Cat friendly dog

[alessandrae83]

Is it down to the individual dog or are certain breeds better? I'm assuming most sighthounds and terriers are a no go.

Bit of both really. Some breeds have more of a chase instinct but there are many examples of every breed that are good and not good with cats.

Are you thinking of getting a puppy or adult dog?

I think it’s both.

Certain breed groups like terriers, herding dogs and sight hounds are more likely than most to be predatory towards cats but I think it’s wise to remember that the domestic dog, no matter which jacket it is wearing is a carnivorous animal.

All dogs have some degree of prey drive.

An individual dog of a typically low prey drive breed is not necessarily guaranteed to be cat safe nor is an individual dog of a typically high prey drive breed guaranteed to be unsafe around cats.

I've known high prey drive dogs (mine and other people's) grow up with a cat already in the house, and they've been fine.

I currently have a young working-line dog with a serious prey drive who shares a bed with the cat most nights. She learned to respect him as a puppy: we saw to that, as did the cat himself.

Its down to the dog really - just some breeds are more inclined to be persistent about it and others can move faster to get to a cat.

Both my lurchers were bred to chase small furry things, but live happily with 3 cats

Totally agree it’s down to the individual dog. I grew up in a household of lurchers and cats with no issues, and now own a border terrier whose best pal at our old house was our neighbour’s black cat. That said, I would generally avoid ex-racing greyhounds - we had a visit from one who was supposedly cat friendly with a view to rehoming... caught and broke our cat’s leg (while still on the lead) within 5 minutes of being in the house . I know there will be exceptions to even this rule though.

My dog seems to have a mental distinction between cats he lives in the house with that he knows and other cats..

He won't chase our cats across the garden even if they run. But he'll chase an intruder cat in the garden.

Think its mostly that he knows our cats will tell him off and he's a wuss.

I think the only way to ensure this is to raise the dog (pretty much any breed) from a puppy in a cat household

I have a mixed terrier breed that didn’t grow up with my cat and although he has never ever had any physical touch to the cat and is actually totally ok with her generally, his chasing instinct keeps automatically kicking in. So suddenly the cat will appear from out of nowhere (like cats do) and the surprise of it makes the dog suddenly go into ‘chase mode’
This involves chasing and barking at cat for a couple of minutes then it is all over!
The cat creeps into dark rooms and through doors and just takes dog by surprise, it isn’t anyone’s fault. If cat and dog are together in obvious sight of each other they are fine, dog also doesn’t go looking for the cat or anything

Dog also wants to eat all the cats food so that has to be moved up high and is annoying

Dog chases all other cats he sees out and about