In over 20 years of having both dogs and cats, we have never had any problems that I can remember. The dogs would sometimes chase the cats, yes, but they were always scolded and would stop. I think our cat Katie used to instigate them by purposely running so they would chase. She would then stop dead in her tracks, turn towards them, and the dogs wouldn’t know what to do then!
When we brought Luke home as a puppy, he and our cat Samantha became fast friends, and he’s always been fine with Conrad. But as he grew larger, I think he got to be just a bit too rambunctious with Sam and she is less impressed with him. She tends to keep her distance from him or to at least get up high out of his reach. If he went after her, it was all in wanting to play. We do still occasionally see her batting at his nose though, never using her claws.
The first time I remember noticing any issue between those two was quite a while ago when Luke was younger. Samantha was lying on the window seat in our bedroom, and Luke started barking and barking at her. It was almost like he didn’t recognize her, maybe she was in a place he hadn’t seen her before and with the light behind her he couldn’t see her clearly. He eventually settled down, realized it was Sam, and all was fine.
There have been other times Luke didn’t recognize someone and reacted by barking. We sometimes joke that he barks first and asks questions later. There’s been times that he’s even barked at us when we came in a room, maybe carrying something, and he didn’t instantly recognize us. But he doesn’t seem to have an eyesight issue, though we wondered about that. He can catch a ball midair no problem and shows no other signs of not seeing well. As soon as we’d speak to him, he’d be fine. Often when people come to our house, he’ll bark at them even if he knows them. Once he gets close enough to get a sniff of them, he is OK. It seems like he uses his sense of smell to recognize people more than his eyesight.
Those episodes are few and far between anyway, but a new issue arose recently when Samantha had escaped outside. Sam has been an indoor cat only her whole life but she lives to escape when she can, especially when the weather gets nice. She is sneaky and lies in wait for the dogs to be going in and out, and then she makes a run for it.
But when she comes in the house smelling like the outdoors, both Luke and Cricket will chase her, and Cricket will track where Sam’s been using her beagle bark/whine the whole way. She’ll stop when she actually gets to Sam though, if she even does. But recently Luke went after Sam like he didn’t know her. It wasn’t his playful biting at her, it was a snarly bark and scared the heck out of me. Sam was on the kitchen counter at the time right next to me, and she never even moved. That makes me feel he didn’t actually try to bite her, and he scared me more than he scared Sam! When I yelled at him, he did stop.
It’s happened more than once now though, and we separate them and leash Luke if needed, if Sam has gotten outside. She will go off to one of her hiding places and when they meet later, Luke is fine. I feel like the outdoor smell wore off.
When we took both cats to the vet recently, I warned my hubby that the cats were probably going to smell funny, and Luke would act out again. So we brought both cat carriers into the kitchen and kept the doors closed to see what would happen. Both Luke and Cricket furiously sniffed those carriers (Sheba had little interest), and sure enough after a few minutes Luke started barking at Sam in the crate. Curiously enough, he did not bark at Conrad even after we let Conrad out. So we put Luke outside when we let the cats out, and when we did let him in, I put him on a leash. He was going to go after Sam again, so we sent her upstairs, closed the gate, and later again they were fine.
I did a little research on dogs chasing cats and did read that sometimes dogs will chase their own cats when outside. If a cat runs that just winds up the dog more….Sam does sometimes run from Luke, but other times she does stand her ground.
Obviously, this has to do with how Sam smells when she’s been outside. The easy answer is to not let her get outside!! The last time it happened was our fault of course. We finally had a nice day on Sunday so my hubby was opening windows and cracking doors to let fresh air in. I was going around behind him closing the windows to only a crack that Sam couldn’t fit through. But we both missed the sliding door that we had opened just an inch or two. Sheba was outside, and she can slide that door open with her nose! Sure enough, Sheba let herself in the house, and Sam let herself out.
From now on, for the times the humans are stupid or slow, Luke will be leashed when around Sam when she comes back in, and we’ll also have to be careful not to let him outside if she’s out there. She’s pretty good at getting away from the dogs so far, but we are not taking any chances (she can get out of the fenced in yard, and we let her in the house another way).
I did some reading and we can also use the clicker and treats to hopefully distract Luke from Sam when this happens (he’ll still be on a leash of course). As I said, this has never happened with Conrad, but he doesn’t get outside either, so the only time it might have was after he’d been to the vet. But everyone ignored him. The fact that he doesn’t run might also be a factor.
