Please help me, wise people of Mumsnet. We have been planning to get a Ddog for over a year now. We have a 9 year old DC and although we know it will be a massive amount of work, especially if we get a puppy or young dog, we think it will be good for all of us. DC would benefit from a 'doggy sibling' and both myself and DH would benefit from having no excuse when it comes to taking daily exercise! DC is also autistic (as am I) and we're hoping the dog will informally function as a therapy dog, helping with her confidence when out and about.
We took the decision to get a dog around a year ago. We had set ourselves a 'deadline' of this month to try and get a puppy if the right adult rescue dog hadn't presented itself to us by then. (We volunteer at a rescue centre as walkers and kind of hoped fate would introduce us to our perfect canine friend that way.)
Obviously we can't just go and get a puppy now, the prices have become totally unaffordable and that's if you can even find a suitable breeder near enough to you. But we're still trying to make plans for becoming dog parents, in the hope that perhaps a 'lockdown puppy' will find its way to us when his/her owners realise it's not workable to keep him/her once they're out of the house at work all day again.
My main worry is that we have two cats. They were rescues and the mum was semi-feral when we adopted them. She's very flighty and nervous, even runs from DH if he moves too quickly. Has taken me 18 months to get her to be fairly relaxed with me, and even now if I raise my hand too quickly as I go to stroke her she panics. She will be three years old in September, and we also have her son who has just turned two years old (she was a teen mom, poor thing!). He's more chilled and confident, and loves nothing better than to wind her up trying to 'play' as if she were a littermate rather than his mother.
Any advice for me? Particularly with regard to the type/age of dog that would be best to introduce to a home with two cats, one of whom basically seems to have feline PTSD. I would be heartbroken if getting a dog essentially ruined Dcat's life. And any tips for having a dog and cats survive amicably in the same house? We're already thinking we need to have one or two 'safe rooms' that the dog cannot access, and where we will locate the cats' litter trays and food. But haven't got much further than that yet.
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The doghouse
Advice needed please re getting a dog - we have nervous cats!
38 replies
WatermelonSugarHigh · 10/07/2020 17:25
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