Thanks so much for helping out – and sharing stories – about unleashed pets! When luckyme wrote to PetSugar asking for advice, I thought we'd try another team effort here! Read through her story, and then share any tips or experiences in your comments below.
"We started our little family with two finicky cats. Raven and Talcom. They are three and four and still quite particular.
In November someone attempted to break into our home (while I was here, with our six-month-old daughter!). The police officers told both my husband and I that one of the best security systems we could have would be a dog. A month later, we welcomed Holly to our family. She is an energetic, one-year-old Golden Retriever. We adopted her from a service dog program in which she was a flunky (the worst of the best, as my friend says). In case you're wondering, the reason she didn't make it was because she wasn't as responsive to treats as they would have liked. Being that treats are a cornerstone of the training program, she didn't have much of a chance. But, on the plus side, she did come with some basic commands. She can sit, stay, come, shake, and a few others.
To fast forward to now, read more.
It's been two and half months and our cats are still having a really hard time with her. Granted, she did chase them when she first came into our home, but that has since subsided. We're just not sure what to do. We have baby gates up all over the house, both for the baby and the cats. They have plenty of "safe" places to go. Holly has no way of getting to their food or litter box. We have made her lay down on the floor so the cats can come smell her when she's in a calm-submissive state (thank you, Cesar). Beyond this, we're at a loss. We do not want to get rid of her or the cats. We would like for everyone to eventually co-exist peacefully. Any advice?"
on Yahoo! |
It gives
. Had it not been for the attempted break in, I don't think we would have the one we have now.
My family had two cats (1 for about 7 years, 1 about 2 years old) when we brought in our first family dog as a puppy. My old cat did not mind at all, but my younger cat FLIPPED out! She would never come inside, stopped eating and became very unhealthy. I was so worried about her, and there was nothing we could do because we could never find her! A few months later she finally started coming back to the house, and it probably took a good year to be as comfortable as possible with the new puppy dog.
Now it's been about 7 years, and everyone gets along fine. In my experience it's a real shock to cats who have never had contact with a dog before, especially in their home, but sooner or later they begin to adjust. I think getting a dog was a good idea, but unfortunately the only thing to do is give it time. Even when puppies get older, they are still energetic and can give off that engery to cats who may be irriated by this. I think as your dog gets older you will see changes.
If things get abnormal or unlivable, defintely contact your vet for the best advice!