I wanted to share this story to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with their dogs and cats? Are some dogs just far more driven by their noses than their eyesight? I had been thinking of getting Sam a harness and taking her outside some, but now I’m thinking that might be a bad idea. I also worry if we ever wanted to bring another cat home (not that we plan to at this point).
I don’t have cats, so I don’t know what to say…..
Oh dear always a worry..our boys are good with the cats..and were good with fosters but if a cat turned up from nowhere in our yard it would be a different story.Forrest is very much a scent dog..smells snakes through fences,,he would have been a brilliant tracker..if Cleo gets outside and comes in he cries..he sniffs her all over and i know from experience this is because she has either killed a rabbit..or had a poo..he whines and cries and sniffs but never goes for a nibble..Doc has had a few little grumbles at the girls..never attacked but telling them off of they are on his bed…they totally ignore him..maybe whatever is outside is scent marked on the kitty and Luke can smell it..a hard call indeed as to what is going on…they keep us watching don’t they..:( Doc also has some odd behaviour which we are addressing with the vet monday..i think he may be getting some doggie dementia..this may also explain him being a bit crabby with the girls..loves BEV XX
Thank you for your input, Bev. I think you are right that Sam is picking up the scent of something outside. She may be going under our shed or elsewhere where little critters hang out. Luke has been totally fine with her as long as she is staying indoors. I think that Luke could be a tracker as well, he has a very strong nose.
Sorry to hear that about Doc, I hope all goes well at the vet. It is so tough when they are getting old.
Sorry I can’t offer any advice since we don’t have cats. Sounds like you’ve got a handful there.
Chasing kitty’s not good Luke. Mine are ok with house cats but if they see a outside cat bets are off and they are on the chase.
It certainly seems like there can be a distinction between their own indoor cats, and other outdoor cats that they do not know. One of our cats was killed by the neighbor’s GSD. He had cats of his own too, but he came right over into our yard to get our cat (that was when we decided all future cats would be indoor only). It’s the big reason I worry so much about Luke getting a hold of Sam….I know just how much damage they can do.
My girl is great with my cats. I do not trust her around outside cats, though.
You are on the right track figuring it’s due to smell. Mom had a problem like that with two cats, one would go to the vet and come back smelling different. Then the fighting began. There’s a term for it, Glogirly has used it, but can’t think of it off hand. Love Dolly
I’ll have to look into that more, thanks, Dolly! I’ve had the same issue at times between the dogs when one has been at the vet.
Sorry I can’t offer any advice of my own since we don’t have cats; but Linda (2 Brown Dawgs) has an excellent point about the prey drive being strong enough to override the appeal of the treats. And, as for the scent issue, isn’t Luke part hound? If he is, as I assume, that would account at least in part for using his nose more than his eyes to recognize people and other animals.
PS. Maybe you should enroll Luke in a nose work class? It would be fun for both of you and provide some “brain game” time for Luke as well.
Thank you, and you are right on two counts. Yes, Luke has hound in him, and he is very driven by his nose. And enrolling him in a nose work class is exactly what I want to do! We’ve done some nose work games at home and he’s great at it. I plan to look for a class after going to BlogPaws, so hopefully over the summer.
The cats were already in the house when I arrived. It took the adult one a while to get used to me. The cats like to get in a high place and tap my head as I go by, but it’s all good natured. I look after them. They like to sniff my paws when I come back from a walk.
It sounds a little similar to Shiner… Shiner grew up with our cat – Kitty Kitty Meow Meow, but for a good 7-10 years they were enemies and pretty much seemed to hate each other equally. KKMM was a “badass” and so I never really feared for her, but it was so annoying. If Shiner came into the kitchen, and KKMM was in there Shiner would immediately give chase. KKMM would jump up on a counter, and Shiner would put her paws up there to bark at her and get her face swatted and nose scratched. I’d get mad at her tell her and scold her and she’d stop and go back to her business. It’s like she just never learned.
