# Working Line puppy with cats?



## Omar Little (Feb 24, 2013)

Would a working line puppy be a bad idea in a house with cats due to high prey drive? I know no guarantees can be made, but wondering what the general opinion is. Obviously training and an outlet through activities play a huge part.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

You can manage this.
I have not been able to get Hans to stop chasing the cat, but he gets corrected, and the cat runs away and doesn't get hurt.


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## dgray (Feb 24, 2012)

I have three cats and a working line 10month old GSD. Just expose your puppy while it's young. Bella still annoys my cats but she's never hurt them. She's a bit obsessed with my orange cat which never comes out. We are working on her leaving them alone. I think if your puppy grows up with cats, it'll be fine. No promises though. Every dog is different. Just make sure to make it clear the cats are to be respected. 


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

It is really a crap shoot...I have dogs who are fine with cats and have been raised with them...got a new kitten and she thinks Csabre is her mother I think! Some pups will chase because the cat runs, but when the cat could care less, game never starts...I don't think it is bloodline or family specific...it either is or isn't a problem. No way to tell until you try. 

Lee


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

dgray said:


> She's a bit obsessed with my orange cat which never comes out.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


Thats funny because my GSD tries daily to make my orange cat like her...it hasn't worked in the last year and I just don't have the heart to tell her it probably never will. She's got 4 others that love her.


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## dgray (Feb 24, 2012)

llombardo said:


> Thats funny because my GSD tries daily to make my orange cat like her...it hasn't worked in the last year and I just don't have the heart to tell her it probably never will. She's got 4 others that love her.


That is funny! Lol 
I think Bella is crazy about her because she doesnt come out very often, and when she does she runs away from Bella immediately. Our two other cats tolerate her. My 8 year old Siamese cat chases Bella LOL. She does not play well with others. And our youngest cat cries when Bella comes around, but she's being dramatic. I think one day they'll be best friends.  


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I have 2 cats and 2 GSD's.. my male is fine with my MC cat but wants to chase my sisters docile 10 year old cat.. go figure.

My female is good with both cats and likes to play with my MC like my male dog does as well.. 

Both cats are dog savvy and have lots of "get-away" places.


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## Thesilentone (Jan 5, 2013)

My dogs will sometimes mess with the cats or rather playfully, Sam has been tormenting our one cat as of lately by almost pouncing on him, has never aggressively bit or attacked the cats, just herding moreso. I have to tell him when he starts to get rough otherwise.


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## Omar Little (Feb 24, 2013)

Thanks all, good info


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## Anubis_Star (Jul 25, 2012)

My WGSL/Czech WL mix killed on of my cats last spring, when he was about 3.5 years old. Although he had chased the cats before in play, I don't know what happened this time as we were obviously not home. Did my skittish little female cat just not run fast enough? 

He was a dog that had had lifelong fear aggression and human aggression issues. But he had been raised since a puppy with my household animals and had NEVER shown aggression towards them before this. Did his other issues play in? Could of, definitely. Or could of been the fact that he was a high prey drive dog. 

People obviously have dogs on here with cats that do just fine. Me personally, I've sadly lost trust in ALL dogs being left alone with cats. Simply because I like to think I know my dogs pretty well, and animal aggression to this extent was something I never saw in EITHER of them until that day. After that day, all his aggression issues got worse, he destroyed my rat cage trying to kill them (luckily they hid under a bookshelf), and he went after my other cat twice in one week.

I am getting a WL pup here in 2 weeks. He will be crated. When he gets older, he will either still be crated, or locked away in a separate room from my cat whenever left alone. When we had a husky in the past, a breed KNOWN for high prey drive, he was always crated and never trusted alone with the animals.

