Tanner's Kitten

Tanner is a big, affable, gentle hound; most of the time. What you may not know is that he inherited a very strong prey drive.  Our back yard is varmint free thanks in large part to Tanner (he has Shine to help find and flush).  

Fortunately, he grew up with a cat.  He has learned to play gently with Ember and to respect her teeth and claws.  I like to think that he has learned to appreciate the warmth she provides when she snuggles with him.

However, not all cats are treated with the same regard.  Our neighborhood is home to several feral or "free range" cats. For the most part, they have learned to stay out of the yard or the pay the price.  It's not something I like, but it is something that I have had to accept about living with and loving greyhounds.

  

It is under these dire conditions the dogs discovered Newt who was abandoned, wet, and scared.  She was bawling and spitting and pinned down by Shine and Tanner between a gate and part of the retaining wall on the side of the house. This pathetic cub was little more then prey to these two fearless hunters and they were eager to dispatch the intruder.  Fortunately for her, a wisp of chain-link was between her and Tanner's teeth. 

I heard the commotion from this assault and had to act quickly. The dogs were put back in the house under protest.  I grabbed the empty carrier I keep on hand for just such emergencies and guided the terrified kitten into it.  Once rescued, this little sweetie spit hate, contempt and suspicion at me for at least 24 hours.  It was a Friday night and we were going to be gone for the most of the next day.  I wouldn't be able to take her to the pound for a prolonged period of time so I fixed her up in a wire dog crate surrounded by an x-pen in the laundry room.  

However, once she got over her initial fright and warmed up to me, we discovered that she has a terrific little temperament. The trip to the pound was postponed.

We wondered, could Tanner learn to accept her without trying to eat her?  

Newt spent a lot of time behind her buffer.  Tanner was rewarded for acting calmly in her vicinity.  Anytime he started to get spooled up or his eyes started to dilate, he was removed (but nicely).  Eventually, he started ignoring her and fixated on why I wasn't spending time with him.

Once cleared of disease and illness by our vet, Newt moved into the house.  Her interactions with Tanner were hyper-controlled.  She is fearless.  She does not act like prey.  Once Tanner learned to be gentle with her, he became one of her favorite playmates.

We have rules. They are never left out together. Tanner cannot stand up and play with Newt.  If he does, they get separated.    If she is running rampant around the floor, kicking up his prey drive, they get separated.  She has learned to keep her claws in check (for the most part). If he gets overwhelmed or is tired of getting picked on, he stands up and walks away.  I keep her from going after him (she loves his tail). 

If he is laying on the couch, she will run over and cuddle up with him. When he lays on the floor, she likes to lay between his front legs.  They have figured out a way to play together.  It's pretty cute. This video is a little dark but you can see how they play.

I am very happy that they can coexist in the house.  However, I will not let my guard down.  I will not leave them unchaperoned.  I micromanage them constantly.  Fortunately, Tanner's temperament is easygoing enough that it works as long as his prey drive is not turned on. 

Newt's trip to the pound is officially canceled !

Cats and Greyhounds

My greyhounds have always lived with cats. Some have been harder than others to learn that cats have rights too. Cats are not to be chased, displaced from where they are sleeping or harassed. In fact they often learn that the quickest way to please me is to ignore the cats. Bacchus my new black cat obviously had never lived with dogs when I adopted him. He didn't want to be on the dogs level. His running away behavior was him causing to be chased. However with time he has learned to be more bold, less fearful. Now he sleeps on the dogs bed whenever he choses-and the dogs will not try to push him off.



However a dog on their bed is not be haressed either.Dogs and cats generally stay in their own bed/spaces.

Many years ago I had a greyhound Merlin who rid my farm of all living small creatures-skunks,feral cats and would try for coyotes, deer you name it. He was the ultimate hunter. I adopted an awesome dogwise adult cat-Sherman. It took Sherman a little while to establish the rules of the house with Merlin and my other greyhounds. However establish them he did. As much as they tried to run him he would sit still, hold his ground and stare at them. If the dogs were eating and he wanted to see what they were eating he would smack them away from the food bowl-and they listened.If they were laying on a bed that he wanted-he climbed up and laid with them-and they learned to accept it.



Many dogs learn to live with cats in the house but outside is a different matter.
Since my cats are generally inside/outside if they choose it is necessary for the dogs to learn to leave them alone outside as well. Odd but the dogs do know their own cats. Mine will still attempt to chase neighborhood cats but are learning to leave their/mine alone.

Sherman and my greyhounds would go for walks with me around the farm, sometimes upwards of a mile. Although the dogs didn't wait for him to catch up to them they knew he was there and didn't attempt to chase him. A tolerate nonreactive adult cat like Sherman makes training the greyhounds to live with cats easy.

And Then There Were Three

Three cats that is. Nutmeg aka Sassy joined my other two cats in the greyhound household. I feel so sorry for all the adult shelter cats that don't have a chance to be adopted simply because they are adults. Nutmeg was at the same shelter as Bacchus for years-no one wanted her because she was a slightly overweight sedate girl. Her owner went into a retirement home and hoped Town Cats would be able to find a home for her. Well after two years she finally found her home. Now she has to learn to live with greyhounds. Because she is so mellow she should fit right in. Greyhounds are more likely to accept a cat if they don't run or dart away. One nice thing about adopting cats from a noncage shelter is that they usually tolerate other cats quite readily.




She has already met and accepted the other cats Bacchus and Cleo and they her.