Good breeds of dogs with cats?

[Fire Fox]

When you do think about getting a dog, why not put a stair gate up so the cats can retreat upstairs if needed until they are used to the dog, and vice versa. A word of warning, cat litter trays are irresistable to most dogs. I keep mine in the bath!

Good advice on the stairgate, but  to dogs being drawn to a litter tray!

[LilyandGary]

Any good rescue should be able to tell you whether the dog you are interested in is able to be rehomed safely with cats.

I have Labs and a spaniel, and all are very sociable with my cats. This include a rescued Lab who was allowed to chase the previouus owners` cat endlessly. With training (she hadnt had any), sensible precautions when I was not there to supervise and patience she has become the most soppy thing. The only cat she will now chase is my Gary, who likes it for some reason and chases her back. Then they curl up together to sleep in her bed.
 
Foster cats soon learn to be relaxed around them, or tell them off, whatever they feel like. Some really dont like them and I let them tell the dogs off, which means they learn to keep out of that cat`s way.

When you do think about getting a dog, why not put a stair gate up so the cats can retreat upstairs if needed until they are used to the dog, and vice versa. A word of warning, cat litter trays are irresistable to most dogs. I keep mine in the bath!

[Kirst]

We had a West highland terrier for many years , who was in situ when we got Beavis asnd Oscar as kittens. From that day all it took was a glare from Oscar and the dog wouldn't even cross his path......................

[Den]

I would say there is no black or white answer.

There are no breeds that are good with cats. It is all down to the personalities. You do have the very high prey drive breeds (Like huskies or Mals) who need to be introduced when very young. However, there is no guarantee that dogs (of whatever breed) who grow up as puppies with cats will get on with them. Some might be best friends, some might tolerate them, others might never be ok. It really is about personality and with puppies you need to wait for them to grow up to find out what that is. It is also about the training and how well you do. Lets not forget, puppies like to chase and be incredibly annoying ..... cats are fun things to chase and annoy. It would be up to you to not let them happen (I'm not a fan of letting the cats tell the dogs off, except for hissing ... purely because cats aim for the face and there is potential for serious damage to be done to the dogs eyes, also a dogs nose is incredibly sensitive.)

Likewise, there is no guarantee that an adult rescue dog who has previously lived with cats will be ok with your cats. A lot of dogs are ok with 'their own' but are not ok with any other cat. Again it boils down to you and training and how well you can read behaviour, also whether the dog will accept other cats.

Then there are dogs who have never lived with cats who just hit it off with the cats.

Then of course there is the cat. I believe some cats really don't like dogs.

[Mark]

This is Caroline's other Terrier Miah with another kitten (sorry about quality)

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

The picture I posted if of our welfare officer Caroline's Border Terrier, Darcy with ex-foster kitten (now perminant resident pud) Oliver. Darcy and Oliver have become such good friends that Caroline said it would be cruel to part them.  Caroline has 2 Border terriers and they both have been trained to be foster mummies to orphaned kittens. The dogs are very maternal and attend to the kittens every need. They particularly like licking them clean after a meal. 

[Liz]

For us Border Collies and Jack Russells have always lived with the Clan happily - the cats are in charge and the dogs do what the cats tell them

[Borderreiver]

Julie what a wonderful photo. You are so right it is down to training and there is no reason why normal cats and dogs shouldn't get on well in the same household.

[Dawn F]

we hope to get a dog in the next couple of years oh was rather taken with huskys but a bit of research stamped on that lol - retriever type dogs all seem to be ok??  top of our list is a black lab (him) italian greyhound (me) but I think in reality and because it will be a rescue dog the lab will win

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Erm... what's that about terriers and cats? 

The breed of dog is nothing do do with it. It's how you raise them. 

[blackcat]

Lol, Helen you confused me - opened the thread and assumed it must be an old one revived ...

I don't think there is any one breed of dog that is good with cats, though I am told frequently that British Bull Terriers are bad with them (though know of instances when this has been disproven also).