That’s why I was worried bringing a new cat into the house, but I wanted to give it a try. I’ve seen Shiner try to give chase to Callie maybe 2-3 times, and she’s doing really well. I think part of it has to do with Callie not running away. In fact, Callie has a bit of badass in her herself and will actually try to run up to Shiner to swat her lol… I think it’s not as fun for Shiner because she will just stand there and look at the cat until I go to intervene. Most of the time, I make sure they are safely separated or I’m in the same room with both of them in case the cat makes an appearance.
Yes, both of those stories remind me of Katie, who would stop and stare at the dogs and then they didn’t know what to do! I almost wish Sam would not run and just stand her ground with Luke and give him a good swat. Come to think of it, Conrad swatted Luke more than once when he was a puppy, and that might be another reason Luke doesn’t mess with him now.
Poor Sam! (And poor you!) Barley is usually good with Soth–she will bark at him and sometimes chase him, but she’s just trying to play; she’s always bowing and trying to engage Soth in play, which he wants none of and often smacks her nose–I monitor them very carefully, though, and try to break things up even when she starts playing because she is so much bigger than Soth and could accidentally hurt him with her enthusiasm. She’s TERRIBLE with the kitty my parents’ inherited, though. I don’t think Barley’s problems with her have anything to do with smell, but that’s so interesting with Luke! My parents’ cat “acts like prey, so she gets treated like prey” as the Animal Planet cat guy would say–she starts growling and running and doing a high pitched noise that gets Barley very excited, so Barley chases her mercilessly. She has gotten much better, though, with lots of “what’s that?” work on leash and our calming & focus exercises like the 1-hour down game near the kitty. I hope that you find a solution that keeps Sam and Luke happy and safe!
I’m glad to hear you’ve at least been able to make progress with Barley and your parents’ cat. I definitely think you are right about the cats acting like prey. That, and the outdoor smell, would show why Luke has never bothered Conrad….who’s too old to run anymore.
I also know what you mean about Barley and Soth. When Luke just wants to play with Sam, under normal circumstances, he can just get too rough…like biting at her (in a playful way only) when she’s trying to jump on the counter….I’m afraid he could hurt her accidentally then.
We’re sorry that Luke and Sam are having issues. We don’t have any dogs here, but sometimes Ernie bothers Wally and Wally will start running away and then Ernie thinks Wally is playing and will chase after him and the whole thing turns into a hissing fit. I try to do my best to diffuse the situation usually getting between Ernie and Wally so the chasing stops. But it’s a tough one, I know.
Island Cat Mom
Thank you! I can see from a lot of the comments, that it’s not just dogs and cats that don’t get along sometimes. My sister actually has a cat that loves dogs, but hates other cats.
We’ve always been lucky that our cats have always gotten along. Even when we brought new cats home, during proper introductions we’d never get more than some hissing at each other. As you said, all we can do is step in and try to diffuse things (carefully….I tried to diffuse a dog fight once and I was the one who ended up bitten!).
I think it is prey drive pure and simple and you are probably right that Sam runs and Conrad doesn’t. I would make sure that Sam always has a safe place to escape. This is a tough one but you can train it although I am not sure a clicker and treat will do the trick, (for most dogs with a strong prey drive, that will trump a treat). I would put strong obedience on Luke so that when you say “sit” or “come” (whichever you choose) he does it no matter what else he is doing. That may help to distract him if he is after her and hopefully if he chases Samantha you can stop him.
I think you are right about the prey drive. We already work with Luke to go to his bed when we need him to, so we’re going to reinforce that more too. We’ve started working with him when Sam is around, and even if he just wants to play with her, telling him “no” and to go to his bed. He gets lots of praise when he listens. Sam has lots of places she can retreat to, but Luke is fast and that worries me. So he will still always be on leash if she comes in from outside.
I think you’re onto something with Luke recognizing people and maybe even Samantha more by scent than sight. I think you’ll probably have good luck with the clicker training!
We’ve never had cats, so we never had this problem. But my friend, who has four cats, had the same problem suddenly between two of her cats who got along fine for years. Her cats are 100% indoor cats, so it’s not a scent issue. Her vet determined that it was because of a stray cat that was suddenly appearing in her yard – apparently her cat was so frustrated that he couldn’t go outside to chase the stray off his property that he took his aggression out on the least aggressive cat in the house. I don’t know if dogs react that way, but like you said, maybe it’s the scent difference that caused Luke to think Sam was an “interloper”.
