# Toddler and cats (first post)



## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Hi,

My wife and I are going to be adopting a GSD puppy around January and we had a few questions. Just a little background: We have two cats and a 13 month old daughter, who will be nearly 18 months old when the puppy arrives. 
We have already looked into puppy classes, followed by obedience classes. I am adopting the GSD from a reputable breeder as well. I live in a neighborhood with a decent sized fenced yard, however the dog will not be left outside unattended.

My main concern is obviously my daughter and we never plan to leave the GSD alone with her at any time. Will we be ok with this plan? My second concern is our cats. Has anyone here had success with a GSD puppy accepting their cats? They are very well behaved cats (Devon rex and Siamese). My breeder is working with me to find the right match for my family. She said I can even move my deposit to the next litter if we don't find a good match. 

Is there anything else you recommend? We have purchased some GSD books off of Amazon and we definitely plan on the puppy classes, obedience classes, crate training, and enough exercise for the dog.

Thanks


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

My cats were 1 and 2 years old when I brought my GSD Sinister home at 11 weeks, they absolutely hated him and they still do a whole year later. Sometimes he tries to chase them and then he licks them to death, they probably want him dead. I have a 6 month old kitten now and she absolutely loves my GSD. They are great friends. I adopted a 1.5 year old GSD/Siberian Husky mix 2 weeks ago and the older cats dont mind him at all, he walks by them and they sniff each other and go on about their business, but the kitten loves him too. 

I think it depends on the personality of your cats and your dog.


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## Stogey (Jun 29, 2010)

My kids were raised from birth with GSD's in the house. Both of them learned the fundamentals of walking by crawling up to Charlie our GSD/Dane mix and grabbing big hand fulls of fur. Charlie would gently stand to his feet and walk one paw in front of the other very slowly like he knew, how in the world did this dog know ... he was literally our third kid !!!


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

Same here, my daughter is 14 months now and has been around our dog her whole life. They are great together. As for the cats, judging by the number of people with cats on this forum I think you can make it work just fine. 

My only concern would be the age of the pup. If you are getting a very young pup, you will have to pay extra attention to your daughter through teething, nipping, biting, etc.


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## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

Can't help you with the child issue; sounds like you will have a handle on that. My cats are all older than 10 and 1 of them is big friends with my 85# mixed breed dog. The rest tolerate or ignore him. I just brought a gsd puppy into the mix in March. One stays up high in the kitchen with him most of time except when he is crated; another couple will venture in there, but he just follows them around and pokes them with his nose until they jump up on something. I never leave either dog unsupervised for long with my cats. I also have a blind cat. She just avoids him.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

my daughter came along after the dogs. My kids have never been without our dogs. The dogs adjusted better than great. The cats had been around dogs. Faith was raised by Riley and Zena and hand fed by me as she was dumped at our apartment one morning. Titan has learned to accept the dogs since he isn't around his mothers influence anymore. He'll even rub against one of the dogs every now and then but the minute he knows you're watching him he runs off. We brought Shasta home end of June at 12 weeks old and after initial confrontations and he trying to convince the strange looking puppies to play with her, she's learning to keep her distance and just generally ignore them. Titan gave her a good hard smack on the nose the 2nd day and shasta yelped and jumped into my lap for comfort. It can be done. generally as long as the puppy is supervised and taught not to chew on children and adults, you'll be fine. Timeouts in the crate are good. all of my dogs love the kids and are great with the cats.


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks so much for all of the great info. We are even more excited now and can't wait


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## Taylor (Apr 7, 2009)

I have 5 daughters who are under age 10. The youngest being 20months. They have never been without a dog and the 2 youngest (the other is 4) have never been without a GSD. They have been amazing with my kids. However, just make sure your daughter learns how to properly treat a dog as well as a dog properly treating her. They should form a special bond. Oh, I also have 2 step children age 7. So yes, you can definately deal with a toddler and GSD>


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## Navah (Aug 10, 2010)

I don’t have kids but I have three cats that LOVE my rescued shepherd/dobi…. But two of the absolutely HATE my new German Shepherd that was bought from a breeder a few months ago.

