How to help integrate a Chow Chow into a home full of cats?

September 11, 2007 2:59 PM

Yes, another 'can a dog peacefully co-exist with cats' question. (A little more specific than questions already out there)

Recently my husband moved in with me and my four cats. With him came his 6 year old Chow Chow, Yogi. He’s a very laid-back and friendly Chow who’s been properly socialized and has been around cats before. Two of the cats have never even seen a dog before and the other two have had minimal interaction with them. Three of the cats are female, one, a Maine coon, is male. The dog is male. Ages of the cats range from 4-6 years old. We’ve found a lot of good information online about introducing cats to dogs but we still have a few questions particular to our situation.

The steps we’re taking so far include keeping the dog in his crate overnight so that nothing can happen while we are asleep. When he is out of the crate he is leashed either to us or to a sturdy piece of furniture. We take care to spend equal amounts of time with both the dog and the cats so that no one gets jealous. Any even slightly aggressive behavior from either the dog or the cats is quickly corrected and they are rewarded for calmly investigating each other. So far so good.

Now that you have the full story, here are our questions:

1)Yogi does not bark at the cats but he does sometimes whimper at them. He does this to squirrels as well when he’s outside. Does this need to be corrected (i.e. does he think they’re prey?) or is it benign and something we can let go?

2)Not really a question. Any information from someone who is extremely knowledgeable on Chows and who’s had a similar experience please don’t hesitate to share your input.

3)Two of the cats seem very hesitant to investigate Yogi. This isn’t surprising at all to us but is there a way for us to safely introduce them to him down the road if they still won’t go near him after a few weeks?

Thanks in advance for your responses! Any more questions anyone may have will be responded to, as we are quite hopeful on this arrangement working out.

posted by irishkitten to Pets & Animals (4 answers total)

My experiences with this have run the gamut from feline and canine becoming fast and inseparable friends, to constant, bitter, and physical feuds. In the case of the latter, though, it wasn't permanent. Once the animals got it in their heads that this was the way it was going to be and they just had to accept it, it changed from constant fighting to simple, restrained hostitlity and glaring from across the room. However, it doesn't seem that you have a very egregious problem on your hands...no one's freaking out, right? Has anyone tried to bite, claw, chase, attack anyone else? AS MUCH AS WE WANT TO PROTECT OUR PETS, THEY NEED TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER ANIMALS ON THEIR OWN TIME AND TERMS. We can't sit them down and give them a good talking to, or councilling. I say unleash your chow and see what happens. If he tries to kill the cats, that's a different story...then start worrying. It doesn't sound like that's going to happen, though. And it doesn't sound like your cats are going to terrorize him, either. There might be a few scuffles, but that's normal, even among animals that are supposedly friends. In any case, five animals are a lot to handle no matter what, so good luck!
posted by SixteenTons at 3:31 PM on September 11, 2007

We have two cats, two dogs, and two additional foster cats. Our first cat loves dogs (yes, seriously). Even he had some issues with being chased (but never attacked) by Kate, a rescued stray pitbull. Maggie is the foster cat we kept. Kate mostly ignores her now, but that wasn't the case when we got her.

Kate is still in hunter mode with the other two cats, so it's a bit of a struggle to get her to stop. But they know where to hide if chased. I use the term hunter jokingly - she just loves to chase after them.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that the animals will figure out their own boundaries (yeah, what SixteenTons said). As long as there isn't major aggression/hostility I don't think you need to worry about a thing.
posted by O9scar at 3:55 PM on September 11, 2007

The only thing that worries me is the whimpering - can you tell from the dog's body language if it's an excited kind of whimper? Is the dog also drooling, staring, quivering, ears perked, tail up, pulling at the leash, or any other signs of focus or excitement? My dog has a certain kind of whining that indicates extreme excitement or impatience (wanting to do something that she can't do) that would worry me if she did it around the cat.

Otherwise, things sound pretty good if they are calmly investigating each other. My poor dog wants so badly to be friends with the kitty, but the cat still will tolerate very little attention/affection from the dog, and it's been over 4 years.
posted by misskaz at 4:54 PM on September 11, 2007

Rather than "correcting" the whimpering, I think you should be redirecting it. Teach him to get a toy, move his focus to you, or move his focus ANYWHERE but the cat. The problem with corrections, especially as regards instinctive behaviour like prey drive, is that it can do exactly the opposite of what you want, it can ramp up the dog's stimulation level and start decreasing the amount of warning you get before the dog's in full-on chase and bite mode. The dog is already plenty stimulated, you need to either reduce his level of stimulation or teach him to direct it appropriately. It is not wrong for Yogi to feel prey drive, but there is a correct and an incorrect place for him to direct it, teach him to direct it at squirrels, or toys, and do it with rewards (including prey-based rewards like tug or fetch), not corrections. Otherwise I think it sounds like you're doing what you can. But Chows are not always easy dogs to manage, and I urge you not to let your guard down for the forseeable future.

And don't worry about encouraging interactions, let them decide that for themselves, your sole concerns should be safety and appropriate behaviour.
posted by biscotti at 5:11 PM on September 11, 2007