I do understand! However sometimes it is difficult to see the other persons view points when you have strong views yourself. When it reaches that stage sometimes it is better to agree to disagree

Lots of points to ponder here.

I think if my dog (Moxie) were to kill another dog in my house, no, I couldn't put her to sleep. I would think there must be a reason for it after 12 years of no aggression and all of a sudden killing something (cat or dog, I'd feel the same if she killed one of my cats)

If another dog in my household killed Moxie (my oldie) I honestly don't know what I would do. It would depend on the circumstances honestly. I would blame myself first for bringing the dog into the household (I have one dog now, she's elderly, for this to happen I would have had to adopt another dog) *disclaimer, I am talking about my personal situation only and not anyone elses in particular* Also, I would have had to have left these two new to each other dogs together alone. I probably wouldn't keep the offending dog, but I wouldn't put it to sleep unless that was the kindest thing to do (rescue wouldn't/couldn't take it)

Now, on to the cat thing. I'm very fortunate in that my dog has all the prey-drive of a pencil. She has never offered to chase or in any way harm my cats or rabbits or other small furries not from day one.

BUT...

I know that there are dogs, and many dogs, that have extreme high prey drive, and will give chase to any small furry. Its like a switch that goes off in their mind. Its primal, its, well, instinct! We as pet owners can train and try to mold that instinct into something usable and safe, but you can't irradicate it completely. Accidents happen. If my much beloved pet cat got into my neighbors yard (who has a pitbull) and was killed, I would be devastated, but could not fault the dog. At the end of the day it's MY responsibility to keep my pet cat safe, not my neighbors. I also would not call for that dog to be put down. How is that helpful? Her death wouldn't bring my cat back. It would just be two families grieving instead of one.

Velvetboxers, you know me from others forums and you KNOW how much I ADORE my kitties! But I still don't think that other people who have their high drive dogs contained properly on their property are in any way responsible for my cats safety! Why should the dog be on a leash, or muzzled or under marching orders in his own yard. A dog needs some place to just be himself after all.

If I had a high drive dog, I would make every effort to make him small furry friendly, and I would be devastated if he were to kill something, but I wouldnt' be calling for his euthanasia. I think thats unfair to the dog who does not understand that I or some other person has an emotional attachment to the creature he just killed. Dogs don't think or comprehend on that level.

Even dogs that know not to chase or harm their "own" pets but will give chase to those not in the family. I don't think those dogs understand that they are to leave those critters alone because their owner "loves" them. I think they do it out of obedience and deference to our will.

I Mexico I worked with people in rural areas who had dogs on farms. These dogs would routinely go out and hunt up their own supper (as often they would get nothing otherwise) but they KNEW not to chase or kill the free ranging chickens, goats or hogs that belonged to their owners. They had to be taught this of course, but once they knew, they were 100% reliable.

Dogs that killed chickens were killed, end of. I don't for a second believe that the dogs "knew" they would be killed if they harmed the chickens. So what drove them to obedience, I think just that loyalty and willingness to please that makes dogs so endearing to us.


Now I've gone off on a ramble, sorry!

What about dogs that have been trained to chase furry things and are by their nature a hunting dog ? i.e. a greyhound/lurcher ? after all this is what they were originally bred and used for ? yes some greys can be detrained, usually the ones that had no chase instinct in the first place which is not very common, and never made the track. Some dogs have drive and some do not. As i said before most dogs that live with cats may be ok with them in their own home but would not tolerate a strange cat on their territory.

My foster dog is a whippet cross, the rescue cat tested her, the cat was in a crate obviously and the dog had a muzzle on but she went for it straight away, her background is unknown but it is highly likely she was used for hunting.

My lurcher background unknown but also likely she was a hunting dog. This is why lurchers were bred in the first place, commoners were forbidden to own greyhounds, a hunting dog, so they bred the lurcher instead for this very purpose. How someone cannot accept that it is a natural instinct in some dogs if beyond me

I would imagine that one small furry thing is much like another to this type of dog so how would they differentiate ?

