How are your dogs with cats?
- Thread starter JacksonsMom
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The only cat they've been around much is Joy and she's like 17 or 18 now and so calm that she doesn't really do much. They love her and the papillons try to bathe her with kisses and practically worship her when she's around.
Mia chases outdoor cats other than Joy like she would a bunny or squirrel. Summer tends to see outside cats as potential friends but they always never seem interested and run off.
Bernard has lived with a few cats and he didn't like the kitten (because she'd hide and then pounce on him) but is okay with Emily's current roomies' cat.
Overall papillons are known for being very cat friendly.
Poor Joy.
Mia chases outdoor cats other than Joy like she would a bunny or squirrel. Summer tends to see outside cats as potential friends but they always never seem interested and run off.
Bernard has lived with a few cats and he didn't like the kitten (because she'd hide and then pounce on him) but is okay with Emily's current roomies' cat.
Overall papillons are known for being very cat friendly.
Poor Joy.
Pip doesn't really care about them - indoors, outdoors, ours, others. I think he would be perfectly happy if they didn't exist, but in his usual "if I don't know you I would be perfectly happy if you didn't exist" sort of way, not in an active hatred kind of way.
Maisy is super good with our cats. She tolerates a lot of unsolicited attention and drama from them and will sleep/snuggle with them. Every once in a while she gets a little bug in her butt and tries to get them to play with her using silly dog language (really exaggerated play bows) or tries to play chase with them (not really CHASE them, if that makes sense), but usually she is chill. She reacts to cats outdoors the same way she reacts to squirrels, rabbits, etc. though if she ever got close to one I think chances are pretty equal that she would be successfully repelled by a defensive cat as that she would seriously try to harm it.
Squash is ok with our resident cats. He sometimes tries to play with them in inappropriate/unappreciated ways like pawing at them, and he will follow them around and try to chase them if they bolt. But my cats can be jerkwads who bait him, too. At times he will also nap with them. He is absolutely not ok with unfamiliar/outdoor cats, and I'm quite sure he would seriously harm or kill one if he were able to get to it.
Maisy is super good with our cats. She tolerates a lot of unsolicited attention and drama from them and will sleep/snuggle with them. Every once in a while she gets a little bug in her butt and tries to get them to play with her using silly dog language (really exaggerated play bows) or tries to play chase with them (not really CHASE them, if that makes sense), but usually she is chill. She reacts to cats outdoors the same way she reacts to squirrels, rabbits, etc. though if she ever got close to one I think chances are pretty equal that she would be successfully repelled by a defensive cat as that she would seriously try to harm it.
Squash is ok with our resident cats. He sometimes tries to play with them in inappropriate/unappreciated ways like pawing at them, and he will follow them around and try to chase them if they bolt. But my cats can be jerkwads who bait him, too. At times he will also nap with them. He is absolutely not ok with unfamiliar/outdoor cats, and I'm quite sure he would seriously harm or kill one if he were able to get to it.
Most of Watson's experience with cats is one specific cat - a big male Ragdoll who is super calm and confident. Watson ran up to the cat once, all wiggly, and the cat hissed and swatted. That was it and from then on Watson has been terrified of that cat. It's to the point where my friend can hold his cat 15ft away and Watson will try to hide under the couch cushions. It's pretty funny, but also kind of sad.
If a cat ran from him, he'd absolutely chase it and obsess over it, though I don't think he'd hurt it on purpose. He's very excited about the bunnies in the same way and gets way too interested when they run around (though they don't run from him, they actually come up and touch noses through the fence).
He goes nuts with the outdoor cat in our neighborhood, but I'm still not sure what he would do if he caught it. I think he'd be so surprised about catching it that he would drop it, but I'm not sure.
If a cat ran from him, he'd absolutely chase it and obsess over it, though I don't think he'd hurt it on purpose. He's very excited about the bunnies in the same way and gets way too interested when they run around (though they don't run from him, they actually come up and touch noses through the fence).
He goes nuts with the outdoor cat in our neighborhood, but I'm still not sure what he would do if he caught it. I think he'd be so surprised about catching it that he would drop it, but I'm not sure.
