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Labs and Cats...

21K views 17 replies 16 participants last post by  c17wife 
#1 ·
Hi everybody! I have a question. How were your labs with your cats? What did you do to help them learn to get along? My cats were used to my other 2 Labs that were always pretty mellow. Even as pups. Now Ranger is completely different. He chases them and bites pretty hard. He still bites me pretty hard too at times. He is slowly learning to not bite so hard. I have a few cats that would love to play with him. But, he just gets too rough. He is ALWAYS chasing them. There are plenty of rooms and areas for the cats to get to that Ranger can't. But, of course they are used to being able to go to every room. I do not allow Ranger to chase the cats, although I can't always catch him in time. But, I do catch him in the act most of the time. I do get after him and then praise him when he stops. I also give him toys that he can chew on. Or get him involved in a game of fetch. This is something else that I know will just take consistent training. I do know he is a puppy and it will take time and patience. But, I am just curious what everybody else did. What things worked or didn't work. Thanks and have a great day!

 
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#3 ·
I don't have cats but Oona has been around them. In her case it all depends on the cat's behavior. If the cat stares at her there is going to be a problem. If the cat is indifferent or is relaxed she is very friendly with them and is sweet towards them.
Olie
 
#4 ·
In our case, one of our cats came before the labs, the other came after. Each cat has distinctly different relationships with the dogs. One adores them, the other barely tolerates.

I think it is important that you continue to be consistent when you correct Ranger for mouthing the cats. Sure, he is just playing. But, as he gets bigger, the playing could become a bit more dangerous. If you can't get to him every time, try "wearing" him around the house. Put a collar and leash on him, and attach the leash to yourself. This technique is helpful in many ways....from housebreaking to heeling nicely to stopping undesireable behavior (ie, kitty chasing.)

Do your cats have claws? Sometimes, the claws can be the world's best training tools. ;)
 
#6 ·
I'm letting mine work it out on their own too. Our cats are 5 year old litter mates so they are a united front in investigating the new puppy. Tramp-the boy cat-is interested but not really doing anything more than sitting on the counter antagonizing Shelby. We know they will be friends, they just have to give in to it. Lady-our snobby girl cat-HATES the dog. LOL. We knew that she would. She doesn't do anything to Shelby-just glares at her and quickly leaves the room, but Shelby already seems to know though, which one will be worth her energy to get to know and which one wants nothing to do with her.
 
#7 ·
We had 4 cats when we got Toby as a puppy. The two younger males were interested, the female was completely uninterested, and the oldest male decided to teach the pup who was boss. I would correct Toby with a stern "no kitty" when he wanted to chase them, but actually, it was Alexander (the oldest cat) who really taught him what he could and couldn't get away with. Toby doesn't seem to have a strong desire to chase cats anyway, he ignores ones we see on our walks, too.

Sadly, I lost Alexander to cancer before we got Chamois. And she is another story entirely - she wants to chase and play with the cats all the time. Again, I'll call her off and scold her if she gets aggressive or tries to bite or pounce on them. I think the female cat would step in and do the same thing Alexander did with Toby, but she was declawed before my BF adopted her 6 years ago, so it's pretty much up to us to teach Chamois manners around the cats. She's learning to be gentle, but it's an ongoing process. I know she wouldn't hurt them deliberately, but I do worry a bit about accidents, so I discourage rough-housing much the same way you do - a correction and substitution to a different game/toy. It probably doesn't help that my orange tabby often initiates the play, he seems to really like Chamois, and they'll lick each other and even cuddle together for naps.

Adorable picture, BTW.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replys everybody. Ranger is 16 weeks old today. He gets pretty rough with the 2 cats that want to play with him. If the cat initiates the play, I let them work it out until they cry out when I know he is hurting them. He tries and grab them around the neck and that is very bad news. The chasing is the other main thing that I correct him for. I just tell him NO in a very firm voice. Most of the time he will stop and then I praise him. Sometimes I have to tell him to sit before he will stop. Sometimes he ignores me all the way and will go growling barking at the cat and then run butt tucking through the house. There is one old cat (she is almost 16) that doesn't even want him to walk by her now because he is always tormenting her. She claws him and sometimes makes him yelp. (all the cats still have claws) So he avoids her unless she is laying on the chair. Then he will keep nudging her and barking until she gets ticked off and leaves the chair. He is not allowed on the furniture so I know he isn't wanting the chair, but maybe he thinks she shouldn't be on it either. Our one male cat is almost 20 pounds and he HATES Ranger. He doesn't even want to play with him or want him near. But, our yellow cat would love to play. And sometimes he will even start playing with Ranger (like the photo) until Ranger starts biting his neck or leg or tail. Sometimes Ranger tries to tackle them and lay on top of them. The cats really freak out then. I hope they will all eventually get along. I would like to eventually let Ranger stay loose in the house like I did with my girls. But, I won't be able to do that if he can't be trusted with the cats. (I know this is a long ways away yet). I will just keep working on it and see what happens ;D
 
#9 ·
When Keri and I first moved in Carolann had a large orange Tabby named Bosley. Bosley got along well with all the dogs. But Bosley the male cat had a very strange interaction with Morgan, Carolann's female Esky. Morgan would often jump on Bosley, push him to the floor, and hump him. We referred to it as the love that dare not speak its name. We think that Bosley considered it a form of play. Neither are intact. However, Bosley disappeared over the winter.
 
