforMe]

Im thinking Pixie is the boys are all still kittens under a year atleast. She's more of a mother figure and a authority figure for them then soemone to boss around.

[RD]

Ripley rules the household. Amazingly, he shares his reign with RJ. (Lucky has no interest in ruling whatsoever, as long as he always has food in his dish and a bed to perch on, he's a happy cat.) The two of them are so comical to watch, because they both have the same sadistic sense of humor. I swear, they plot tricks together and the instant RJ is able to get indoors, they try to execute it. ("how to get the forbidden loud squeeky dog toys off the top of the cabinets" was their most recent one. It ended in us having to get a ladder out to rescue RJ from the 12ft tall cabinets.)

The rest of us (Dakota, Lucky, all humans..) just have to put up with their egos.

[Ash47]

At my house, Oreo is queen B. She played surrogate momma to Roxy after Roxy came home and she was still so little. Then when we brought Gracie home, Oreo felt betrayed, but they are now best friends. Gracie pushes her limits, but she knows in the end who is boss.
We can never let the cats and the bigger dogs in the house at the same time. Oreo wants to eat the dogs, and Precious wants to eat the cats. I had to break Spud and Oreo up once. Oreo was declared Lightweight Champ that day. Poor Spud was cowered in the corner.

[bubbatd]

I don't have a cat now, but our Minou reigned the roost ! She lived to be over 20 and she was always lurking when pups were whelped ....wanted to make sure they were being handled correctly .