Outdoor cats that run are to be chased unless we tell them otherwise. I don't think either dog would hurt them, it is purely a "ZOMG, the cat is running!!! YEY!!!!! I CAN CHASE IT!" type thing. Cats that don't run are ignored.
Neither one of them were raised around cats and honestly don't really have any experience with them besides my mom's cats. But from the time Abrams was 9 weeks old he hasn't really cared. The first time he ever saw a cat was at a local feed store, and it was just chilling in its basket under the check out table. Abrams stood right by it and completely ignored it. I imagine if I every brought home a kitten it would be the BEST TOY EVER and he'd try to play with the poor thing until it got fed up with him.
What is so funny to me is my mom's Dachshund. Gracie never really did care for cats and was torn between being terrified of them and wanting to chase them. However, she and my cat have developed a bit of a symbiotic relationship. They both like to sit on my mom's lap, and they both like to be warm. So, whenever my mom is sitting down resting, Gracie crawls onto Mom's lap first, and then Apollo lays on top of Gracie. LOL They used to need a blanket barrier between them, but now they just lay directly on one another. Neither one of them cares very much for the other outside of laying on Mom's lap, so I find it completely funny that they tolerate it purely for the snuggly bed it makes.
All of my other dogs have been pretty much the same...ignored household cats, chased unfamiliar cats.
Neither one of them were raised around cats and honestly don't really have any experience with them besides my mom's cats. But from the time Abrams was 9 weeks old he hasn't really cared. The first time he ever saw a cat was at a local feed store, and it was just chilling in its basket under the check out table. Abrams stood right by it and completely ignored it. I imagine if I every brought home a kitten it would be the BEST TOY EVER and he'd try to play with the poor thing until it got fed up with him.
What is so funny to me is my mom's Dachshund. Gracie never really did care for cats and was torn between being terrified of them and wanting to chase them. However, she and my cat have developed a bit of a symbiotic relationship. They both like to sit on my mom's lap, and they both like to be warm. So, whenever my mom is sitting down resting, Gracie crawls onto Mom's lap first, and then Apollo lays on top of Gracie. LOL They used to need a blanket barrier between them, but now they just lay directly on one another. Neither one of them cares very much for the other outside of laying on Mom's lap, so I find it completely funny that they tolerate it purely for the snuggly bed it makes.
All of my other dogs have been pretty much the same...ignored household cats, chased unfamiliar cats.
Astro actually lives with a cat, but isn't truly trustworthy around cats. He has yet to hurt one, but I don't doubt that he would if he were unsupervised. His housemate is my roomie's big male cat, with claws, found on the street as a stray in NYC. He's a tough cat that doesn't back down or run.
Astro has been around that cat since he was a little puff-ball puppy. Through a ton of work, Astro will be called off a cat and disengage, he will listen to "leave it," he respects the babygate that separates his half of the apartment from the cat's half. But still, I've made my peace with never having a cat after I've moved out of here in September, because he's gotten corrected by multiple cats, and all it does is drive him on to crush the poor thing. A running cat is a chased cat. A cat who is completely neutral and friendly and sweet will still get grabbed around the neck if I'm not there. It's part of the reason I'm so, so, so anal retentive about Astro's whereabouts: he's either with me, being watched actively on his side of the babygate, or he's crated securely behind a closed door, period. No roaming in the apartment allowed. I consider my roommate's cat to be my priority as much as he is hers, since I'm the one with the bigger, more antagonistic animal, so I make sure there won't be an accident.
Honestly, being cat-friendly is very, very low on my list of priorities, generally speaking. I had hoped that getting a young puppy and socializing it to appropriate behavior with a stable cat would stack the deck in favor of having a cat-social adult dog, yes. But I'm ok with the fact that it hasn't worked out, and my roommate is ok with it too given the level of vigilance I keep up. I'm allergic to cats and don't feel the same pull to own them as I do dogs. As long as a dog can be proofed to listen to "leave it" when walking down the street and a cat crosses the path, I'm cool.
