Best breed for cats (spaniels/setters)

[peacocksuite]

Looking for personal experience here please rather than their reputation. I've already read about the animal characteristics if each breed.

I am considering getting a dog (I've never had one but partner has had several).

I have two indoor cats that are 9 years old and I am looking for a breed that we can slowly and carefully introduce who would be likely in time be ok with the cats.

The breeds we've shortlisted are cocker spaniels, king charles spaniel or Irish setter. The latter would be our preference but it would be possibly the least compatible with cats.

Please let me know your experiences and advice!

King Charles spaniel.

Likely to be best with the cats and the other 2 are not good choices for first dogs. Too much dog.

King Charles are bred to be lap dogs but have enough drive to be a lot lot of fun. I dog sat one (I'm a bigger dog person) and absolutely fell in love.

Be very wary of breeders who breed for their looms though. You want and old fashioned type - modern ones are bred to look pretty with massive eyes a tiny heads - that are too small for their brains. I kid you not.

The one I look after belongs to a friends mum who hobby bred them (old fashioned ones) for years and she got hers from this very good breeder.

www.champdogs.co.uk/breeder/30805?classic_site=1

Setters are incredibly challenging to train. Spaniels easy. It depends what you want on a dog. Really the cats are a small consideration as most puppies are twats to cats but they can rub along ok as adults and 9 year old cats who have never lived with a dog are going to struggle IME.

Don’t choose the dog for the cats. Their lives will be changed forever regardless. I have a high drive working terrier and she rubs along ok with our cat with some care.

Thanks all, you've given me a lot to think about!

Ideally I'd wait until the cats have passed on but that is likely to be years and I'd like my eldest child to have a dog whilst she's a child and not a teen or even an adult (she's at peak dog age).

Agree they are different dog breeds. Both of us would really prefer a setter but the main issue with that is the cats.

Always had working bred spaniels - springers and cockers - in the house with an assortment of cats. No problems as long as introduced as puppies - only issues we have had have been with ex-working spaniels who have had to be taught and reminded that the cats are in charge.

I would not get a setter btw.

I’ve had 7 Irish Setters and 5 Cavalier King Charles in my dog-owning lifetime. I understand why you chose these breeds as they’re both extremely good tempered, never aggressive and willing to get on with any other animals.

When I had 3 Irish, I adopted a kitten that had been abandoned. Absolutely no problems. Same with the Cavaliers, cats were most welcome.

So you shouldn’t have any problems with these breeds and your cats. Irish Setters aren’t excitable or highly strung, as many people mistakenly say. They just need a lot of exercise - at least an hour twice a day off the lead where they can run safely. They are better when there’s another dog in the household for company.

Cavaliers are happier to be the only dog in the house but need human companionship for most of every day. While they can do long walks, 30 minutes twice a day is fine.

For both breeds, check out what genetic testing is required and buy from a breeder who has completed these tests for both parents.

Good luck!

I think the individual personality of the dog also plays a huge part, I have a house cat (did have two🥲) who I introduced two puppies too, went well, female cat slapped them at the first sign of trouble, they backed off and gave the cats a wide berth, they were/are Cavachons, lost one of the cats and one of the dogs over the years, and brought home a new puppy, he is awful with the cat and spent months being tethered to me so he can't chase the cat, I have spent hours working on getting. him to focus on me and ignore the cat, he is over a year old now and he is an arsehole, a loveable one but the cat will hiss spit and slap him, he thinks this is fun, and whilst he only wants to play he is too much for my old puss cat, and so we do have to watch them carefully as the dog will sometimes forget himself and play bow at her and bounce about around her so we have to step in, he is Shih Tzu and very much lives up to the Shit.

I would not recommended cavaliers either whilst they are beautiful dogs with such gentle souls 90% of the end up with heart disease and die early, which happened to my boy, he was 9 years old and the sack around his heart was so enlarged and paper thin it was at the point of rupturing at any moment which would have led to a horrific death. Cocker Spaniels are being so over bred that there seems to be real issues with temperaments and resource guarding in many lines.

Setters are beautiful but neurotic and don't grow up until they 5 or 6 years old but I would love one but they don't suit my lifestyle, I adored Gordon Setters, if size isn't an issue Saint Bernards are amazing dogs, very easy going and big cuddle bugs.

We have a cocker spaniel, just checking that you know that they are fab but um, extremely active and quite hyper? Tbh our dog and cat (cats as two got knocked down) weren’t a fit. He bullied one of them, the other bullied him , the other just kept their distance. Next door has a springer that gets on great with one of their cats, chases the other. Tbh at 9 I’d leave the poor cats alone and put puppy plans on hold as I think it’s possible the pup will stress them out but from reading above it’s been done so ?!

I would start with how much exercise and grooming and general time you can spend on a dog. I agree those are very very different breeds.

Puppies get told off by adult cats and never forget it. My brother had a Staffie, I had two German Shepherd's and my daughter has two Cocker Spaniels. The cats have always told the puppies off and even as adults they are still wary of them.

