CrazyLT
04-29-2008, 11:33 AM
Hi everyone, I'm new here, but I have kind of an urgent question. I've posted this in the cat forum as well.
I have a 10 year old indoor/outdoor cat. Recently, a friend of ours has had to move, and so my boyfriend and I decided we'd take their one and half year old mutt (we think she's German Shepard/Doberman/Lab). She'd been with the family for almost a year...her training is NOT complete, and she is still VERY puppyish.
The night they brought her over, we had the cat in the house, and the dog was outside. They saw each other through the window in the door, the cat did his growly thing, you know, the usual. Well the cat decided to venture outside. They seemed fine...the dog was mostly ignoring the cat, cat was camped out in the doorway, very nervous, but holding his own.
Hindsight being 20/20, we should have insisted the dog be on a leash as soon as the cat decided to come out. Unfortunately, that didn't occur to any of us, so at some point, when the dog got too close to the cat, he started to hold his own, but then he panicked, turned tail and ran. Of course, the dog chased him - right through the house and cornered him under the bed. Kitty was scared out of his mind. We opened the back door for him so he could escape, and put the dog inside so he wouldn't run into her when he went outside. That was Friday.
The dog has had major separation anxiety in the process of switching owners, so we've been having her sleep in our bedroom (normally the cat's territory). Yesterday, I decided to try to get the cat back inside the house to try to get him used to the dog's smell, etc. He didn't want to step foot in the house, much less in the bedroom. Basically, he was skittish and angry the whole time. Finally, we opened the door and he just bolted. My boyfriend is convinced that trying to get the cat in the house at this point is just going to make him feel trapped.
So at this point, I don't know what to do. If I could go back in time and make sure the dog knew the cat was boss and introduce them slowly, I surely would. However, now I'm afraid the cat (who is my baby I've had for 10 years) is feeling so displaced that he's going to decide to find a new home. To make matters worse, the dog is fairly untrained, so she barks at the cat every time she sees it.
Any ideas on what to do here? I need some serious help. :confused:
I have a 10 year old indoor/outdoor cat. Recently, a friend of ours has had to move, and so my boyfriend and I decided we'd take their one and half year old mutt (we think she's German Shepard/Doberman/Lab). She'd been with the family for almost a year...her training is NOT complete, and she is still VERY puppyish.
The night they brought her over, we had the cat in the house, and the dog was outside. They saw each other through the window in the door, the cat did his growly thing, you know, the usual. Well the cat decided to venture outside. They seemed fine...the dog was mostly ignoring the cat, cat was camped out in the doorway, very nervous, but holding his own.
Hindsight being 20/20, we should have insisted the dog be on a leash as soon as the cat decided to come out. Unfortunately, that didn't occur to any of us, so at some point, when the dog got too close to the cat, he started to hold his own, but then he panicked, turned tail and ran. Of course, the dog chased him - right through the house and cornered him under the bed. Kitty was scared out of his mind. We opened the back door for him so he could escape, and put the dog inside so he wouldn't run into her when he went outside. That was Friday.
The dog has had major separation anxiety in the process of switching owners, so we've been having her sleep in our bedroom (normally the cat's territory). Yesterday, I decided to try to get the cat back inside the house to try to get him used to the dog's smell, etc. He didn't want to step foot in the house, much less in the bedroom. Basically, he was skittish and angry the whole time. Finally, we opened the door and he just bolted. My boyfriend is convinced that trying to get the cat in the house at this point is just going to make him feel trapped.
So at this point, I don't know what to do. If I could go back in time and make sure the dog knew the cat was boss and introduce them slowly, I surely would. However, now I'm afraid the cat (who is my baby I've had for 10 years) is feeling so displaced that he's going to decide to find a new home. To make matters worse, the dog is fairly untrained, so she barks at the cat every time she sees it.
Any ideas on what to do here? I need some serious help. :confused: