Cat friendly dogs

[white cat lover]

Ahhh....two of a kind we are!

I take in the "special kitties"....deaf, blind, toothless, old, mentally handicapped....I foster the sick kittens who *might* die....you get the point.

 

[faith's_mom]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Ahhh....two of a kind we are!

I take in the "special kitties"....deaf, blind, toothless, old, mentally handicapped....I foster the sick kittens who *might* die....you get the point.

Hahaha...yeah, I take those kind in too. My Faith, the black kitty in my siggy, was so sick and weak when I got her, I didn't know if she was going to make it through the first night I had her. I had to syringe feed her for two days, before she was strong enough to eat on her own, and even then, I had to continue syringing a high energy vitamin supplement into her every 4-6 hours for another 6 days, other wise she went down hill again...But, now look at her...tehehehehe. After lots of vitamins, a few wormings, lots of good food, and of course tons of TLC she looks like she'll make it...Lol!!!

 

[calico2222]

I agree, the best thing would be to try to adopt and grown dog that has already been around cats. You would be giving a dog that probably won't be adopted a home, and he would be living with his old friends.

I think when it comes to cat aggression, some depends on the breed, but most depends on the dog and what they're familiar with. Snickers (lab) and Skuttles (lab/shepard mix) were both pups when we got them. Well, actually Skuttles is Snicker's so she was born into the house with 6 cats. They are fine around the cats. They play chase every now and then but the cats instigate it. Brooke has no problem with the indoor cats, but barks her head off at the outdoor cats because they are in "her" yard. All she does is sniff them, until they bat at her and prance off. Buttercup, our pug, is our problem child. We got her when she was 1 and makes it her job to chase the cats inside. I think it's a jealousy issue as she can't stand to see another animal getting any pettings or lovings. She has even chased the cats out of the litterbox

. We've been working with her, but she is just so stubborn. Hmmm...I may just start a new thread on how to train a pug.

Anyway, training is a must, but I would try to get a dog that was used to cats and gets along well with them. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

 

[judi]

Originally Posted by eburgess

So I have been thinking about getting a dog. We had a husky/shepard mix growing up. Don't get me wrong, I love my Limerick, but I miss having a dog. Does anyone know what dog breeds that are traditionally "cat friendly"?

Golden Retrievers

 

[faith's_mom]

Originally Posted by Judi

Golden Retrievers

Awwww...I love Goldens...and the younger the better...little puff balls!!! Tehehehe...my best dog was a Golden mix, I still miss that dog!

 

[tobi]

I had a husky that was scared of my kitten

I think you can train ANY dog to be cat friendly

We got the kitten AFTER the dog, too.

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I beg to differ here. Some dogs just have too high a prey drive to be taught to live with cats. Trust me....I've seen people adopt dogs from the HS where I volunteer with the knowledge they have the desire to chase cats....only to return the dog after it killed cat(s).

I mostly agree with this, but will add if you really, really, really know how to manage a dog, you can get over their prey drive. I've known dog trainers to fail in this regard so it really takes a dog intuitive person with training to be successful.

Avoid site hounds, as they have been bred for thousands of years to go after small furry critters (greyhounds, etc). With that said, I had 2 greyhounds and was able to eliminate their prey drive, but only after I lost 2 feral cats to 1 of them.

My herding dog did very well with them. He annoyed them when he stood guard over them (he would drool on them as they slept), but he was very protective of them. My scent hound ignored them. My goldens and labs only problem is that they are so big that sometimes they bump them without intending to and it chases the cats away.

 

[nekochan]

I would say Goldens are very often very cat-friendly dogs.
Some of them do have a prey drive, but even the ones I know who would chase ANYTHING outside of the house were very cat-friendly and good with "their" cats at home!

My Golden especially LOVES cats (and all other animals really...) She even tries to make friends with stray cats!

Here she is with her "boyfriend" Legolas when he was a kitten. Legolas belongs to a friend of mine and Ginger and Legolas just love each other. They're so cute together, Legolas will lick Ginger, Ginger will let him play with her tail and she also will walk around the house dragging her leash so he can chase it! Legolas is an adult now but they still love to cuddle.

 

[barbarajro]

I just learned that Great Pyranees are really good with cats. 

 

[2catminimum]

I agree that Golden Retrievers and Labs are very good with cats. My spaniels (I had a English Springer and a Brittany, who have now passed on) were amazing with my cats, especially the english springer. Most of the time she just ignored the cat but the other times she just was like "oh hey, it's you". 

 

[zohdee]

Newfies!!

I am partial to that breed. 

 

[missmycat]

I think if the dog grows up being around cats it learn not to chase.  We have always had dogs and cat together.  Right now we have a scottish terrier and a lab mix and they were raised with two cats.  The cats have past on now and we got a kitten last month.  They have no problems with him but sometimes he has a problem with them.  That's to be expected since the cat has spent 6 months in the shelter.

 

[awaiting abyss]

I too think it depends on the dog and if they grow up around dog-friendly cats.
My Chihuahua used to love cats. My old Rhodesian Ridgeback was fine with cats until she had a cat scratch her nose for no reason and for a long time she hated cats after that. As a child I had a cocker spaniel mix that would find baby rabbits and kittens and treat them like her own.

 

[jofo]

Whats the more easy approach. To get young kitten and introduce it to a dog. Or to get a puppy and show it to your cat. 

In my experience, dogs tend to be more tolerant then cats. Both kitten and puppies are behaving as children which they are, and I found that dogs are more prone to "molesting".

However it a personality thing so I don't expect that to be the case per se. 

 

[pazuzuinxs]

Depends on training (and some genetic disposition). Cross out those with a high prey drive (setters come to mind). I have a basset hound who gets his tail chewed by my resident queen and doesn't mind it one bit. 

Also goldens and labs work great. Except I know of a particular lab who loved cat poo---not my idea of snack time...