I had two 4 year old cats when I brought my red setter pup home. The cats were terrified off her and hid under the bed for a week, lol. Slowly they tested the waters and got more and more comfortable. I'd say it took a year? before they were all completely used to each other. I just let them go at their own pace and never forced the cats to be around the puppy, I knew they found her a bit much when she was young.

The cats are 13 now, the dog 9. Here are some photos of them snuggling:

I have two show cockers and they get on fine with my two cats. One of my cats loves them and will cuddle with them and join us for walks, my other cat is grumpy and indifferent and the dogs tend to give her a wide berth.
The cats were here first and we got the dogs as puppies, which probably helped.

However since having the dogs we also got rabbits and chickens, and despite one of our dogs having a passion for chasing rabbits, and the other chasing birds, they co-exist together quite happily .
We introduced them very carefully over time and we are now able to let the dogs, cats, chickens and bunnies roam in the garden together (with supervision).

I think the temperament of your cats is as important, if not more important than the temperament of your dog. It'll be a lot easier to train your puppy to stay away from a boring cat that swipes and hisses at them, vs a cat that runs away when faced with the pup, tempting a fun game of chase!

Thanks all. I hear you on the cat temperament thing. They've not had much exposure to dogs so I've no idea.

My sil has a very dopey chilled dog. I did try my more chilled cat with him, in my arms and both were ok. Maybe I see what the more skittish hissy one is like.

Thanks for the recommendation on breeders @Shannith

@TenderChicken where did you get your setter from? That is a gorgeous pic and my dream scenario but I realise that may not happen for me!

If you have to choose (and you do) I'd strongly suggest the KCS route.

Setter are gentle but they are big dogs and not straightforward to train. Especially as a first dog.

I'd love one and I'm very experienced but realistically it doesn't suit my lifestyle at the moment. One day.

KCS are smart and you can do loads with them - the one I dog sit will come out for hours over the farm in mud and rain and loves it but equally loves a mooch around and endless lap cuddles. They were literally bred to sit on your lap.

I'd always urge people to start with an uncomplicated dog based on temperament and what really fits your lifestyle. You can go up the foodchain of dogs so to speak in the years to come.

I've got 2 cats and the only thing that I absolutely have is a terrier/greyhound )I'd love a couple of greyhounds).

I'd recommend a cav, spaniels and setters are very full on if you exercise them well and create a dog true to the breed. The more you let it be a setter or a spaniel the less I'd trust it with cats but cavs are lovely dogs if you're okay with the health issues they're prone to.
I have three cats and three dogs, one of which is a spaniel who was raised with cats and I don't fully trust her with them but she flushes animals to sighthounds so is used to chewing on soft fluffy squealing things. springer and cocker spaniels are prone to resource guarding issues and I can see in her eyes that she gets switched on if a cat goes near her antler or bed in a way I don't trust.

My collie is fine with cats, just ignores. Dcat when she was alive would hiss, meow etc at him and he just ignored her. She even tried to claw him and he just snarled and went back to dozing. But they are for experienced owners only and need very dedicated training

Cavaliers are health nightmares, so on those grounds alone I'd be inclined to avoid them (they have very high rates of heart disease, amongst other things). Be very aware that setters and spaniels come in both show and working lines, and the working are likelier to have high prey drive. So think very hard, as PP have said, about what you want in a dog, beyond looks and size. Working lines tend to be a lot more work than show.

All that being said, we had cats for years with high-drive working line gundogs. One was already with us when the first dog arrived; the other arrived as an adult rescue into a house with two dogs. Make it clear to the puppy that tormenting the cat is a no-no, and you should be fine.

I have a cavalier cross who we got when our cat was three. She did try to chase the cat initially, but the cat has put her in her place with a few well-aimed swipes, so now Ddog is very respectful around the cat. Strangely enough, the two of them have a little routine at bedtime - they wait for each other downstairs, then the cat runs upstairs and the dog chases her. For some reason, the cat seems to enjoy this - but only at bedtime! If Ddog attempts to chase her at any other time, Dcat will run at her and swipe her.

@peacocksuite there is an online list for Irish setter availablity here: https://www.irishsetter.org.uk/puppies.html

I found my breeder on there, though I did have to message a few to find one that was doing hip scores (and some got a bit shirty with me when I asked why they didn't!) I'm not sure if the breeder I bought from had further litters or not, I've fallen out of touch with them.

The hiss will be enough to train the pup. King charles your best bet out of the three you've listed.

I have a cocker, my two elderly cats hate the dog. But she respects them and leaves them alone.
Our younger two cats (yes I'm bonkers) love the dog. They cry to see her in the morning and aren't happy till they rub their darling faces against the dog,they play and chase eachother all over our house, and the cats yowl their heads off when the dog goes anywhere without them.
Dog tells them off if they go too close to her chews, but the cats and dog happily share a water bowl and the cats lick the dogs bowl clean after she's ate her dinner.
I do believe the cats think they're dogs 😂
But the older cats still hate her. I'm not sure older cats are willing to change no matter what the breed, but they'll put a puppy in its place!!