Will My Border Collie Puppy Grow Up To Chase My Cats?

chobers

New Member
Hi:

I am thinking of getting a Border Collie puppy, but I have 3 adult cats. If the dog enters the home at a couple of months of age will it learn to respect the cats? The cats are not particularly aggressive or defensive. They're more like breathing meatloafs.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
dawg, i could not read that article.
When i tried to register, it said that email address was already in use,
so when i tried to log in, then they said the account was inactive!! facepalm!!:ROFLMAO:

but yes, i think you can successfully introduce a puppy to cat housemates.

here's some threads on cats and dogs, hope this helps.

http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/preventing-chasing-the-cat.3956/


http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/border-collie-herding-house-cats.975/
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
WELCOME!!!!!! WHAT A CUTE DOG IN YOUR ICON PHOTO!! Is that your current dog? sure is cute dog!!




I LOVE BORDER COLLIES TOO! but DO research what a border collie needs prior to bringing one home. These are usually demanding, high energy dogs who often become destructive:mad: if they get bored. By demanding, i mean the dog has specific needs for exercise and training, to siphon off his physical energy,
and his need to do something to use his MIND, like a job, or tricks training, something.

Most breeds tend to tolerate boredom a lil more gracefully:rolleyes: than a border collie will..........

Most adult dogs of this breed usually HAVE TO have a few long walks each day, (puppies might get shorter walks and runs til their bones 'set')
a daily run at full speed ---for adult dogs,
and
stuff to DO, like tricks training, agility, flyball, something.

So you should honestly evaluate how often do you run, hike, bike ride, skate board, etc,
and how often to you read, watch tv, play on computer, study, etc. and how energetic and committed to training a dog you are. True, all dogs benefit from training,
but some border collies seem to NEED to learn stuff, or they might get behavioral problems....the cat will be the least of your worries then!:ROFLMAO:

If you DO keep a border collie busy and tired, they make excellent companions, but, if you don't, both you,
and the border collie,
could be miserable.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Another option, IF IF IF you do have your heart set on a border collie,
just something to consider,
might be to adopt an adult border collie. Lol, lots of us here (not all, but many) think that raising up a puppy is a ton of 24/7 work, with the potty training, the leash walking is harder to teach for some puppies, the nipping with those needle-sharp teeth, the chewing/destructive stage, the "can't be home alone very long" stage,
and a lot of other stages of baby dogs might not fit into your lifestyle. Some ppl love raising up baby dogs, but some of us do not.:ROFLMAO:

but, it is often said, that it is easier to get a young puppy to accept cats.


anyway, maybe, just maybe, you might want to consider adopting an adult border collie, currently living with a foster family, but waiting for his forever home. That foster family can and will tell you all about the dog---whatever you want to know---they can and will tell you.

Is this dog good with cats?:D
strangers? kids?
cars?
does he bark a lot?
is he destructive?
is he okay home alone?
what is he afraid of, if anything?
any behavior issues?
and lots of other things. It's like almost like no-mystery dog.:)
and most importantly, how much exercise does this particular dog need to stay sane? Cuz all dogs are individuals.

Just something to mull over as you make your decision!:D To find such dogs, you can google your town's name, or state, + "border collie rescue"
or look over the dogs here: http://www.petfinder.com/index.html
 

Amateur

Experienced Member
We have 2 cats as well as a 16 month old BC brought home as a pup.
She was a terror as a pup butshe loves the cats.
She is recently going through a phase where she gets upset and tattletales if the catis on the counter and will chase them if they get shooded off. But I think we created the chase instinct by over reacting to getting the cats off the counter. ( out previous dog reacted to the smoke detector the same way because we would go frantic waving fresh air into the room -- once we settled down, she got better).

Even though I think she is rough on the cats -- the cats still butt heads with her and lick her face and sleep close to her at night -- so I can only assume they are not scared by her actions.

So short answer -- yes I think they can live together in harmony -- at least a semi frantic harmony
 

Evie

Experienced Member
My border collie is terrified of cats :(

Lol but that's just because she didn't grow up with any and the few that she has met all slapped her on the nose with their claws.... So on the plus side, she doesnt chase them.

But i agree, I don't see why your border collie pup couldn't learn to live in harmony with your cats so long as you gave it the correct training and supervised socialisation from the beginning :)
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
my border collie is fine with cats who like dogs,
but cats who run, or are afraid, or who 'tease' him, well, that honks him off.:rolleyes:

Once at a pals house, where there were a few cats, one cat was licking Buddy's legs, and purring all over him, rubbing all up against him,
and buddy, on leash, was 100% focused on this other cat across the room who was afraid of him.:rolleyes: I guess he found the cat who liked him boring or something. ha ha
 
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