We are two sixtyish, fit and active adults with two cats — one small, female and feisty, and one large, male and needy. We really want to get a dog but need advice on what breeds (or mixed breeds) might be best and whether a trained adult dog or puppy — though we’re not eager to train one — would be best. Any and all help would be very gratefully appreciated!
7 Responses
2008 Nov 12
The breed doesn’t matter. It is all in the experience of the individual dog.
If you start with a puppy, it will be friendly with your cats. However, it will worry them to death trying to play!
If you get an adult, be sure to get an adult that has lived peacefully with cats.
2008 Nov 14
I have heard the top rated dog that gets along with other animals and loves living inside and can either be docile or full of energy is a Boston Terrier. They don’t bite and they do train very easily (they are just kind of ugly and look like Yoda)
2008 Nov 17
If you get a puppy, which is the best way I’ve found to have dog and cats co-habitate, your dog will grow up knowing the cats are off limits as “toys”. As far as breeds, I currently have 2 Jack Russell Terriers,and 2 female cats. One cat loves the dogs and will play and chase with them, sometimes, the other cat was a stray and is a bit “psycho”, she will be fine one minute then the next she will run up and swat at the dogs, they tend to avoid her. Jacks are known to be a breed that should not be kept with cats as they view all things smaller than they are, and some things bigger, as “prey”. Since, we got the pups young and the cats were adult, it worked out. I’ve had many different dogs over the years and we’ve also almost always had cats. As far as training, I would reccomend you DO train the dog yourself, its not hard and becomes fun after a bit. If you have a PetSmart in your area, they have wonderful training programs that aren’t very expensive, and its only for a few weeks. The way they train your dog is to train you to train your dog, that way you don’t get all the basics but none of the specialized stuff. For instance, since my dogs are kind of small, I hate having them in the kitchen, because I fear tripping over them while carrying boiling water, since I used PetSmart training for the basics, I was able to come home with the right tools to teach them to stay out of the kitchen. Since I got such good ground work for training there it has also helped me when my youngest dog recently lost his vision very quickly. We have had to re-train him with voice commands instead of hand signals and being able to teach him things like waiting for voice cues for going up and down stairs has been wonderful.
Do your research about the breed you decide on to make sure it will fit into YOUR lifestyle and the cats will be fine. If you get a mixed breed or a rescue dog, make sure to ask for any background info they have. Some dogs are up for adoption because of bad behavior that should ahve been corrected earlier, and that requires more intense training, which you might not want.
2008 Nov 18
Some breeds are known to be VERY RISKY with cats, such breeds include Huskies and Malmutes…
also DO NOT GET a sight hound (greyhound etc) as they will chase anything small that moves - your cat is small to it) I have seen a grey hound once go after a toddler when it fell over and started to crawl.
Soft mouthed breeds, such as labs are very good with cats.
Scent Hounds (bassets) are fine. Most of the toy breeds are fine.
Terriers are bred for hunting so may not be the best choice.
mutts generally are good too - but depends on what mix.
IF you go to your local SPCA or Humane Society they may even have dogs who have lived with cats in the past, which is a good option for you - or they may be able to “test” some of their dogs to see which is better (you pick 2 or 3 dogs that they have and ask them to test them)
2008 Nov 21
From the dog: cats are fun the play with ,they can get you food from the counter but they have sharp ends on thier feet
From the cat:dogs are warm but stupid
Seriously any dog will get along with a cat as long as they know that the other wont do them harm
I’ve known huge dogs terrified of cats they have sharper claws than dogs
2008 Nov 22
I think smaller dogs are the way to go. I have a chinese crested and he does very well with cats. They also don’t bark, unlike chihuahuas and other toy breeds. I would recommend a crested, or a maltese.
2008 Nov 23
I don’t think the breed matters, as long as a cat gets used to a new puppy, or the cat and dog grow up together