# the dog and the cat



## mnadraus (Jun 7, 2015)

Ok so the maine **** cat and the 8 week old V have been together for 1 week. At 1st the cat stayed away a few feet. Now they smell eachothers noses. Now the V is all about a fast paced walk aftter the kitty. I think he is trying to romp with him like its his litter mates. The cat is fast and runs up a few stairs or on top of a counter to be safe. Do you guys have the same experiences as this? As the dog gets huge will it still love and want to play or will it get too rough?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Most of it will depend on how much the cat decides to interact with the pup. Cats have a way of putting young pups in their place, and they remember it as they grownup. You just have to make sure the cat has a place to go when he doesn't want the pup to bother him, and they normally work it out on their own.
30 years ago my daughters cat would sleep on my labs back. They weren't friends right at first, but became that way over time. The lab only liked the cat he grew up with, all others would get chased out of the yard.


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## Jrod (Dec 12, 2012)

Hello Mnadraus
TR has it right, the cat will set boundries the pup will follow. As long as the cat has an escape when needed they should do just fine. Miles use to chase his sister all over the house, but once she got on her condo he knew he was not allowed to bother her, a couple of nose bops serve as an occasional reminder whenever he tries to push his boundaries.

Miles points at Telula all the time, but he's never pounced her and she can stop him in his tracks with..."the look". Its fun to watch. Remember too, if you feel the pup is overwhelming the cat you can take that moment to redirect his behavior by doing some command training with rewards such as treats. Everyone wins, your cat will get a break, you get to reinforce good behavior and the pup gets a mental exercise! Good luck.

Jrod


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Don't even get me started on the cats and the dog this morning. I am out of town at my parent's house. We don't have the safety of our regular furniture that the cats hide behind and move through the house. We don't have the office with the cat door in it. Dijon especially is stressed out and will hide under beds or on the ledge in the hallway or they go into the basement with the door closed. We also have to watch that Dharma doesn't get into the cat litter in the basement..... This is vacation time with my pets!


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Our 3 year old V still chases our 2 cats. No one has ever gotten injured though, and she leaves them alone more than she used to. We have a baby gate at the bottom of our stairs. It lets the cats have a safe place to escape and also keeps our V from going upstairs and eating the "treats" in the litter box.


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