I would imagine Dawn has had her dogs since they were pups so she has had full control of the upbringing, mine are 3 and 6, and as i said one has an unknown background but likely a hunting dog and the other is an ex racer. Yes maybe the instinct can be quelled to a certain extent through training in a young dog very hard i would think in a dog that has had it ingrained in them since being a pup. Even then i do not believe the instinct can be totally extinguished, just controlled.

Lets be clear here, i never put in any of my posts that if a dog killed my cat i would have it / or want it PTS! **What i did say was if a dog killed my cat, i would report it to the appropriate authorities

I did not say anywhere a dog should be kept muzzled, i have mixed feelings on that issue but that is a subject for another thread!

Regards the dog on its own property - a cat wandered into the garden & the dog killed it neighbours witnessed the scene & called the aurthorities. They said no action was taken as the cat was a stray. Its owners moved house & left it & neighbours had been feeding it. The owner of the dog was spoken to with regards leaving the dog while they were
out at work. This incident was shown on tv.

"instinct" is a better word than killing for survival. I dont believe a well kept pet dog kills anything for survival. Doing it as Muttzrule points out on "instinct" is a much more appropriate word

I can see where you are all coming from, however what about dogs bred/trained for fights, do we label them*all the same. Do we class them all as one *& no one should have a PB as a pet just in case it acts on "instinct" ? There are many pet Pitts who get on with other household pets, who are as soft & loving as my own dogs.

You can get cat friendly ex-racing dogs.- some charities cat test the dogs before homing them yet these are dogs*Initially had been trained to catch small fleeing creatures/lures.*

Well it wasnt my fault, as I said it was my friends brother and I would have no idea if he cleaned it well, he may not have.

It is definitely excess energy, I believe she is doing what she would with another kitten (again not an expert so cant be certain) She only does it to my youngest son (I have 4 children) and only when he suddenly runs. Sookie is my first indoor cat and is very playful, she plays fetch with her balls and will sit for treats, I hide treats for her to find but she still travels at the speed of light so if anyone has ideas for creative games I would welcome them I have brought a clicker to try but will wait until I get the book to make sure I am doing it right. It maybe that she needs another cat to play with.
She doesnt have stripes but I believe she thinks she does

I have lived here for 8 years and my kitten is eight months old. We used to have windows and doors open in the summer and they would fly through the door when visitors came in, I often had no idea they were in the house. The first time I found Fluffy in my house was the first day that they moved in next door and once I found Tiger in my tumble dryer. I now keep my windows shut but Marmalade still comes to sit on my windowsill everyday. I live in a terraced house with cats on one side and a dog on the other. Dont get me wrong I am fond of next doors cats and was very sad when one of them passed away (rip fluffy) but it is the attitude of the owners that I find interesting. When my other neighbours dog jumped the fence and knocked down my little boy she was very apologetic (luckily no harm was done) but I have never once had an apology for the damage in my garden, to my carpets and all the mess I have had to clean up from next doors cats.

Anyway I just wanted to say that if my cat was hurt by a dog in the dogs own garden then personally I think it would be myself that I blame and not the dog owner. That is my own opinion and I am not trying to change anyone elses. I thought it would bring a slightly different perspective from someone that owns a cat and not a dog as this thread seemed to have taken a cat owners vs dog owners turn.

Also while I love dogs and come on here to learn more I dont often feel that I can join in with the debates as I dont have a dog so I dont have any experience to back up my opinions. I felt that this thread gave me an oportunity to join in a bit.

Gemma

Gemma: you should pop over to Dogsey's sister site Catsey - lots of very experienced cat savvy folk over there who could give you valuable advice & you coukd post lots of photos of your kitten

Having a bit of fun!

Thanks, I am already on there though. I just havnt been online much recently. I will have to post some new pics on there soon

You need another kitten!

I'll start creeping to my other half then