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Blog Entry 25 of 35 Ask the Dog Guy
The Dog Guy (me) answers questions about dog behavior/misbehavior.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~AsktheDogGuy

Cats and dogs

Contributed by: Dave Pearson   on 6/25/2008

Dear Dog Guy,

My wife and I enjoy your information on correcting and training dogs.

I feel the need to explain how we arrived to our current situation so forgive me if it is not pertinent.

Our Pomeranian died in December. We had him for 14 years and he and our 8-year-old cat got along just fine. My wife finally decided it was time to get a new puppy, this was in April, we went to this farm house in Akron as she had larger Poms. When we got there the place was a puppy mill with probably 200/300 puppys and full grown dogs. We saw the two poms that were for sale and we could not make up our minds so she said we could have both for an additional $50, so being emotional rather than practical we said O.K. They were 16 weeks old.

We need to know how to get our cat and dogs to get along. The dogs bark every time they see the cat , which makes him run. His life has been turned upside down he spends most of the day outside and comes in only to go downstairs to sleep. He does spend nights in the house. If it were just one puppy, I don't think it would be difficult, but with two, they feed off each others' actions. We crate our dogs for short periods during the day and also at night time.

We don't want to give up on the puppies as they have been together since birth, but we need help and your recommendations are needed.

Look forward to your email

Pom Person


Dear Pom Person,

You ask a very good, but hard question. I hope you and/or your spouse have some spare time. I pride myself in knowing a lot about dogs, but I must admit, that I know a lot less about cats, although I like them a lot and have always had one or more. It has been my experience that introducing a kitten to an adult dog is easier than the reverse. It has also been my observation that dogs don't often chase a cat that doesn't run. In this case the cat most likely feels outnumbered, hence he runs. As an aside, having cats outside in this area is not recommended, as the coyotes like to eat them.

Pomeranians are a hardy breed, originally from sledding duty in the far North of Europe (Lapland/Greenland) and bred down in size for city living.
It is of the Spits lineage, which means it was/is a hunter as well, which doesn't bode well for your cat.

I assume you mean Akron, Colorado (as opposed to Ohio). And I'm saddened to hear of what you describe as a puppy mill. If you are pretty sure of what you say, you might consider a call to the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture as there is a state law limiting the number of pets to four unless you have a license and even then there are certain humane requirements for their facility.

It seems to me that the behavior modification will need to happen with the dogs, rather than the cat. The cat is an adult and has already demonstrated he can get along well with a dog. If they (Dogs) were 16 weeks old in April, they would be about 24 weeks old now or about 6 months old, still young. Generally one of the dogs will be dominant over the other. I would recommend identifying that animal and beginning the behavior modification with him/her first. I take it that these pooches are not familiar with cats. The first thing I'd do is make sure the pups have good obedience skills. The sit/stay command in particular will be needed to have the pooch sit calmly. Do not force the cat and dog together. Pick a room where the cat is comfortable and allow the cat there. Bring the dog near the door so the cat can smell him/her without having to run for it's life. If the dog barks, distract him/her and cause him/her to sit calmly.

Eventually the dog and the cat can come into contact, but only with close supervision, and only if both are calm. I would keep the other dog away from this ritual until you are successful with the dominant one. I sincerely believe dogs learn from dogs and the second one will most likely follow the lead of the dominant one.

This will take time and patience, probably a lot of both.

Please keep me posted on your success.

The Dog Guy




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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Dave Pearson

Arvada , CO

Dave Pearson has posted 35 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 1/7/2008. Dave Pearson 's average blog rating is 5.
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