Expert: Lindsey - 1/31/2009

Question
we recently adopted a 2 year old male boxer. he has settled in very well. the only problem we are having is that he hates our cat. Now i love my cat, and i'm finding it difficult to watch how his life has been turned upside down by this. for the first week he wouldnt come out of the wardrobe! so now the cat lives up stairs and the dog downstairs.with a stairgate in between them. the cat would sometimes venture down the stairs and would quite happily just sit there but stanley,(our boxer)goes straight for the cat. what can i do? i feel that keeping them apart is maybe adding to the problem?

Answer
You cannot force cats and dogs to get along. Sometimes the best you can hope for is a sort of coexistence. Ideally, introducing dogs and cats takes time. I generally recommend the cat being confined to a room or two by a closed door and the two of them getting used to first the scent of the other animal but not see it. When they are settled with that, let them see each other through a barrier like a baby gate. If the dog tries to go for the cat, stop and redirect the dog to a good toy. Cats are not toys, even if a dog thinks that way, so never force the two together.

It can take weeks or even months for them to learn to tolerate each other. Sometimes they can also become good buddies - it all depends on the cat and the dog. Again, never force it. The worst thing you can do is drop the cat in front of the dog or vice verse or even restrain the two, you could get badly scratched or bitten.

From what you say, it seems that they have clearly already seen each other but introductions were not done properly, so you are going to have to backtrack and start from step one with the only smell, no sight approach.  When you feel comfortable removing the baby gate keep the dog on lead at all times so you can stop him if he tries anything.  Keeping a gate up now but allowing them to see each other only makes the situation worse.  If the dog cannot behave himself then he does not even get the reward of seeing the cat, remove him from the situation.  He needs to learn that he only gets to be in the presence of the cat when he is calm and being well behaved.

Your cat was there first, so it is the dog who needs to correct his behavior, and you have to be there to enforce it whenever they are together.  Another thing that would help expedite the process is teaching him the leave it command and then applying it to the cat.  It could take a while to finally integrate them as a family, but persistence pays off.