[Burns]

My husband and I have two indoor-only 4 year-old male neutered cats who are our "kids". We don't have any children so these 2 boys are our pride and joy.

We are getting a male Dobe pup at the beginning of May who will be around 10 weeks old when we bring him home. We will be crate training him for housebreaking, and for when we aren't home to supervise him.

Do any of you have any problems with your Dobes and your house cats? I know it'll take awhile for the cats to get used to the dog, and I've done a lot of research on the breed and read that if the dog is raised with cats, they'll be fine with them, but I just wanted some personal experiences to back up all my reading (and to make me feel less nervous, hehe).

 

[Burns]

Thanks for the reply, though it doesn't make me less nervous, lol.

 

[Burns]

Thanks for the replies and the pics, guys!

We will be attending advanced obedience training with the pup as well, so hopefully if he has a problem with chasing the cats, he will stop as soon as he's told. Also, maybe if we don't force the issue and let the cats come out and investigate on their own terms, it will be okay.

I guess I just looking for some reassurance with other people's experiences that cats and Dobes can live harmoniously together in certain situations.

 

[Burns]

I'm sure you'll be fine with bringing a young pup in the house, then he will be raised with the cats.

That's what we're banking on. Hopefully since the pup will still be relatively small, the cats won't feel overly threatened by him. And they can get used to him before he becomes a huge monster, LOL.

It's great to have a cat tree for your guys, vertical space is so important to cats, and they they can get away from a rambunctious youngster

Yep, we've got 2 cat trees, plus we'll have a tall gate up with a small cat door so the dog can't get through but the cats can, that way the dog can't get to where the cat trees and cat food is.

I'm sure it'll be a big adjustment for the cats, but I think the cats will come around eventually (as long as the dog is not overly prey-driven and doesn't try to attack/chase them). And hopefully the cats will learn not to run since running away = being chased by the dog.

 

[Burns]

It's nice to hear the good success stories as well. Our cats had 1 bad experience with a friend's dog that we watched for 2 days, who would freeze and stare-down the cats whenever he saw them, then try to chase them when they ran, so I just hope that the first and only dog that our cats have ever seen didn't ruin them on dogs in general.

But hopefully since the puppy will be smaller and with everything else, the circumstances will be different. Honestly, I'm more worried about the cats adjusting to the dog than the dog adjusting to the cats. I would hate to have them hide out in the opposite side of the house everytime the dog is around. But like everyone has said, it's hard to speculate what will happen since every dog is different and every cat is different.

I guess it's just that one bad experience with that one dog that worries me.

 

[Burns]

So my hubby and I went to visit the 4 week old Dobe pups yesterday, and I had the idea to bring a towel with me to collect "puppy scent" to bring home to the cats.

I put the towel in the puppies' whelping box and they played on it, slept on it, chewed on it, (I think one might've peed on it), and laid on it for the 3 hours that we were visiting.

Then we brought the towel home and put it in the spot where the puppy's crate will go. The cat were ALL OVER it. They were smelling it for the longest time, and I think Cloud (the white cat in my sig) may have known that this smell could mean nothing good because he hunkered down and slunk away. But I reassured him and put him back by the towel and petted both cats and spoke in a happy voice. Then they were ok with the towel.

We will be going back to see the pups every 2 weeks until we can bring him home (6 weeks from now), and I think I'll do the towel/scent thing every time. I mean, it can't hurt, right? Animals are driven a lot by scent so my thinking behind this is that maybe if the cats are kinda used to the puppy's scent, it won't be as much of a shock when he comes home.

Any thoughts?

 

[Burns]

Thanks, Okie-Dobie

I also purchased this gate, which I love. It's extra tall and very sturdy. You can either use pressure to keep it up, or use screw anchors into the wall. It has a walk-through door for people, and a cat door at the bottom as well.

This is what we're going to use to keep the puppy in our computer room with us (especially during housetraining so he can't sneak off), but also to give the cats the rest of the house to hide out if they want. But they will still need to come through the room to use the litter box, hence the cat door.

I'd recommend this gate to anyone, even if you don't have cats.