My cats are not afraid of dogs, never hated dogs, and are used to other people’s dogs and we never had a problem. I think it’s because my puppy is overly obnoxious (and they have only met adult dogs). She always wants to play with them but she does not realize how rough she is with them. She drools on them, paws at them, chases them, it’s something we are really trying to work on.

Two of my cats (my female cat LOVES everyone and everything even if they are annoying her) will sit and stare my puppy down until she cries but then that will just make her hyper and she will start barking, crying and running around the house like a tornado.

We have two “cat rooms” our guest room is the cats feeding room which we have a baby gate with a hole cut out for them. Our basement bathroom is the litter room that again, has the baby gate. This way the cats have peace and quiet whever they want (I wish I had a Mom room…. Lol). I don’t hold out for a friendship between them for a few years and I absolutely will not leave my puppy with the cats alone, ever… our house is now a maze of baby gates, play pens and fences that we use to cut off certain sections of the house LOL. All I gotto say is my puppy is lucky she is so cute!! Lol.

Gratz on your puppy, so exciting!


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

That is great . Our house is nearly the same way, baby gates everywhere. Our cat's food, water and litter are in our basement. I am thinking about putting a pen down there (what they have online) for the puppy to run around in when we leave the house for a few hours. Good or bad idea?


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

By the way the dog will have his own private part of the house. We plan to put his crate in our office. He will be crated in our room at night until he is no longer a puppy


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

Puppies learn fast how to jump or knock their pens over. Their good to use when you need to vacuum, change a diaper, or run a load of clothes without worrying about your home being chewed to death, but a puppy in a pen unsupervised is going to be a free puppy fast,lol


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback. I guess we will save our money and buy something else. Do you recommend a plastic crate for my suv or a steel one? Just something for relatively short trips


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

I use steel, but definitely nothing wrong with plastic. I think its more of a matter of preference. In steel my dog can see more.


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## Navah (Aug 10, 2010)

Yes, the playpen is more for when i need to do laundry, take a shower, do errands, etc... it’s amazing how puppies are like babies, just can’t leave them alone. 

As Crisp said, the crate is preference. Both my dogs prefer the plastic and won’t go near the steel. I think it’s more that the plastic is like a den, it’s totally covered and safe. On the other hand my last Shepherd hated the plastic and would cry. I bought the steel one and she loved it.


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

thanks again for everything. You guys are great


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## JudynRich (Apr 16, 2010)

Our breeder had two very young children, so we were happy w/ that and MIA adores children. Our cats tolerate the dogs, who either lick them or chase them (but the cats trun on them and hold their own).


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

i wanted to share some pictures with you so you can see that it happens and is possible. HOWEVER, your cats may not be too fond of the puppy until the pup stops trying to play with them lol. 





































i will try to get a couple pictures of the cats with the puppy if i can get Shasta to hold still lol


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

That is too cute!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

the picture of Faith (the cat) on the stairs and Shelby just laying there... Shelby had never been around cats before but she was great with small dogs. After some trying to play with the cats and being told leave it, no, or the cats going off on her pawing at them, she mostly ignores them except for the occassional kiss. Thats not to say you can use that logic with all dogs that if they're good with small dogs, they'll be good with cats. Its not always the case. Just with Shelby's temperment, i figured it wouldnt hurt to try and nobody got hurt and Faith even rubs up against Shelby every now and then. Titan on the other hand still isnt fond of the dogs, except for Riley and Zena (the big girl on the couch with my daughter) and he glares and throws a big old fit when the pup comes around.


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Great to know. You have a full house there! We feel so much more comfortable after visiting this site. Now we just have to wait 4 months for the little guy


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Knight said:


> Great to know. You have a full house there! We feel so much more comfortable after visiting this site. Now we just have to wait 4 months for the little guy


 

and hopefully it will be more full when we move and we get Zena back from my inlaws if the humidity isnt so bad! I cant wait to see pictures of your little guy when you get him!! good luck!!!


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Thank you!


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Our cat is 20. She has seen a number of German Shepherds and still lives to tell about it. Course, she absolutely, positively refuses to run.


