Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi!
My boyfriend and I just adopted an 8 week old female Dutch Shepherd from a rescue. This is our first DS so we are definitely newbies at training. I currently have a 4 year old black cat. They have not been introduced yet but I was wondering if anyone had any tips for the introduction? My cat is scared of dogs after what we call the "great dane incident", while I was out of the house my idiot roommate at the time allowed her friend's great dane to chase my terrified kitten around the house thinking it was funny and he fell out of a 2nd story window. I am hoping that it won't be a huge deal introducing the two as the puppy and my cat are about the same size (he's a big cat) so there won't be that huge size issue and she is just a curious young puppy. Thoughts?

I'm surprised a shelter had 8 week old Dutch pups!

Do you know what you're in for with a Dutch Shepherd? They generally have a high prey drive, which might not be good with a cat who's already afraid of dogs.

I have cats and two DSDs. In my experience, they were fine when they were puppies. I even have photos and video of them snuggling.

once their prey drive started to kick in around six months, though, if the cats make any movement that triggers a chase, it is ON. They are not friends any more. we have had to rescue a cat from a Dutch tug-of-war twice now. It was not fun and my husband and I both ended up bloody as a result.

The cats live upstairs now and only come down when the dogs are crated.

We were very surprised too! But pleasantly so she is such a little sweetheart. We have done lots of research and talked with a friend of our who works with dutchies for the SWAT in our area. Thank you for sharing your experience!

given your cat's experience, i would be more concerned for the dog.

my dogs - past and present - have always done well with cats, but, then, neither they NOR i have ever LIVED with a cat - only visits. so maybe i'm not the one to listen to.

however, i do firmly believe that the end experience is much more dependent on the cat than the dog. cats that do not respond aggressively toward a dog's presence usually illicit a great [respectful and curious] response from a smart dog. i have always just warned in advance ''good cat. careful!'' and additionally ''leave it'' with a dog new to the cat experience. but then again, i always have my dogs focused on language even at a young age.

with your very young pup and a fearful cat, i would focus on your cat doing nothing to physically harm the puppy OR traumatizing him re all cats - a sure way to make certain he is cat-aggressive in the future.

I don't have experience with DS puppies, so take my words as such. My experience with adult DSs is: anything that moves....(And if they make a noise, it's X2.) I can offer zero for introducing the two. Sorry. Except to stay calm and keep things casual. Very casual--as in don't make a big deal of the cat being in the room, perhaps in a crate if that's where your cat would feel most comfortable being. (Big deal = excitement for a dog.) Watch your body language and voice. Our voices tend to go high if we're anxious. Watch the pups body language.

Also, prior to introduction, maybe exhaust the pup first. I mean exhaust. They'll have less oomph to get stirred up.

I don't know what kind of training you are doing, how often, etc., but I would encourage the pup not to chase after the cat. They'd just be playing, maybe, at that age, but it can breed a behavior. I would train toward other things being better than the cat----meaning, in part, you have to be more interesting and fun than a cat.

In your training, emphasize and never slack on training the commands to come and to leave it. Two commands that are always critical. I don't know your experience, but this will take time and consistency...and then proofing...and then proofing under increasing distractions. However....

At that age, a pup can't focus for too long. But with marker training, I think you could begin building toward leave it with balls or a flirt pole. But, as with any training, get the plan in your head first as to how you'll proceed and what you can reasonably expect to happen...if you teach the wrong thing to these guys, they're quick learners and it'll be in the vault. Then you have to counter-condition.

What is your and your BF's experience with dogs? Do you know how to marker train?

We don't have many on here with pups or who had pups...sorry I've not been much help if any at all.

Some DS with low prey drive can live with cats, some cats that just leave the dog alone can live with a DS, and some dogs have been very very very consistently trained to leave the cat alone (with the cat not starting trouble, if you know what I mean). Not saying that every DS has these options, for example, my guy HATES cats because he sees them as annoying prey objects he cannot get nor eat, so he would fall into the "never living with a cat" category. I've heard some that get a kitten after the DS is much older have good luck, because the cat thinks it's more dog-like, but I haven't heard too many older cat young DS good stories. I think it depends on the dog, the cat, and the training. Any one bad timing, mis-mark, or "oh they're playing" and they're really not, and things could not end up happy.

If your cat is scared of dogs I would think that any playful behavior by the puppy (especially at that stage as they're mainly "oooooh fast moving object CHASE" and impulse control is not yet established or worked at) would aggravate the cat, cat could lash out, puppy gets a bad experience, and now you have two animals who want each other dead on your hands. Another thing is if you have the puppy on the leash, and it wants to chase the cat but can't, that could build drive to chase the cat. Again, this is all hearsay, as I don't know your cat or your puppy, but since puppies usually react to prey like movements, this may not be the best idea.

Also, we love puppy pics. Seriously. Adore them.

Mine Stalks the Cat Like crazy. I wish they got along because they're both brindle. He just wants to play and our cat is skittish of its own shadow.

I haven't been on the site in such a long time, but got on today and saw your post. I got Klein from a shelter at 13 weeks. (Drove 11 hours each way to get him.). I had a cat before getting him. My cat hadn't had any seriously bad encounters with a dog like yours has. That said, I have never had a problem between the two of them and have never once feared that Klein would hurt him. (Klein is now 4 1/2.). I'm not saying Klein has never chased Bandit, but the intent was not injury, and when I correct him he stops. He's just doing this for entertainment. Bandit has gotten a claw into Klein a couple times, and quite honestly, I believe this was a good thing. Nothing too bad, but enough to remind Klein to leave him be unless Bandit "grants permission" (he's very much a cat. Haha!). Klein is always very intrigued with Bandit and will let the cat rub on his face. He likes to kiss the cat on the head.

When I introduced them, I had them on opposite sides of a baby gate for a quite awhile. Maybe 2 days? I have cut kitty holes into most of my baby gates and still use one to block Bandit's litter box from Klein (& the Rottie).

So, my largest advice would be...
1- exhaust your puppy! (I agree with whomever suggested that before.)
2- first introduce them with a semi open barrier such as a gate or screen. They should be able to smell each other.
3- Provide an "out" for your cat, such as kitty holes in a baby gate.

Best of luck!!

Hmm, just came across this old post. I got my DS/GSD mix 1.5 weeks ago. she's now 10.5 weeks and still very small. My cat, who I brought to my home as a kitten, was raised with my last dog, who was an 80+lbs Shepherd mix that had been raised with another cat.
My cat likes dogs. she likes to play with them. Grendel (puppy) is chasing the cat all over, but the cat is totally inducing the chase and when Grendel stops, Edy (cat) encourages more. They play very rough but are now friends and even sleep together on my lap.
Not sure if I should be allowing the rough play. My old dog always played rough with the cats, and she was also a squirrel chaser and would chase cats that weren't "hers." I never worried about her harming our cats, though. I assumed that Grendel would grow up to be similar.
Should I be worried?!

I have three of these dogs and I my wife owns about six birds. You can train the dogs to not go after the animals.