I would say yes, dogs do react that way. Your friend’s issue with her cats reminds me of one time with our dogs. We had a stray dog come into our yard (outside of the fenced in yard). Cricket and Luke went nuts seeing that dog, and next thing I know they’re fighting with each other! I guess they took their aggression out on each other….Sheba was not involved because Sheba didn’t care about the stray dog, in fact she was friendly to him.
I can’t help with this one. We haven’t had cats since Miss Gitty and her BFF Madison, our German Shepherd died within days of each other. They were the very best of friends for fifteen years. I hope that you can get this worked out for both of their sakes.
I hope the clicker training will work, sometimes that little clicker can do wonders. I wish Easy would accept his feline brothers and sisters, but sadly there is no way…
Some dogs just don’t get along with cats, and at least if you know that, it helps. Since Luke and Sam have always gotten along until now, it makes it more difficult to understand!
Animal behaviour is so interesting. My first dogs use to only chase and torment one of the cats. I always thought it was his reaction (he would yell and run). He was also the one who beat them up when they were pups. As the dogs were small, we didn’t have safety concerns (the cat was bigger). Our other cat has always been the one the dogs have wanted to hump. If you figure out your issues, let me know. I am interested!
Ah, I definitely know how you feel. My cats don’t get the chance to escape the house often, but I remember one time when Loco got out, when I brought her back in the dogs wouldn’t leave her alone. Plus they never bother our kitties, BUT there are two stray cats who live outside – I have built them their own little shelters, and I feed and water them every day, and even though my huskies see these cats every single day and know who they are, they don’t ever want to leave them alone.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I guess there must be something about outdoor cats that makes them seem more wild to dogs.
Not really. We had our fearful cat but she was chased by me and beaten up by the other cats. She had to move to the basement for two years. We do chase outdoor cats, but ours are indoors. Cat bro Bert is an escape artist, but Mom taught Bailie to hunt him down if he runs out the door, so she usually continues the chase into the house but no harm done.
That’s actually what we used to be able to do as well. If Sam got out, we could send the dogs outside and sometimes they could chase her back in. It never created an issue before now.
Wow this is a tough one. I am responding because we sort of have a similar issue but it is SOUND related with Dakota and NOT scent related.
Dakota and Cody ADORE each other……and like your pets, it is Cody who often teases the heck out of Dakota.
In the past few months I have noticed (and DO NOT LIKE), that whenever Dakota hears something that startles him (it could be the mailman, same mailman every day mind you, noises in the hallway, a loud noise, etc), he will have a knee jerk reaction and if Cody is in the vicinity he will give the most awful growl and chase him and appear as if he is going to attack him. It is to the point that it often scares me. I reprimand Dakota but he still does it. The strange part is Cody seems fine with it. He will initially run away (appearing to be frightened) and then 2 minutes later he comes back and sits by Dakota.
Although Cody is ok, my fear is that during one of these (I call them “flashbacks” lol for Dakota), that he will actually catch Cody and possibly hurt him. I doubt he would, but his reaction is so intense and fast and his growl so mean (and he is NOT a mean dog by any stretch of the imagination) that it scares me.
I was going to mention it to our vet when Dakota goes in at the end of the month for his heartworm test.
I am interested in hearing what others have to say pertaining to your situation and I hope there is a solution that is good for all!
Caren, how old is Dakota now? If he’s a senior, it could be that he’s experiencing some CCD (canine cognitive disorder) symptoms, or perhaps some hearing issues. When Kissy was still alive, she had started having CCD issues at times once she got close to 12-13 years old. I don’t mean to worry you, but you may want to ask your vet about it. Meanwhile, it might be helpful for your vet if you keep a diary of those “flashbacks”.
Ugh Callie, thanks so much! It is definitely something to keep in mind. He just turned 8 in February. I will ask my vet for sure!
I hope you can get some answers at the vet, Caren. That kind of reminds me of when one of our dogs gets hurt and yelps, they’ll go after the other dogs. Luke doesn’t do that as much, but Cricket and Sheba always have. It’s like they don’t want to be seen as weak, so they have to show the other dogs they’re not. It sounds like if Dakota is scared or startled, he wants to show Cody that he is still tough, by going after him. Certainly, it is difficult to figure out why animals do the things they do sometimes. At least yours and our dogs and cats get alone fine most of the time, I suppose it could be worse. But that doesn’t make it any less scary for us when it’s happening.