They can coexist just fine. But you as the owner sometimes just need to make sure accidents can't happen. BTW, Luther was really unable to be crated, as he had stress colitis and would have diarrhea in his crate, and then would sit in it and develop severe hot spots. Overall, he was sadly just a genetic mess. Maybe not the best example for this case, but that's simply my story about dogs and cats.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

With my first GSD-I got a kitten at the same time-he used to carry the kitten around in his mouth-it looked horrifying but it wasn't -they would play and he would put his mouth over her and not close down and she would put her paws on him and not stick out her claws-my rescue slept curled around her-Anja respected her and Rorie as a pup loved to chase her-but never hurt her-the cat was very dog savy...by the time Rorie came along


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## Charlie W (Feb 12, 2013)

every dog I have ever had has always learnt to accept my cats, however, I have never had a dog that has accepted other cats in the same way..If they're not part of our pack, they're fair game as far as the dogs are concerned. I currently have a 5 month old WL x SL puppy with a high prey drive, and she too has worked out that our two cats are off the menu!


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## Crkwolf (Feb 25, 2013)

My 4 yr old GSD has learned the cat in our house is part of the pack. We actually think they are friends, we are waiting for the day when we find them curled up with each other. Whenever Sasha (GSD) comes in the house, Sam (the cat) greets her. Sasha nibbles up and down Sam's back, and Sam seems to appreciate it. Every once in a while we have to tell Sasha "easy" as she does try to grab the hind leg of Sam. Now it is a completely different story if it's a stray cat or not of the pack. So I don't think it's breed specific but the dog itself. I'm a firm believer that if possible, the dog should be a puppy when introduced, I think it helps and sets the foundation.


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## StephenV (Jan 16, 2006)

My male has high prey drive but coexists fairly well with our indoor cat. He will occasionally sniff the cat's butt - to the cat's great annoyance - and sometimes runs over the cat - also to the cat's great dismay. And he will try to snag her treats if she's too slow with eating them. But they will share a dog bed at night. The biggest concern I have is territory/rank issues at night when the cat tries to cross over the dog to get to or from the bed. My male will make a sudden lunge/growl at the cat, the cat will hiss, and everybody gets woken up.


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## spidermilk (Mar 18, 2010)

Mine isn't WL or high drive but he is fine with my three cats. When he was a puppy I kept him tethered to me or something so I could easily stop him before he could chase any cats. I also have worked hard at teaching him leave it and it works great- even when my kittens sprint through the room he will walk towards them and I just say "leave it" and he makes a u-turn.

My cats have a baby-gated room that the dog can't get into anyway (he used to have an issue with wanting to eat cat litter but is no longer interested), plus there are a lot of high places they could jump if they need to get away. Even if you crate your dog at all times you are away I don't think that is too bad- my dog sleeps the entire time I am at work...


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## StephenV (Jan 16, 2006)

The baby-gated "cats only" room is a great idea. We have a room where we keep the cat's food dish and litter box in and put up a baby gate (with a gap at the bottom for the cat to slip under).


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Delgado does fine with Koda, he's very dog savvy and knows not to run. He'll go up and rub against him and Delgado just tolerates it

Zazu on the other hand HATES Delgado,he won't let him get even close before he starts growling at him. 

Both cats have their claws and they've swiped him before, but never drawn blood. They also have a two "cat rooms" the upstairs spare bedroom is baby gated and their food and water is in there. The basement furnace room it's baby gated as well and their litter is in there. There's lots of high places they can get to as well


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Mine don't care about cats lol


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## SpookyShepherd (Oct 12, 2010)

When we brought our pup home we had three cats - two ancient Himalayans and a two year old Heinz 57. Gizmo, one of the old men, let the puppy know in no uncertain terms that he would kill her, bury her body, and no one would ever know... Piper believed him. Shaggy, the other old guy, was the "mother" of the group and kinda showed Piper the ropes. George, the youngest, was a playmate and two years later they are still best buds, play chase with each other, and George is always waiting at the door for her to come inside. The old boys passed over the last few months and we just recently brought home a new kitten. Everyone is settling in well. For what it's worth, any cats Piper sees outside "needs" to be herded into a house. She's cleaned the backyard of moles, and chases every squirrel or rabbit out of the yard. So she definitely has plenty of prey drive, but knows the cats are family.


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