I hope this dog is a good match. Don't forget that you should ask the director about how it behaviors with other dogs.Originally Posted by Kat lady
What great feedback and thoughts and advice I've received from you folks!I'm feeling more enlightened about Boston terriers at the moment, than I did 2 1/2 hours ago! I will talk to the Director of the humane society about more specifics of this particular dog, of course
This is all encouraging along with what others have written about Bostons getting along with kitties. The report about Herky's background is that he DOES get along with cats so that's good news, too.Originally Posted by strange_wings
I hope this dog is a good match. Don't forget that you should ask the director about how it behaviors with other dogs.If you're used to a lab's energy level, a terrier mix won't be that much more for you to deal with - it'll be close to the same but with a lot less chewing/digging.
I took our lab to meet the Boston terrier today at the humane society. Meeting was fine. The Boston terrier (Herky) thought our lab (Molly) was wonderful. Molly tolerated Herky; was more interested in sniffing around.
Kat lady
I placed a kitten in a home with three boston terriers several years ago. The people had a cat before, but had recently lost it (old kitty, I don't know what to). The kitten was around ~10weeks, a little tortie. I visited their home a year later and everyone was happy and healthy - kitty was indoor, dogs played with her, and she had places to get away from them if they started annoying her.
They're still terriers. Staffs/pits and bull terriers overlap in that area, too. While it makes for a more sedate dog, you still get the terrier drive - which is why the three listed above can be such a handful and need firm handling and training. The only difference with the Bostons is that they're "little dogs" and get that attitude going too if you don't watch it.
That is true. I had a dog who looked like a terrier, acted like a terrier is most ways, etc... I was told he may be a purebred Rat Terrier (by someone who does Rat Terrier rescue) or he could be part Bulldog or Boston Terrier or Staffy Bull... He had all the traits associated with terriers (tenacity, activity level, loud mouth, intelligence, independent etc) except he had no interested in chasing small animals whatsoever. He was totally toy-crazy and would do anything to get at a toy (the way you see most terriers act with small animals, he acted with toys) but he would completely ignore animals. Squirrels would run right past him without even him giving them a second look.
Never take a humane society test as it being safe to intro too quickly, both cats and dogs act differently in a home to a shelter environment. I know at least one dog we tested with cats who was aggressive with them was fine when a cat was introduced and one who could not care less about cats in the shelter is extremely aggressive to all animals outside the shelter (even on walks)
