"The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat" aka "Dog/Cat Interactions"

guido gave me this idea: How about a thread where you discuss interactions and relationships between those sworn enemies, the cat and the dog?

I have one fairly large dog (she's a cross between a German Shepherd and a Lab) who I brought home three years ago as a tiny puppy.

My two older cats looked upon her with interest and disdain. I have never allowed her to chase or harass them, and make it clear to my dog, Tirzah, that they are higher up in the pack hierarchy.

When I feed my dog, one of the cats, Moonpie, will come over and stick his nose in the bowl, too. Tirzah just gulps all the faster, never growling or acting aggressive toward him even though her food source is being threatened!

Tirzah also likes the strays I feed, sniffing noses and, after sniffing beneath their tails, ducking the swipe they return in her direction. She likes to chase them when she's off the leash, but knows it's wrong and only runs for a few feet before returning to me. I doubt she'd hurt any of them if she ever 'caught' them.

How about you?

(if you're unfamiliar with the thread title, read here: http://www3.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/eugenefield/poems/poemsofchildhood...

Dear Fuzzi,

I must say that the lines of your above poem do sound similar to Hoyt Axtons song

On whether a dog really doesn't want to "go for" a cat, I am just not sure.
My MAX (cat) apparently ignores birds, and a "stupid baby magpie" once ran over his paws...but...but...

This lead me to a story on that exact topic.

My mates Dell was the junior dog in a pack of 3, a spoilt fat greedy Shepard (Rin Tin Tin) and a rather Stupid
Lassie (OK to be fair, she had been traumatized as a puppy) Hey I liked them both, but Dell was/is special.

Well there was also a 15 yo. (once loved, but now ignored old cat)

Puss (Tiger) was sleaping next to the wood stove when the "pack" BURST into the room looking for supper.
Highly excited by some doggy occurance.

When they had settled down some, Tiger decided to "exit" the room.

With a Stiff legged "John Wayne" like walk he strolled to the door past the dogs. Slowely, purposefully,
NO hurry you understand. 3 medium sized dogs looking at him!

I just happened to be sitting where I could see the exit.

When he left the gaze of the dogs and left the room, he immediately deflated, as if to say "well I survived that one"

I could almost hear his "phew".

Guido.

ETA. On review of the poem and the song, very little in common, but I will keep
the Axton reference.

There's a classic photo of a cat walking past a line of (13?) German shepherds at
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=38943

Speaking of classic, that poem's been around a long time.

FYI: I'm not a country music fan, but I have heard that song before.

Guido, cats can be great actors, and Tiger was old enough to know how to fake out the dogs!

Once upon a time, when I was about 11, one of our neighbors was looking for a home for a half grown kitten/cat. The three of us (sisters) managed to talk our dad into letting us keep him. He was a tuxedo cat, and we named him Sam.

We hadn't had Sam very long when one morning, as Sam was being let outside, there happened to be a German Shepherd in our yard. Sam took one look at this huge dog, then ran at him...chasing the dog out of the yard!

Sam didn't like dogs, and he knew how to intimidate them.

Another time my mother was at the kitchen sink, looking out the window, when she noticed a German Shepherd (they were popular at that time) slinking up the dirt road that ran past our house. The dog would stop, look behind, and then continue walking in a submissive manner.

And then my mother saw Sam, stalking the dog. The cat was driving the dog out of his territory, totally cowing a canine that probably weighed 10 times more than Sam did!

I like cats...

When visiting my grandparents' house, my Sophie had a run-in with a cat. It was, in fact, a literal run-in -- they were coming around the same corner from different directions at the same time, and I don't know who was more scared, the dog or the cat!

Of course, my dog is easily frightened, and cats seem to realize that she is not a threat. One time, a big black stray tom who hangs around my apartment building was trying to befriend me while I was out walking the dog. Sophie went up to the stray and tried to touch noses. The stray sat back, regarded her with a critical eye, then gave her a good box on the side of the head with his paw! Sophie immediately came and quivered at my feet until I took her back inside.

When I take my darlin' Skeelo (see group pic!) for his evening walk it's not unusual for one or both of our cats to come with us. My husband tells me that on his longer, off-lead daytime walks in the woods they just pick a tree to climb and wait there for the two of them to return. I'm convinced that they 'use' Skeelo to protect them against enemy cats then tell all the other cats he's their 'bitch' but he doesn't seem to mind too much. In return, one of them cries the place down if Skeelo should get hurt: he's getting a touch of arthritis these days and sometimes getting down off the furniture is accompanied by a yelp when he gets it wrong. Whenever that happens, Moggy (aka Mogwai Howard) sits beside him miaowing loudly until assured that all is well.

Aw, Booksloth, how sweet.

I currently have a dog and two cats. My oldest cat, Angus, when I brought him home as a kitten, decided that my former dog, Lucy, was his best friend/plaything/mother substitute. I have pictures (somewhere) of a tiny black kitten clinging to the tail of my large black dog as it wagged back and forth. When he was too small to get onto the couch, he found that he could climb up the dog to get up there. Right now he is curled up sleeping with my current dog, Hamish. (who doesn't always appreciate being slept on, especially if kneading with claws is involved.)

Aw #2 NorthernStar!

Well, if we're going to back into our youth.

I think I have told this story on LT before, though since I will soon be 5 I can't remember when.

