dogs to get along with cat

miss no stars

So my beautiful, lovely, 13 year old hulk of a dog passed away today. Still finding it very hard to get my head around the fact that he's actually gone. He's been there over half my lifetime I'm sure it'll hit home a bit more when I go home-home and he's not sitting in front of the fireplace in the evening, not there at dinnertime, not there in the morning. I'd have given my right leg to be able to clean out the poo from his kennel if he could live on happily and healthily.

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. I guess I'm figuring that our family is going to have a huge dog-shaped hole in it. I've yet to wrangle my mother around to the idea (dad will be no problem I reckon), but I think we're going to need a new dog in a couple of weeks. It seems so soon but having a dog has just become such an integral part of the household. We could never replace Bailey "bubbles", but rather continue his legacy... While a puppy would be lovely, I'd really love to give a second chance to a dog who really needs it. The complication is our 8 year old cat who ADORED Bailey. She arrived (obviously) after him but as a kitten rather than a fully grown cat and so would feel a bit territorial I guess (not basing that on anything other than guesswork and her being a little bit of a prima donna).

So the categories a dog would need to satisfy would be a) an outdoor dog (ruling out whippets, greyhounds etc.) and b ) okay with a preexisting cat c ) ideally mid sized - no bigger than a lab, but not of a toy-dog size either

I know every dog is different, so I'm not looking to rule out dogs based on breed, but are there certain breeds with temperaments that would fit the bill well?

aonb

If you are going to go for a rescue dog, and not a puppy, the rescue centre should be able to tell you if a prospective dog is cat friendly.

We had our elderly collie PTS on monday so I know how you're feeling. I keep looking for him

miss no stars

aonb wrote: »

If you are going to go for a rescue dog, and not a puppy, the rescue centre should be able to tell you if a prospective dog is cat friendly.

We had our elderly collie PTS on monday so I know how you're feeling. I keep looking for him

Thanks, and sorry about your dog

Guess I'm just trying to hone in on a few types of dogs to try to convince my mum! I'd also hate for anything to happen to the cat.

Toulouse

Really sorry to hear about your dog.

I'll just throw it out there that although the rescue route is the best way to go about getting a cat-assessed dog in need of a home, there are many rescue groups that will not home to an outdoor home.

I'm not saying what is right and what is wrong but just making you aware as it's often something that many potential adopters get offended by when they realise. So if you are going the rescue route then make sure you check the rehoming criteria before making an application and speak to the rescue about your set up if you need to.

miss no stars

Toulouse wrote: »

Really sorry to hear about your dog.

I'll just throw it out there that although the rescue route is the best way to go about getting a cat-assessed dog in need of a home, there are many rescue groups that will not home to an outdoor home.

I'm not saying what is right and what is wrong but just making you aware as it's often something that many potential adopters get offended by when they realise. So if you are going the rescue route then make sure you check the rehoming criteria before making an application and speak to the rescue about your set up if you need to.

I hadn't been aware of that at all, I thought something like that would only apply to smaller and more fragile dogs. I don't want to come across as callus by saying it'd be an outdoor dog - they'd have the whole of a pretty big (enclosed) back garden and if the weather was particularly cold or wet or in any way nasty or there were fireworks going off our dog always got to sleep inside and even if he was outside he had a choice of a kennel (which he favoured during summer) or a bed inside a decent bricks and mortar shed. I just thought it's normal for bigger dogs to live mostly outside, lets them do their business as they please and all that. Obviously any dog we got would be part of our family and would come in to sit with the family during the evenings and would be walked and played with and spend time with us during the daytime. But genuinely thanks for the heads up, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm trying to argue with you, I'm just genuinely surprised that they'd require that if it was a big and healthy dog as ours was really quite happy to have his own space and never seemed to suffer from or be unhappy with his living arrangements.

Toulouse

Don't worry, I didn't think you were trying to argue with me which is why I didn't give an opinion on indoors/outdoors. Just wanted to give you a heads up so that you don't get caught unawares.

It doesn't preclude you from rescuing, there are rescues who won't have an indoor only rule. There are pounds where no homecheck will apply although you might not get a detailed history or assessment of the dog but you never know, always worth leaving word with a few local pounds in case anything suitable does come in. There's also the free to good home ads or the rehoming thread on here or your local vets. So still lots and lots of options.

Also just editing to add - make sure you get advice on the best way to introduce a new dog to a home with a cat. Just to make sure it all goes as smoothly as possible.