Astro has been around that cat since he was a little puff-ball puppy. Through a ton of work, Astro will be called off a cat and disengage, he will listen to "leave it," he respects the babygate that separates his half of the apartment from the cat's half. But still, I've made my peace with never having a cat after I've moved out of here in September, because he's gotten corrected by multiple cats, and all it does is drive him on to crush the poor thing. A running cat is a chased cat. A cat who is completely neutral and friendly and sweet will still get grabbed around the neck if I'm not there. It's part of the reason I'm so, so, so anal retentive about Astro's whereabouts: he's either with me, being watched actively on his side of the babygate, or he's crated securely behind a closed door, period. No roaming in the apartment allowed. I consider my roommate's cat to be my priority as much as he is hers, since I'm the one with the bigger, more antagonistic animal, so I make sure there won't be an accident.
Honestly, being cat-friendly is very, very low on my list of priorities, generally speaking. I had hoped that getting a young puppy and socializing it to appropriate behavior with a stable cat would stack the deck in favor of having a cat-social adult dog, yes. But I'm ok with the fact that it hasn't worked out, and my roommate is ok with it too given the level of vigilance I keep up. I'm allergic to cats and don't feel the same pull to own them as I do dogs. As long as a dog can be proofed to listen to "leave it" when walking down the street and a cat crosses the path, I'm cool.
This is how I feel too. I'm fairly allergic to cats (enough that I can be around them, but wouldn't want to live with one) and I've never been a cat person anyway. I don't really care if Watson is good with them, but it's nice that he stays well away from the one cat he's occasionally around. If he wasn't good with that cat, it wouldn't be a big deal either.
I did hope he would be better with the rabbits if I worked with him from a young age, but he's just generally too rambunctious and excitable. It doesn't help that the rabbits don't "speak dog". A tiny dog would approach and retreat, and give him signals about his own behavior. The rabbits run right up and sniff him when he's already being an ass, and then randomly run away (often chasing each other) which gets him all excited. They don't understand how their body language makes him worse, and he doesn't understand that they are fragile, so they just stay behind gates for now (and probably forever). It's not so bad though - they have a whole room to themselves and can't jump the gate the way a cat can.
I did hope he would be better with the rabbits if I worked with him from a young age, but he's just generally too rambunctious and excitable. It doesn't help that the rabbits don't "speak dog". A tiny dog would approach and retreat, and give him signals about his own behavior. The rabbits run right up and sniff him when he's already being an ass, and then randomly run away (often chasing each other) which gets him all excited. They don't understand how their body language makes him worse, and he doesn't understand that they are fragile, so they just stay behind gates for now (and probably forever). It's not so bad though - they have a whole room to themselves and can't jump the gate the way a cat can.
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I feel that. Rabbits to me are a different story than cats. I've had multiple rabbits in the past and loved them dearly, and I would have some in a heartbeat again (much quicker than I would adopt a cat), but I don't even want to think about how Astro might react to a rabbit. Maybe he'd surprise me, but considering he came to me with massive squeaky-toy-muderin' drive already at 10-ish weeks old, and physically intimidates a large male tomcat off the street, I just wouldn't even chance it. I miss the binkying...
It sounds like you have a great setup with Watson and your bunnies. I guess the gate situation isn't ideal because sometimes people I talk to are surprised that anyone deals with that, but having lived with it for half a year now myself, it's really not bad at all. Nice to have the peace of mind and a regular setup.
It sounds like you have a great setup with Watson and your bunnies. I guess the gate situation isn't ideal because sometimes people I talk to are surprised that anyone deals with that, but having lived with it for half a year now myself, it's really not bad at all. Nice to have the peace of mind and a regular setup.
Yeah, it's not too bad. They are in the dining room which shares doors with the kitchen and living room (we have another family room on the opposite side of the kitchen too). So we can see them and talk to them from the kitchen, and my husband will let them into the living room while he's in there and the dog is with me in the other family room. I do feel bad that they don't get as much time to come out and run around (before the dog they were out in the living room all evening) but they still have an entire room so ... I guess they're pretty spoiled. He's very mellow when he's watching them from the kitchen because they won't approach that gate, but he is kind of wild in the living room because they will come right up to the xpen and stick their noses through. There are folding doors though so we can easily block them from site if he's getting annoying.
Finn lived 4.5 years with a cat without too much issue. Urge to chase when she ran, otherwise they got along great.
I am learning now that new cats are WAY more exciting (and they dislike his intensity as such) and so, his new live-in cats are separated from him for now. With training they'll get back to where he was before, I think.