Way back in the 1950's when I was young (OK. small kid) I grew up with a Cat.
He never had a name, just Puss. He was never de-sexed (why that would cost money!)
And once when he had a horrid disease, which caused all his fur to fall of his chest over a few months. (after MUCH Pus but no pain, I think) my parents wanted to "put him down" But I protested So much...Well he lived to 15 or so.

Onto my tale.

Our neighbours, an old couple, with no children, had a Pekinese, getting on. Puss and "Willy" (the Pekes name)
really got on well.

But every now and they had some friends, who owned a Peke named "Sony", who would visit.

Once I saw Willy and Sony chasing Puss for all they were worth. Yapping and growling and doing a real imitation of DOGS :-)

I was surprised and worried, until next day I saw Willie and Puss strolling side by side (like a couple of elderly gentlemen, which they were :-)

I used to wonder if that discussion went something along the lines of:

Willie: "I say old chap, I really must apologize for yesterday, well, when Sony visits...I hope you understand"
Puss : "It's all right mate, got to keep up appearances".

More than 50 years ago but I can still see them :-)

Guido.

Great story guido!

My father grew up in the 1930s. Toward the end of that decade, his family acquired two kittens, littermates. The male was 'Koozer' and his sister was 'Little Lady'.

One day a visitor drove up to my father's home. As the car door was opened, a small yappy dog flung himself out of the vehicle and after Koozer, who obligingly took off. As my father has told the story, Koozer led the little yapping dog around and around the house...and behind the dog and catching up was Little Lady. When she caught up, she and her brother gave the dog a good thrashing. The little yapper ran back to and inside the car, where he stayed for the rest of the visit.

Yep, Western Justice as handed out in the '30's.

These are all so much fun!

My older pup, Sgt. Pepper, has a crazy obsession with cats. Maybe because the first time she met one it full on attacked her. But that's not the story I'm telling.

My husband and I had Pepper stay with his cousin while we were away. They have a cat but since we were only gone for a couple days hoped everything would be OK. When we got back this is what his wife told me:

"As soon as you left, Pepper went on a cat hunt. Abbey(the cat) was agile and smart enough to stay away but since Pepper was the guest and hunting the master we decided to section off the house. So we put up gates and boxes giving each animal half the house...but I didn't know Pepper was a jumper" To that I just smacked my face and said "OH NO what did she do?" "Well, While I was in the kitchen cooking dinner I hear Abbey run into her room then hear a thud as Pepper landed on the other side of my dividers and ran straight for Abbey who spun around and smacked Pepper right in the face, by this time I had taken the divider down and Pepper came running back over to me looked at me with the most pathetic face I have ever seen (she is great at that) and just peed...a river...Pepper left Abbey alone after that and we had a great weekend"

I am sooo lucky that I have people that will laugh when my dog pees on their carpet...they got me back though...they have a dog now and last time they were over, Gryffindor (their new puppy) pooped on my carpet.

Hi Mandy2,

Poop is easy, just a few tissues...
Piss requires loads of newspapers and some scrubbing.

But lets be realistic, it's only "...piss and shit..." :-)

Nothing compared to our love for an animal!

Guido.

ETA. My Lizzy "chucks up" every week (hey she is 18yo.)
and I sometimes follow her around with a tissue.

#3 - Margd - we loved that photo in dog training class. Any highly-trained dog should be able to do that, but we teased about bringing in a cat to test them (just teased – we would never do that).

#11 - Guido47, I often see this behavior among dogs. My dog Bailey has no interest in chasing whatever less-than-intelligent stray cat wanders into my fenced-in backyard. But because Zoe (and not the foster pup Gidget) take off and go crazy, he joins them. Alone, he would do nothing more than go over and try to sniff the cat. Also, I can train Zoe to accept specific cats – like the neighborhood cat I feed. If I tell her "no" a few times for a certain cat, she gets it (though she is a Border collie – she SHOULD get it).

Gidget, on the other hand, I've only been able to get her to accept my cat (who has 2 pounds on her anyway) and the one outdoor cat. The outdoor cat is not reactive to a dog's presence, which helps. The skittish neighborhood cats often set her off. I think breed can influence this: my Border collie has a solid prey drive, but she is highly trainable. Gidget is a Min Pin-Toy Manchester type of mix, and has a through-the-roof prey drive!

OK, I'll have to think of some cute stories about the mixed species. Off the top of my head, I just think it's cute that my cat Gabriel will clean Zoe's ears and nose. :)

Oops, 2nd paragraph parenthesis should saw "and NOW the foster pup Gidget).

I happily read this months ago and thought if I ran across a certain pic I'd share. Ben is so nurturing to those in need, we had that blind foster pup he took up with, then my Mom with dementia who he nudges if she stares off in to space for too long, then now that lil' granbabes are here (4 in 19 months) we see Ben love on infants. Ben also took to a mess of a kitten we rescued from a drain in a shopping center, Jack was sick, maybe 6 weeks old, eyes runny and about 2 inches of his tail rotting off. None of the aforementioned deterred Ben, he'd clean him and cuddle with him. About 4 years later I captured this shot of where that bonding lead with this now little spit fire.

BTW...great thought to add this page. I so enjoyed the posts!



*edit because I found a before pic of said Jack*


"I'll call you Friend"

Aw, thank you so much for sharing those pictures and stories with us.

Awesome pics. :)