I think the title says it all (and I'm guessing this is a difficult question to answer) but how often do you stumble across Rescue Dogs that will quite happily live with a cat?

Somebody has told me that if you have a cat and you want a dog, then its better to get a puppy as it will grow up and will naturally believe living with a cat is normal, whereas most rescue dogs will probably chase cats as they can be more unruly since many are not trained.

thanks for your assistance.

I have had three dogs all rescues and they have all being trained to get along with the cat.

None of mine were tiny puppys infact Dodge was elderly, please dont get me wrong they are all interested to begin with but need to be told firmly and boundries need to be set.

Nothing is ever perfect with any dog rescue or not but i dont believe i am just lucky with the fact all of my three its just a case of being firm and aware during the first few weeks.

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so long as you go about introducing them in the right way, you should be able to get most dogs and cats to live happily side by side

Crate training your dog, and making use of a baby gate that the dogs can't fit through but the cats can is also a top tip

arguably it's as much a case of persuading the cat not to spit and scarper as it is desensitizing the dog


initially, don't allow them in the same room - let them get used to each other's scent first - over several days

introduce them slowly - maybe keep a lead or house line on the dog, and never allow the dog to come between the cat and the safe exit or the cat will become stressed and exhibit behaviours which will provoke the dog

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Did you end up getting a new dog Housley? does it get on with cats?

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Just want to say here that my Boxer bitch was 7 when she came to me was fine with our 5 cats straight away (she must have lived with them in her previous life) even though we know that 3 of them havent lived with a dog before but the 2 rescue cats must have as they loved the dog immediately. The even older Boxer dog when he came to live with wasnt used to cats and it toook a few days of vigilance on our part to diffuse some 'slight' disagreements, and when they were to bad the dog was put on a lead until things calmed down. I think that we were lucky though as we have a very large bay window where the cats could get out of the way and get used to the dog without him being able to get close to them, here we are 4 or 5 weeks down the line and things have settled down and they all share beds now - they still chase cats when they are outside though, even ours but if the cat stops the dogs wander off as if they dont know what to do next.
At the rescue I volunteer at we are occasionally asked to cat test dogs before they are taken and it is surprising the amount that we have tried that have shown now interest in the cat and have gone off to new cat owning homes and setteled in well with the resident moggy/s