# dogs protective of cats?



## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

is it common for gsds to get very protective of cats to the point where they will not let a guest or want a guest to pick the cat up or take the cat anywhere ? ALso will never allow another dog near that cat? Anyone here have dogs like this?

I wonder how common it is?


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I've always had cats alongside my GSDs, and none of them have ever been protective of the cats that way. They have, however, been known to break up catfights and will chase strange cats off the property.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

Our older boy does not like the puppy around the cat AT ALL. He will often cry when the puppy gets too close and has even went up and pushed the puppy away with his nose. Our cat has always been the boss of our old guy.....if she walks up to him, he will get up off his bed so she can lay down. If there's a pack leader around here....it's our Siamese!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

ky last Shepherd was protective of my
children and the cats.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Freestep said:


> I've always had cats alongside my GSDs, and none of them have ever been protective of the cats that way. They have, however, been known to break up catfights and will chase strange cats off the property.


This is exactly what my dog does- even breaks up fights between my own cats. But he's couldn't care less about people petting/picking them up.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> This is exactly what my dog does- even breaks up fights between my own cats.


That's what I meant, too--when my own cats get into a spat, Luka will jump right in the middle and force the cats their separate ways. She's like a referee.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

pets4life said:


> is it common for gsds to get very protective of cats to the point where they will not let a guest or want a guest to pick the cat up or take the cat anywhere ? ALso will never allow another dog near that cat? Anyone here have dogs like this?
> 
> I wonder how common it is?


 
Could be "possesivness aggression" like with a toy.


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

Falko is very affectionate and protective of my cats. Each cat sports a punk rock do, courtesy of Falko and he does not like strangers near his cats.

One time at the vets, as I was leaving, a cat (not mine) in their back started to cry, he could not stand it and headed straight back there to see why the kitty was crying! LOL! He definitely has a soft spot for them.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

my dog gives my cat punk rock hair every day als o

can i ask what line of shepherd u have? lol


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

Kya has never really liked cats but she is still protective of "her" cats as they are part of our pack. She will chase off (not as much since she's a senior now) other cats and has been known to get ahold of strays and dispose of them. She can pick on her cats but no one else better or she will put them in their place. TJ could have cared less about the cats. They could sleep on him or not be there, didn't bother him either way.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Sounds like your describing a case of resourse guarding.
Lakota loves our new kitten, Kiya still would like to taste the kitten. When Kiya is acting up staring or being vocal, Lakota will get inbetween her & the kitten, clearly giving Kiya calming signals. I can tell by the look on Lakota's face that she doesn't like Kiya's behavior. So she is definately protecting the kitten from "harm". But she doesn't get upset with us for picking up the kitty.


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## nicodemus (Dec 13, 2011)

hmmm.... WISH i had the same problem ..... nicco has been in the house 4 months now and my lil princess azriel, and our lil skittish tom, dresden have been NOT AT ALL PLEASED with our newest family member..... i have had these cats for years now, so failure to co habitate is NOT an option. dresden will mostly avoid and hiss when nicco aproaches. a few ambushes from under the bed ( guerilla style , hit and runs ) but azriel... she is another story... she will stand her ground and let him have it. no loud fights, but a few swats, hisses and lots of growling from her. nicco, on the other hand takes it in stride, to a point. mostly i think , HE thinks its a game.. haha lets torment the cat...BUT he has barked and yelped at her when she wont let him get close after a while , and when she is retreating, on a cppl of occassions, i have seen that big mouth of his come pretty close to biting her. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO ME. azriel is my first pet, she loves me, and i her, i am a little worried she may get hurt before she FINALLY realizes that the big- loud -smelly- doofus- that wont stop trying to stick his snout in my nether region ( her words, not mine ) is here to stay and she should get along for everyones sake....... any thoughts ppl? ive no experience with cats and dogs living together.. its mass hysteria.... ( sorry had to add ghostbuster line )


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## stolibaby (Mar 6, 2011)

It took a couple of months but Stoli and my roommates cat Tobey have a great relationship these days...in the fact that Tobey tolerates Stoli when he has to and is nice when he is getting treats as he will usually get a few from me as well hehe Stoli doesn't get protective of Tobey too much but if it's me or my dad holding the cat he gets "pouty" as if we're cheating on him and he's no longer the special one  My old roommates pug Stoli did tend to be protective/posessive of but what was funny is the pug got the same way with Stoli so maybe they just had a really strong sense of pack or something....


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## rblanshan (Jun 23, 2011)

I had my cat first. She was not happy when Irsa joined us. To this day she will hiss or swat when Irsa comes up to her. Other times she goes up to Irsa obviously wanting Irsa to chase her. Unfortunately I do have to watch them as Irsa has mouthed her a couple times. I don't think she is using her teeth, but it did freak me out when I called her off and she looked up at me with cat hair hanging out of her mouth..though the cat is a shedder, so this doesn't mean anything either. I am probably overly cautious because if the cat wants to get away, she can....either on the countertop, under furniture, ect. I knew that cat does somewhat like the dog when Irsa was going through heartworm treatment. She had just received her second injection, and it was that evening. Irsa was laying on the floor next to us and obviously did not feel good. Kiki went up to her, sniffed around her and then started licking the inside of Irsa's ear. That's when I knew my cat was a bit of a drama queen and actually liked the dog.


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

I had a shep-mix that only liked our cats. Any other cats came in the yard he would chase them away. We had a white cat named Milo that would play this game with the other cats in the area - he would get the other cats to chase him, then he would run into our yard into the area that Max's tie-out could reach. The stray cat would come running around the corner after Milo and run right into "his guarddog" and Milo would sit there all proud as if to say "say hello to my little friend...". It was the funniest thing to watch! Reminded me of the old Tom & Jerry cartoons. 
Knuckles isn't protective (yet) of our cats, but he's still learning that the cats are higher on the totem pole than he is. They are still potential playmates to him. (although one of our cats thinks it's a dog, so all bets are off with that one)


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