If a dog is raised by cats (that is, is brought into a household of established cats as a puppy), then there is a very good chance it will grow up believing they are higher up the pecking order and so live peacefully with them as Shadow does. Even with new cats introduced to the household he has been fine. He even ignores cats sitting on their doorsteps when we go for walks. But heaven help any cat that wanders into his yard uninvited as there was a cat in New Zealand who used to taunt him through the fence.

Otherwise it comes down to training. If you have a well-trained, well-disciplined dog then you can introduce it to cats and it will come to accept them as a member of the household. When I was a child and we lived on a farm (close your eyes, you sensitive types) my parents trained one of our dogs to chase feral cats. She was a real demon and would have at them on sight. Then we got a cat of our own. The kitten was introduced to her through the flyscreen door and her first reaction was 'dinner'. But she was shown that the kitten was valued and was part of the family and within a fairly short period she came to accept it as part of the household. Any other cat was still 'dinner', but Mouse was hers to keep and protect.

So I guess the moral of the story is that it's really up to you, your patience, your skill at animal training and taking care. As you say, terriers are a breed I would avoid, and rescue greyhounds for similar reasons (though some greyhounds are great around cats).

Shadow was a rescue - he was, however a puppy. You can get puppies at rescues as well as adult dogs.

[Ellen2010]

Ok here I will say it depends on the temperament of the dog itself.  The reason I am saying this until about 6 years ago I had a whippet/terrier cross living with my cats and you could not of asked for a more tolerant dog and even the ferals would curl up on top of her and sleep and if she woke up and wanted the loo and the cat was still there she would whine for me to remove the cat first so she never disturbed it.

At the moment I have a border collie who I got at just under a year old and had never lived with cats until she came to live with me and was a rescue and is now 9 years old and I also have a Japanese Shiba Inu who is also 9 years old but was raised with cats from being a pup until he came to live with me at 7 months old.

I have had Labradors that was good with cats and German Shepherds so it is really dependent on temperament and you could also ask the rescue what they are like with cats before getting a dog if you see one that you are interested in.  My mum had dogs that hated cats but they would occassionally come and stop with me for the odd weekend when my mum went away and would tolerate the cats in my house but did give them ground rules and even found them curled up asleep with my cats on occassions.  Admittedly my mums dogs took more notice of me than they did her as they had grown up with me and were getting on in years and were 17 & 21 years old when they went to the bridge, I could even brush the bearded collie cross and she would lay there but if my mum tried she would snap in her general direction as she had gone totally blind.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Sorry for hijacking Lil_Scruff, I know nothing about dogs but just had to comment on Poppy and Malachi in that photo. I thought I recognised them - it seems they have Australian twins (even down to the rug!). Snatched the photo from one of her old threads, here's Esther and Shadow who belong to Blackcat (Jo)...

[Borderreiver]

My experience is with Labradors as we have three. The cats and dogs all get on fine. Malachi has never known that a dog can be a problem and has treated them as a rubbing post from day one, Merlin took a couple of days to realise that they are pretty stupid in comparison to him.
Our dogs are fairly bemused by the new boys. The cats they were brought up with were much less tolerant so they do tend to still avert their noses in case of sharp pins.
This evening we had three Labs and two cats all sprawled out in front of the wood stove together.

Mal and Ellie

And with Poppy

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

I must admit I've never had a dog but I would have thought it best tointroduce a young dog while the cats are still young however if you are going to leave it for a while then I would get a resuce dog that has previously lived with cats and already knows the rules and has good manners when it comes to cats.

[Lil_Scruff]

Hi all,

I have four cats (all between 5 and 12 months) whom myself and my fiancee love dearly. We're big animal lovers and have always wanted a dog and hope to get one sometime in the next 12 months.

The cats obviously come first but I'm wondering if people can share their experiences of breeds that are good (or bad) with dogs.

I understand that it's best to get a puppy so that they quickly 'learn' who's boss but both myself an OH like the idea of a rescue dog which might make things more difficult.

I know that terriers are meant to be a no-no but what about others?

Our ultimate fav breed is a schipperke but there's hardly any of these around,

S.