Socializing Boxer with cats

LucNesbitt · #1 16th June 2006, 07:00 PM

My husband and I are the proud parents of a 7wk old boxer male. He's doing great learning the rules of the house but we also have two cats that he's starting to discover. Does anyone have tips on how to socialize him with our cats? One is 5 years old and the other is 2 years.

Right now, we keep him out of our bedroom/bathroom since that's "their area" but they've started coming out to investigate and I want to make sure that Moab, our boxer, has a positive relationship with them.

Any advice would be appreciated!

boxrloveer · #2 16th June 2006, 09:22 PM

I have 4 cats and 2 dogs, and the dogs have been with the cats since they were puppies. what was a problem for me was the chase, as soon as the cats started to run, the dogs would give chase. So what we did was teach them both "leave it", with treats and gradually started using it with the cats and now when they hear "leave it", they stop in their tracks. Besides that my cats let them know really fast not to get too close, it's funny my rottie/mix is able to get close to the cats, some of the cats even lay by him and clean him. But Zeus my boxer, he isn't able to get close at all, one of the cats will be on a chair or couch and Zeus will walk by to close and he gets swatted, then he'll whine at them and try sniffing and I'll have to tell him "leave it". But I think eventually they will all be civil and be able to co-habitat in the same house! I think maybe they don't care for Zeus because he's too high-strung where as the Rottie/mix is more calm and laid-back.

boxersinapod · #3 16th June 2006, 09:52 PM

Luke and Stella found a kitten in a tree by our apt about 2 weeks ago and we decided to take him in. I posted on here shortly after that about tips I could use on introducing Luke and Stella to the new kitten and everyone was very helpful.........well, over the past 2 weeks it has been interesting. The first week I kept them seperate bc we have a kitten on our hands VS 2 huge boxers!!!! I slowly brought the kitten out into the BOXER WORLD bc it was their house first. After putting the kitten in their face and about 100 million NO's later and just completely dropping our guard the 3lb kitten stands his ground against our boxers and lets them know when not to get too close. My advice, bring the cats to the dogs and watch them closely at first bc they will want to paw at them and sniff them and make all sorts of whines, but just let them be, they will adjust accordingly and learn their own limits with the cats. Good luck and have fun!

MeAndMaggieM · #4 19th June 2006, 11:30 AM

Maggie was a year old when she came to live with me and the two cats, both middle aged at the time. I knew Boxers were notorious for hating cats, but also knew that my girls had lived with dogs before and were able to take care of themselves. Maggie was more interested with playing with them then actually hurting them (I don't think she had ever seen a cat before) but she was very in their face about it as all boxers are. It only took a few swipes of the claws to teach her that they were more than capable of defending themselves. The only training I really did was to tell her "leave-it" when she got overly aggressive or chased them, other than that I just let them work it out themselves. Now even my very timid cat will let Maggie walk up to her and lick her with only a minor mew in protest. My more aggressive cat will even instigate a chase with Maggie, then when she gets chased she allows it for a few minutes then turns, aches her back and hisses like a fiend while Maggie does her play bow, whines and barks for more fun. It's actually very funny to watch! Then they just go their own ways until next time!

It will all work itself out as long as the puppy doesn't try to kill them. Just keep an eye out for flying claws as they can catch an eye. Good luck!

livers25 · #5 21st June 2006, 02:15 PM

When Chester came home to live with us at 8 weeks old, we had three cats aged 7, 8 and 10. Our cats had never been exposed to a dog before, so we were not sure exactly what to do.

Our vet recommended that we made sure the cats were able to get into an area or room that Chester was not allow in. So we did that. We also bought the cats out to meet chester one at a time. Our male Nigel being the oldest was not impressed with the new household addition. We introduced them and after the hissing and spitting stopped, they seemed to be able to tolerate each other. They still got into spats but they were just small, no blood. We feel that Chester understood that Nigel was the dominate male and he ruled the house.

With the girls, totally different, Matilda hide from everyone for weeks, only coming out to see us if she knew that Chester was not even in the house. and Gabie she would just smack chester on the nose. He learned really quickly that when she hissed, it meant stay away.

When Nigel just recently passed away, we were worried that Chester would see this as his right to be top dog, but it hasn't. He still knows that he is lower than the cats on the household scale.

Just be sure that your cats have an area that is completely dog free, teach Moab "leave it" , which works great for other things too and that you don't favour one over the other. Hopefully, your cats will accept Moab, and he will understand that they aren't big furry squeak toys and everything will work out for all of you.

Good Luck

tatum · #6 21st June 2006, 08:38 PM

Tatum is pretty good with our cats. We took him in around 13wks and we had 4 cats at the time that were used to being around our lab. Well 2 of our cats are very social and they did great together but the other two were ones that hid alot. I have lost one cat since then and the other that hides alot always gets chased by tatum. So i think that the more they are used to each other the better. I wish my other cat wasn't so much of a recluse but there's not much I can do about it. Do your cats like treats? I would give all the animals treats at the same time to get them all together and it always seem to work. They were all so focused on treats they didn't care who was sitting next to them! Good luck!

BeanerSprout · #7 1st November 2006, 01:48 PM

We have 2 cats and a boxer. 1 cat totally doesn't come in the house any mor and the other stands her territory. Sprout chased her and chased her until the cat was cornered . Eventually the cat took to paw+claw and got Sprout in the ear. They eventually formed an alliance. What my thought is, if you had the cat first, its HER territory, if you had the dog first, its HIS territory. Eather way, indroduce them slowly and let them work it out. Just watch them and remove them if it gets rough.

PS get the cats claws cut. If the cat scratches his eye, he's blind.

Louise501 · #8 1st November 2006, 02:22 PM

There isn't a lot you can do, as long as your cats have places they can leap to when they need to get away. My 2 male cats tolerate my boxers now, 1's actually quite pally with them. It takes a while for them all to rub along together

My Boxer · #9 1st November 2006, 02:31 PM

I have 2 cats and 3 dogs. Cats were there first. I also taught the dogs the "leave it" command. I made sure the cats had an escape if things got out of control. But the only problem I have is the dogs eating the cat food, and thinking that the litter box is a snack bar. But I put the food up high, and a hood on the litter box. The cats rule the house, and have even been known to sit up high, then reach down as a dog passes and swat them on the head. Quite funny to watch! Every once in a while I will find a big pile of dogs and cats sleeping together-hard to see where one ends and another begins because everyone is the same color (Fawn dogs and orange tabbies).

LucNesbitt · #10 1st November 2006, 02:44 PM

We've made some progress. The oldest cat still hisses and spats anytime Moab gets near, whether he's interested in her or not. The younger one is starting to form a very shaky alliance ... they've touched noses twice and that's it. It was too much for Moab to handle and he just wanted to play!

But, we're getting there. The cats have the back bedroom and bathroom to themselves and Moab can't get them there. Slowly but surely ... I'm waiting for the day I come home to find them all curled up!

Louise501 · #11 1st November 2006, 02:47 PM

Quote:

I'm waiting for the day I come home to find them all curled up!

They will one day, I caught some pics of mine, I never thought I'd see them like that after all the hissing, swiping and spitting

Lola's mum · #12 2nd November 2006, 10:19 AM

That all depends on the cat though.
Our cat Finnegan has never taken to Lola let alone Lola & Zeb.
She was fine with out last dog and they slept together etc but she will not tolerate Lola or Zeb and refuses to come downstairs (she practically lives up there, food, bed, litter tray and all) unless they are sleeping and then as soon as they start moving about she's gone through the stair gate and off upstairs again.
She's getting on a bit though so I guess she's not going to change now.