Dear Terrier: Some canine breeds are predisposed to independent attitudes such as hounds and terriers. Your Rat Terrier is displaying, at a very early age, her innate ability to hunt small game and vermin, i.e. your cats. Many Terrier breeds have the ability to track and catch small rodents much like a cat. So in reality your dog and cats have a lot in common. 

Relationships between cats and dogs cover the spectrum from best buddies to mortal enemies. Interspecies match-ups can work depending on the personality and age of the animals to be introduced. Ideally, you would want to raise a kitten with a puppy when both are young and open to learning when an early bond between them will last a lifetime. Since your cats are already established at the homestead things are a bit more complicated.

The Cat’s P.O.V.

Let’s say you have a fairly large, older cat that tends to bully and is very territorial, a worse case scenario. Having a young puppy is really the best option. Now while all this new activity will probably not endear the puppy to the cats immediately, it will be best for the puppy as she will grow up with the cats and learn to accept whatever they dish out.

Have your cats ever been exposed to a dog before? Your puppy will learn to give an ornery cat a wide berth. And by keeping the dog and cats separate, you are not allowing them to establish the pecking order in the house. You may find a few claws stuck in the pup’s nose but it will be a lesson she won’t forget soon. Most puppies learn to adapt to the “alpha cat” and then go from there. 

You must remember that dogs are natural predators or hunters. Anything small and furry that moves around at great speed will attract their attention. Cats and kittens fall into this category. Unfortunately, for the cats, the most predatory breeds are the terriers. Their natural instinct to hunt prey is very strong, sometimes to the point of killing it. That is what they were originally bred to do so it would be unrealistic to expect your puppy to do nothing or make immediate friends with the cats.

Escape Routes

Some cats could care less if you brought home a Great Dane. With a little human supervision in the beginning and planned escape routes for your cat, a young pup growing up with the cats will also grow on the cats.

You should start by creating the cats’ own space for things like litter box, feed and water bowls, and toys. Keep this area off limits to the puppy during the next few months. Placing items high on counters or shelves accessible to the cats but not the puppies will work wonders.

It seems to me that the cats do not object nearly as much as you might think. For if they were really agitated, they would high tail it out of the room where the puppy is annoying them – or head under the nearest couch to escape all the barking and nipping. The cats seems to be holding their ground and are trying to teach the young pup that they are the boss, it’s their house, and she is going to have to get used to their rules of engagement. Try not to separate them, but let them interact at their own speed.

During the next few weeks, just make sure you supervise any interaction between the species, perhaps keeping the pup on a leash in the beginning so if “cat school” gets dicey, you can safely pull her away from the cats. But I think that way before that would happen, if the cats have had enough they will just leave.  Mother Nature can be fickle but usually the new pair end up in the middle of the best buddy spectrum.    

     

Lisa Peterson, a long-time breeder of Norwegian Elkhounds, is the Director of Club Communications at the American Kennel Club. Contact her at ask@lisa-peterson.com  or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.