looking or a cat friendly small dog.

sebastianv

How hard can it be A bit of a long post bare with me.

Hi all, we have a 5 year old OES he was a rescue, we have always had OES so knew the breed and what to expect, baby came to us at 9 months old after being handed into a pound. He came to us via a rescue, homes checks were vigorous and we had plenty of after care and checks.
Baby was a handful especial round the cats but we got in a fantastic dog trainer Samantha and in time he settled in well. We felt a bit sorry for him having to share with 5 cats and a year later we adopted a small female hairy cross breed..God only knows what she was Yorkie X something.
Unfortunately we lost her 6 weeks ago to old age. Baby was devastated showed all the signs of depression and the vet suggested another dog asap.
Baby does not bode to well with male dogs so a male was out, he does not like big dogs male or female, but gets on fine with small females.

We contacted a few rescues and had mixed results, a few said just to come down and pick a dog which we could take that day after some for filling, and another rescue sent a girl over to home check us.
Now I may be asking for a lot, I am not expecting perfect and willing to put time and effort into any dog we get, but we did have to make sure the dog was cat friendly, my wife is in a wheel chair at the moment so a calm dog that would not chase he cats is a must, I am working from home so there is some one here all the time, we have the luxury of a very large enclosed garden, dogs are kept inside and sleep inside with plenty of daily exercise, so we seemed like the ideal home for a small cat friendly dog.


We were recommended a small dog by one rescue that had been "cat tested" I was intrigued to find out what that was, but the girl assured me they always cat test their dogs, perhaps someone here can tell me how this is done.
Bottom line it was a disaster, we were prepared for a bit of "getting to know each other, but this wee dog just wanted to taste the cats, we did go as far as contacting the dog trainer and on her advice the dog had to go back.

The girl was far from pleasant, said we hadn't given the poor dog a chance, we had the dog for nearly 2 weeks and they were very stressful 2 weeks, we did not contact the rescue on a whim, it just wasn't going to work. The upshot it is people like US ??? That cause rescues problems.


This has put me off going down the rescue road, I'm sure there are lots of very pleasant guys working to save Ireland's dogs but all we want is a small cat friendly female dog, not a pup.

Can anyone give advice on where we may find one and can anyone tell me how a rescue "cat tests their dogs.
I suppose what we need is a dog who has previously lived with a cat or cats.
And again we are willing to put in some level of training, I just can't have the cats attacked or doing the wall of death round my lounge.

S.

Toulouse

Go to http://petsireland.invisionzone.com/ and post in Homes Offered. Also post your cat question in Critter Chat. There are rescues on this site who will be happy to answer your questions and may even have a suitable dog.

houndsoflove

How about a female cavalier king Charles?

sebastianv

houndsoflove wrote: »

How about a female cavalier king Charles?

You may be psychic was discussing a KC and was directed a web site, in the process of reading up on them, health issues etc.. so yes if the right dog was available we would consider.

Is it possible that a dog could come for a visit, I know it would be a slightly false environment but it may give us an idea on how all parties would get along, is this just a ludicrous thing to ask or do you think it would work.
Have in the past posted on pets ireland and the rescue that we got the dog came via that web site, so I would raher not post there thanks, had enough of being made to feel we ddn't put enough effort in.
S

echosound

Would you check on the noticeboards of local vets perhaps? lots of people who need to rehome a dog advertise there, and you could contact the owner, arrange to visit the dog and see if they have been living with cats?

We managed to do this, we had a cat and wanted a dog who would not terrorise it, and we contacted a lady from her notice in a local vet's office, who needed to rehome her dog as it kept getting out somehow onto the main road and she was afraid the dog would be knocked down. We visited the woman, saw the dog, loved the dog, saw the woman also had a cat and the dog was fine with the cat, and years later we still have the dog (female pug cross and lazy as sin) who curls up with our cat every day.

We did the initial visit too, as the woman was keen to see that her dog was going to a good home anyway with no danger of getting out loose, so she brought the dog out, let her have a gambol round our gardens for a while, checked out the cat got on with her, and once we saw all was going well we were all happy for the dog to come live with us. Could you try this route? Rehome a dog that needs to go for whatever reason (a lot of owners who are moving abroad for eg have to rehouse their pets) and ask the current owner to come visit with the dog and see how it gets on?

(BTW I am sniggering at your discription of the cats doing the wall of death, hilarious!).

Hope you get sorted, and don't mind that girl from the rescue centre, at least you tried to help rehome a dog.

sebastianv

Thank you echosound I think that is the way we will proceed, have also contacted a girl called Karlin who does CK rescue. If anyone does know of a small cat friendly lady dog, please contact me.
Small as in sturdy enough to withstand a bit of playful rough and tumble with Baby.
Re the wall of death It wasn't a funny situation at the time, with our Moppet clearing 4 walls with a small terrier barking at her, we are minus a few pictures and a cleaning job was in order, glad to say no damage to the cat, apart from being a little more aloof than usual.
Many thanks for the advice Seb.

sebastianv

Thank you for the great advice I recived here and to those who contacted me by pm. On Sunday we took in a small spaniel cross girl, she is 10 years old and is a sweetheart. We were contacted via a vet as per the advice given here (We called a few and let them know our circumstances) Mindy's owner could no longer look after her, and was just as eager that she went to a loving home, it's early days but she has not batted an eye lid towards the cats, choosing just to ignore them completely. Baby is in love, and has herded her to his bed She quickly tells him when she has had enough too.
Mindy has a bit of arthritis so we don't want Baby being to rough with her, but so far it's a happy household.
Again thank you for your non judgemental advice on my situation and rescues do a great job, but there are many dogs out there via private homes and vets that need a second chance too.
seb

echosound

Great to hear you got sorted
I had a feeling you might have success via rehoming through the vets, many people who have to rehome prefer to do it themselves if possible rather than give the dog up to a shelter in case they don't get rehomed.
Glad that the old lady is getting on well with you and the other "members" of the household, hope she has many happy years with you all