Getting a dog and suitable breeds

[Apileofballyhoo]

DS would love to get a dog and so would I. We live in quite a small bungalow with a very small garden. Our living room kitchen is large but open plan and we have a contrary nervous cat. She tolerated my DM's dog (a tiny King Charles Cavalier) but she knew her since she was a kitten.

Is there any way to get a dog in this situation? Are there small breeds that would be less inclined to worry cats? Would a young dog be better or would the cat feel less threatened by a puppy?

DS is 11 and the cat is 9. I still think of her as a young cat which of course she isn't. I think DS is a good age now for us to get a dog and if I waited until we didn't have a cat that could be several years... also DH would probably get another cat nearly straight away.

I feel torn as I'd love for DS and myself if we had a dog but I love our cat and wouldn't like to distress her. DS doesn't really get any pleasure from having a family pet as she is so odd. Most people are slightly afraid of her, including DS, as she'll turn and swipe with her claws out for what seems like no reason. (Rarely to me though.) She hides when anybody comes to the house except people she knows really really well (this takes years of visits). Just trying to give a picture of how nervous she is. Maybe I should just forget about a dog.

We'd be going for a rescue dog so it would be harder but not impossible to get a puppy. I'm thinking of this as a long term thing anyway so I'd wait for a long time to find the right dog.

Our cat was 10 when we got out first dog. We specifically got a puppy because we wanted to be able to train it to be safe around the cat (a lot of rescue places wouldn’t say the adult dogs could be with a cat).

We did use a stair gate to section of a portion of our utility room, so the cat could be fed behind the gate and not worry about the dogs while eating. We also used another stair gate to give the cat sole use of upstairs, but obviously that isn’t an option with a bungalow.

By getting the puppy, it grew up thinking of the cat as part of its pack, and as the cat was already here (and has a mean swipe on him when he feels like it!) the dog defers to the cat. Not only can the cat walk through the house unchased, but the dog actually sits when he enters the room!

My parents in law have a whippet and a lurcher living happily alongside a cat. I would second looking at rescue centres for lurchers or similar as not only are they really friendly and loving but as long as they get decent walks they happily sleep all day. We have a basset hound who also sleeps, but they can be loud so a lurcher is probably better.