If the cat has claws and/or teeth it doesn't much matter how mellow it is. The dog will learn boundaries.
My sister's mixed dogs and cats in her household with reasonable success. The key for her seems to be getting dogs that are either mellow and cool with cats or young enough to be impressionable. You might want to aim for dog breeds that have relatively low prey drives--I'd avoid terriers. Herding types might try to herd the cats, but as long as they're not trying to eat them that could be hours of entertainment in itself.
Anyone have any tips on living in a harmonious cat and dog household?
My dog was grown and had been living (or had been treated) pretty rough when I got him. He was afraid of my two cats (who were not quite a year old) when I first brought him into the household. Then one day he just up and chased them around a little. After that they have pretty much ignored one another. The cats will occasionally swat at the dog when he gets too near (actually only when he gets too near them sitting on one specific table) and he'll snap a bit at them if they're getting on his nerves. But they also will nap near each other, occasionally actually snuggling together. which equals super cute. And my one cat likes to groom the dog sometimes.
I don't really have tips, I guess. I've been lucky...Except for how the dog sometimes likes to have cat poop treats. That's just nasty. So if you can somehow separate the dog from the litter box that's a good thing.
The radar says it is snowing here.
It isn't. I'm amused by this and hope it continues.
Any vacation plans this year?
Nicole, right now the furthest I plan is the beginning of the next semester, and how tired and whiny I'm going to be by then. But one day, I'll get to NZ, too.
[Edit: lisa! I didn't get to congratulate you yet on the good review and the CD, so I do now]
It's blizzarding here in columbia, sara.
I had dogs and cats for years and they always got along fine. The dogs seem to grasp pretty quickly that these were "their" cats, as opposed to the evil other cats. We got a kitten when one dog (a spaniel, collie, husky and passing stranger mix) was about a year old, and the kitten viewed the dog, and particularly the dog's curly fluffy tail, as a giant cat toy. She would even grab the dog's head and attempt to disembowel it, while the dog just looked bemused. This was, I admit, a particularly cheerful and not very bright dog.
My aunt and uncle's Siamese essentially adopted their chihuahua and treated it as a rather dim kitten. Even after they had lived together for years, the cat would occasionally become disgusted at the dog's slovenly habits and thoroughly clean her with her tongue.
How warm is that?
In the summer? Very. Up in the mid thirties most of the time. I have no idea how to translate that into Fahrenheit.
It was snowing fairly hard in DC an hour ago, as I was coming back from lunch. Nothing sticking, but enough to mess with visibility.
I have no idea how to translate that into Fahrenheit.
Call it low to mid 90s F.