I am learning now that new cats are WAY more exciting (and they dislike his intensity as such) and so, his new live-in cats are separated from him for now. With training they'll get back to where he was before, I think.
Jersey is ok with cats, outdoor cats or strange cats she will chase in a second but if they scratch her or fight back she's done. She actually got attacked by a loose cat last year and did nothing, my dogs have met brave cats on walks before and been fine, I don't think she was expecting this one to maul her (neither was I). She ignores my cat except for an occasional sniff.
Nero idk, a couple years ago he met a stray kitten in our yard and was sweet as can be, has met cats on walks and been fine, prey drive if they run of course. Had a kitten I was transporting in the house recently and he seemed WAY too interested for my comfort. He'll bark and lunge at my cat sometimes if he gets too revved up but only when she's on the stairs behind a gate, he'll sniff her if she goes by him but mostly ignores her.
Ripley...she would love to eat a kitty. My cat hates dogs so I have worked with the dogs to basically leave her the hell alone. If they come close to her, look at her, she'll growl and hiss and swat and she'll run if they chase her. That just amps Ripley right up and if the cat smacks her, she will paw smack her right back or air snap at her. She knows kitty is off limits and does ignore her most of the time but has to be watched closely.
Basically I don't worry much about the older two and kitty, but have to keep a close eye on Ripley and watch to make sure they all don't end up in a chase the kitty game. Mostly the cat stays on the couch if I am and otherwise hangs out upstairs, she doesn't spend anymore time than needed on the floor with the dogs and sneaks around them. Although if she's really hungry she will wander right in the middle of them to tell me and not care. Chances are high I won't add another cat when mine passes. Too much hassle with terriers.
Nero idk, a couple years ago he met a stray kitten in our yard and was sweet as can be, has met cats on walks and been fine, prey drive if they run of course. Had a kitten I was transporting in the house recently and he seemed WAY too interested for my comfort. He'll bark and lunge at my cat sometimes if he gets too revved up but only when she's on the stairs behind a gate, he'll sniff her if she goes by him but mostly ignores her.
Ripley...she would love to eat a kitty. My cat hates dogs so I have worked with the dogs to basically leave her the hell alone. If they come close to her, look at her, she'll growl and hiss and swat and she'll run if they chase her. That just amps Ripley right up and if the cat smacks her, she will paw smack her right back or air snap at her. She knows kitty is off limits and does ignore her most of the time but has to be watched closely.
Basically I don't worry much about the older two and kitty, but have to keep a close eye on Ripley and watch to make sure they all don't end up in a chase the kitty game. Mostly the cat stays on the couch if I am and otherwise hangs out upstairs, she doesn't spend anymore time than needed on the floor with the dogs and sneaks around them. Although if she's really hungry she will wander right in the middle of them to tell me and not care. Chances are high I won't add another cat when mine passes. Too much hassle with terriers.
Inside good. Outside/strange cats bad. And I know from experience if one of our cats goes outside into the yard with the dogs, the dogs will attempt to kill it.
Romeo is fine in/outside, as is Fiona. Neither care AT ALL about wandering cats/squirrels. Fiona is mildly interested in birds outside. Weirdo cattle dogs.
Romeo is fine in/outside, as is Fiona. Neither care AT ALL about wandering cats/squirrels. Fiona is mildly interested in birds outside. Weirdo cattle dogs.
Both of mine would kill a cat, I have little doubt.
Henry, with a proper introduction and lots of proofing, could be relatively cat safe.
Rhys I doubt will ever be good around cats. Even as a tiny puppy he was super fixated and stiff around them. His prey drive is just too high.
It was really funny when one of the vets we see (who is not bulldog-savvy) asked me if I had socialized him to cats (when he was still little). I flat out laughed and asked if she was serious.
Henry, with a proper introduction and lots of proofing, could be relatively cat safe.
Rhys I doubt will ever be good around cats. Even as a tiny puppy he was super fixated and stiff around them. His prey drive is just too high.
It was really funny when one of the vets we see (who is not bulldog-savvy) asked me if I had socialized him to cats (when he was still little). I flat out laughed and asked if she was serious.
Pretty good?