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Samba said:


> Our cat is 20. She has seen a number of German Shepherds and still lives to tell about it. Course, she absolutely, positively refuses to run.


Wow 20. That is comforting to hear!


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## Val-Hi King Timber (Aug 26, 2010)

I hope there are some more suggestions here because I clicked on this post because I have cats, kids and now Timber.

Lets start with my cats. I have a 3 year old hunter and two 1 year old females. All of our cats have never minded dogs. They especially love my Mom's Chihuahua's. The hunter, Cain is especially great around dogs. He knows not to run...for the most part.
However, now that Timber has arrived. He torments the two girls to no end and he doesnt know the leave it command well enough to actually listen to me. He will bark, chase and with being on the leash with supervision, I have seen him kind of nip at their hinde ends. I wonder if he would really hurt them. Its like I see the preditor come out in him when they are around. He spots them, gets down low and gives then quietly sits and stares until he see's the opp to run at them. Now Kitty Cain even runs from him. NOT the situation I was hoping for.

Now for the kids. I have a 4 year old son. And its difficult when he is home from school and him and Timber are trying to run around the house together. Aidan just tries to walk around but Timber alway wants to play with him but its waaaaay too rough for a 4 year old to handle. If Aidan just tries to walk from room to room, Timber will follow, jump and nip him. I know its all in play but it gets close sometimes. There have been a couple times where Aidan and I will be talking in the kitchen, Timber will playfully walk up to him but then go to jump on him and nip at his face. He has missed both times thanks to my quick intervention. When Aidan is trying to sit on the couch and watch t.v., Timber puts his front two paws up on the couch so that he can bite and play with Aidan's feet, legs, hands...whatever.
All I know to do everytime I hear this going on is come to the rescue and give Timber the OFF command and redirect his attention to a toy. I think Aidan is his favorite toy. Ive also been trying to teach Aidan NOT to make high pitched noises or wave his arms or feet in front of Timber when he's biting at him. Because when Timber goes to bite, Aidan's first reaction is push him away with his feet or hands. Whichever it is that Timber is trying to latch onto. So, in essense Im traing the puppy and the young human. And I hope Im doing it right. But it is a challenge. 
A big one that can really run you down when your completely run down by the end of the day.
I hope this gives you insight into my daily routine as you never know what kind of pup your gonna get.
I also hope there are plenty more suggestions.


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## Blackcolin (May 22, 2010)

*Two months ago I said...*

"My one piece of advice to a family with a toddler thinking about introducing a GSD puppy into their family is: 'Don't do it. wait until the child is older.'" Now that our little working line girl is 5 months old, I say, "it is worth it, but be ready." We experienced a great deal of stress this summer trying to referee the pup and our 18 month old daughter. Bite inhibition didn't happen quickly. We worked hard at redirecting with a toy and saying ouch when our pup bit us, saying ouch for the baby, and while those little teeth are annoying to adults, they are terrifying to a toddler. If the pup knocked our daughter over she would scream, which stimulated the puppy even more. This equaled more biting and more screaming, which equaled more biting, etc. etc. If I could do it over, I would make sure that the puppy dragged her leash at all times. I would not let the puppy roam around the yard with the baby doing the same. In the early stages, there is no relaxing with a beer on the patio while the puppy and the baby are together. It requires constant vigilance. I would have used my crate more to limit the time the two spent together. I would make sure to engineer their interactions so they are super positive for the dog and the baby. At five months our pup has learned to keep her mouth off the baby. The baby gets knocked over from time to time, but that seems mostly due to a lack of finesse on the pup's part. Our daughter is madly in love with her puppy so it seems our lack of experience didn't damage their relationship. As the days go by, our puppy's relationship with family grows in amazing ways I didn't expect. It was worth the stress, but it would have been nice if there was less of it.


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## StryderPup (May 16, 2009)

I think you will have to worry about the cats and not the GSD


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## Knight (Sep 7, 2010)

Thanks for all of the feedback, we greatly appreciate it. We know we have a lot of work ahead and we're trying to prepare as best we can by educating ourselves.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

Zoe never went at my kids just us,lol- we have no cats so no help there but every pup is going to be different.


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