We've had dogs and cats, and they have tolerated each other quite well. In fact, when our previous dog got old and blind and deaf, the cats would walk her around the neighborhood, I swear, they would steer her home.
Then the dog was gone and the cats, Bonnie and Clyde, got two years of living the good life as "only cats".
Last Fall, the infamous yarn and needle eating dog was adopted, and the transition was not easy. The dog has some herding instinct that makes her think that cats must be chased since they move. And the cats have separately made their peace.
Clyde has stood up to the situation and either ignores the chases by casually leaping out of reach or running like the devil to further frustrate the dog.
Bonnie, however, had another tactic: She hides. Disappears as long as the dog is in the house. Comes out whenever she hears the dog is out for a walk. Such is life, then...
We went away for vacation. The young man next door, who adores our dog, and is constantly making the case to his family that they should have a dog (to accompany their two cats...) walks our dog daily, and took her home for the weeks we were away. He brought her to our house to visit every day while doling out cat food, then we came home.
The first day, the first few minutes, the dog was in the house, I heard Bonnie meowing plaintively (she's a "talker") and suddenly she appeared from under the bed and headed right to the dog. She rolled in front of the dog; when the dog started to move away Bonnie got right in front of the dog and managed to rub her and trip her up, and generally said, "I'm SOOOOO glad to see you!"
???
I don't know what happened, but there was certainly and transition made in their relationship. (Do you think the cats got the idea that the dog was feeding them?)
The dog remains a "chaser", and if she can get one of the cats to move away from her, she will chase them, but, Bonnie knows how to attack... amazing.
Then the dog was gone and the cats, Bonnie and Clyde, got two years of living the good life as "only cats".
Last Fall, the infamous yarn and needle eating dog was adopted, and the transition was not easy. The dog has some herding instinct that makes her think that cats must be chased since they move. And the cats have separately made their peace.
Clyde has stood up to the situation and either ignores the chases by casually leaping out of reach or running like the devil to further frustrate the dog.
Bonnie, however, had another tactic: She hides. Disappears as long as the dog is in the house. Comes out whenever she hears the dog is out for a walk. Such is life, then...
We went away for vacation. The young man next door, who adores our dog, and is constantly making the case to his family that they should have a dog (to accompany their two cats...) walks our dog daily, and took her home for the weeks we were away. He brought her to our house to visit every day while doling out cat food, then we came home.
The first day, the first few minutes, the dog was in the house, I heard Bonnie meowing plaintively (she's a "talker") and suddenly she appeared from under the bed and headed right to the dog. She rolled in front of the dog; when the dog started to move away Bonnie got right in front of the dog and managed to rub her and trip her up, and generally said, "I'm SOOOOO glad to see you!"
???
I don't know what happened, but there was certainly and transition made in their relationship. (Do you think the cats got the idea that the dog was feeding them?)
The dog remains a "chaser", and if she can get one of the cats to move away from her, she will chase them, but, Bonnie knows how to attack... amazing.
LOL. What a cute story. They intuit more than we think.
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