G
#10 ·
Well, I had a very bad time when we first brought Maggie home. She ran off our grey kitty for 9 weeks. It was aweful. We have 3 cats and Maggie (the dog) gets along with Blackey because Blackey doesnt run away from her. Blackey just lays around and lets Maggie lick her and when she gets a little rough Blackey just gets out of her way and jumps to a safe spot. Orangey is much younger so she loves to play. Maggie chases her (which I try my best to not allow). They play together alot. After Grey Kitty decided to came back I just make sure she always has a safe escape from Maggie. I would make Maggie get in the down and lay position and then bring grey kitty around and let them get used to each other. It took some time, but they are now friends. Just be consistent in your training. When she chases the cats, just give the no or sit command (or whatever command you use).



 
#11 ·
Sam, our 15.5 year old cat, now owns the guest room. We have a baby-gate positioned 12" off the floor so she can escape and eat and poop in peace. Toby has gotten better about bugging her, but she is so old that she had a couple of accidents and then lost weight shortly after he arrived. We don't have enough human guests to keep it solely a guest room anyway, so it is okay. Sometimes I catch my knee while hopping over the baby gate, and that sucks, but she's regained weight so it is worth it.
 
#12 ·
Ironically, Apollo is SOOO respectful to our 3 cats. When we first brought Apollo home he could tell the cats were afraid of him. Even though he was interested in the cats he NEVER approached them (he let them approach him). What is REALLY amusing is that one of our cats has anxiety based agression. We thought that when we brought apollo home that all hell would break loose. The opposite happened. Our cats has done a TOTAL 180 personality wise and we no longer think he will need to be medicated! Crazy! lol. Roxie May (my black cat) LOVES to play with apollo's tail. He just lets her suck on his tail. Doesn't do a thing. lol. Apollo is EXCELLENT not only with our 3 cats, but also with our 6 ferrets. When we first brought apollo home he was VERY skittish. Being near the ferrets (aka, his little buddies) really did wonders to help him adjust to our home. I realize not everyone is lucky enough to have a multi-species household that gets along so well. So we are truely grateful for the peace between the animals in our home.
 
#13 ·
We have two cats. Our two labs we've raised since puppyhood totally ignore them. I've had over 35 foster dogs and almost all were okay with cats - 2 were not including my current foster dog. I am confident my current foster dog would eat the cats if he had the chance - he has a very strong prey drive and I keep him completely separated from the cats. He also trys to get to squirrels and chipmunks on walks. I would say to try to get this under control while your dog is young and if you don't trust her when she gets older, never let her have unattended access to the cats. It is much more difficult (maybe impossible) to try to train an adult dog with a high prey drive to respect the kitties.
 
#14 ·
I'm not a cat lover; however, we rescued Mikey about 7 years ago. He is a Maine **** and is rather large. My first lab, Nestle, didn't pay much attention to him, and we found them in close proximity to each other all the time. My two "yahoos", Lil and Legend, love to play chase. Once they get Mikey cornered it becomes a major sniffing experience. When they first met, my labs were 8 weeks old. Legend is often found licking Mikey between the ears. Lil likes to just sniff. They both love to chase him if he elects to run from the room... they love the "chase." I usually have to correct Lil with strong voice tone and "No!" She usually just walks away. I firmly believe it depends on personalities when it comes to tolerating cats/dogs. I introduced Mikey slowly by holding him when my first lab saw him. It didn't seem to take much time to set the tone for tolerance. You will probably just need to spend a little more time correcting and redirecting. My cat came to us with front paws declawed so biting would have been his defense mechanism; he has never had to resort to that.
 
#15 ·
I kind of left it to my cats to set the rules and boundaries where the dogs were concerned. They let the dogs know PDQ what they would and would not tolerate. They don't have claws but they sure would put on a good show nonetheless. ;)
Nowadays, the dogs ignore the cats entirely. It's not at all unusual for me to be laying in my bed with all 3 cats and both dogs. Even earlier today, I was laying around on my bed with the animals. One of my cats decided he wanted to change positions
and walked right over Holly's head. Holly didn't move a muscle. Cats can be good dog trainers. :D
 
#16 ·
We tried to let our cat train Theo when he was a puppy. But the puppy barking and howling during crate training just traumatized her, and she's never been comfortable around him. They will hang out in the same room together, but she does not want him anywhere near her, and is not afraid to punch him in the face, spit-stomp, etc., to get her way. Unfortunately, he is rigorously clueless about her and keeps interpreting her aggression as play initiation. ::)
 
#17 ·
Lucky is great with the cats...both our cats came after the labs....one of the cats even curls and rubs against her and plays......Happy.....well he tolerates the cats and he lets them know he is tolerating them LOL. The cats leave him alone and he leaves them alone. So I guess they understand each other....he makes sure they don't eat any people food...he chases them away from any food that isn't kitty food. Guess he figures if he can't have it them dern cats can't have it either.
 
#18 ·
We had Gracie(7yo Maine ****) for 5 years before we got the dogs. Lucy is fine with her after getting her butt swatted for having the cats head in her mouth once, now she wont even look at her. But Buddy still wants to play with her. So we keep a baby gate at the top of the stairs with a swinging/locking door on it so the humans can get thru easily. Gracie wont come downstairs unless the dogs are in their crates though because Buddy chases her. He's been mellowing with age though so I may take it down to test the waters. Only thing I worry about it him getting in the litter box.
 
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