Do I need to be worried about rescue dog attacking cat?

[LaCerbiatta]

We just got a rescue dog from abroad. We don't have a lot of history on her but we know she was living with cats and has a really sweet gentle nature so we were told she would be OK with our cat.

So far it's been OK. Cat is curious but cautious and approaches slowly and then just steps back. Dog mostly ignores the cat but when she sees her approaching her food I can tell she's not happy, lowers her head with her ears back. She also growled at the cat once but that was when she
had a bone, so hopefully understandable....

I don't know if these are signs of concern? I'm just so worried. They're sharing the same space but obviously cat can find hiding places. Also dog is at the moment sleeping in a crate, so all safe at night.

Please reassure me that dogs attacking cats at home is not common and I have nothing to worry about. I haven't bonded with the dog yet and at the moment I'm feeling really anxious and worried about the cat 🙁

If a puppy is raised around cats they should be ok. She's telling you she's not happy about the cat being around the food bowl so I'd definitely shut the cat out when your dog is eating and remove the empty food bowl afterwards. Same with high value treats-the dog only gets a bone when the cat is out.

Sound like dog is resource guarding. That can get much worse. Read up on it and get some behavioural help. The face book website dog training advice and support is really good on this.

In meantime I’d keep dog and cat apart at food time.

I had a dog that resource guarded...it wasn’t easy.

Oh and the dog that resource guarded and the cat got on fine once they were used to each other. But we never fed in same space and were very careful with treats.

Current puppy will wait patiently while our old bully of a cat gets a treat first right next to each other. Previous dog tha5 would hav3 been a recipe for disaster.

A rescue dog needs to feel safe and reassured or you're going to have a long battle with an anxious dog on your hands. He just needs to feel safe in your home atm to build confidence and sees the cat as a threat so it's going to take him longer to feel comfortable/trust you. Keep the cat separate for now until you know him a bit better. We have 2 rescues from abroad. 1 is fine with the cat now but the other (the more nervous dog) is still visably anxious when the cat is in the same room. This makes the cat tense which just adds to it all and he would end up so worked up. But he can now (1 year later) take himself off to a different space or if it's somewhere he can't (like the living room in the evening) I put the cat out as she has access to other spaces that he doesn't and gets plenty of fuss there. I don't want to force him into a situation that makes him anxious and therefore likely to act. Having rescues from abroad is incredibly hard and you will need to micro-manage everything to build their confidence! It's hard work but I love mine so much.

@Badgershy

If a puppy is raised around cats they should be ok. She's telling you she's not happy about the cat being around the food bowl so I'd definitely shut the cat out when your dog is eating and remove the empty food bowl afterwards. Same with high value treats-the dog only gets a bone when the cat is out.

This

The cat should also have some spaces it can escape to if the dog decides to give chase / otherwise pester

Think high places the dog can't access, and baby gates with gaps between the bars that are wide enough for the cat to run through

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful. I think mostly it's my anxiety speaking. I'm still not used to the dog, she's still a foreign body in the house, bless her!