This is Lilly, our new baby that we just adopted! She's supposedly a pit bull, but we think she's part bulldog or shar pei or potbellied pig.
You can't tell in the photo, but she's a brindle with a very wrinkly face, an underbite, a big ribcage that sticks out on the sides, bowlegs, and huge paws that twist around to the back. She's very weird-looking but cute.
They think she is 9 months and fully grown at 36 pounds.
She and Villain are best pals already! They play nonstop. Villain likes to drag her around by her collar and chew on her. She doesn't seem to mind.
The only problem is that she chased the cat, so we are keeping the cat away from her until we can figure out if we can break her of that.
Awww- what a cutie! I wish we lived closer so we could set up a play date. I don't think Oscar would do well at a dog park or anything.
Hopefully she will learn that the cats are dominant and respect that. Harley still chases Kami, but he's also scared of her and we reinforce her being the boss.
Congratulations on your new baby!
She's super cute! I hope she comes to an understanding with the cat. Good luck with her!
I am sure the cat will soon have a "come to Jesus" meeting of the minds with the baby soon enough. It took Darcy about 3 months before she and Sadie had a come to the conclusion that Darcy was QUEEN.
The baby is a sweetie pie.
She is very sweet. If anyone has any tips on how to break a dog from chasing a cat, I'd appreciate it. I looked on several websites yesterday and am trying to figure out the best way. She's the type of dog who just gets terrified if you scold her, so negative reinforcement may not work with her.
Harley still chases Kami and he's petrified of her. Getting in trouble for it just makes him chase her when we're not around or he thinks we don't know.
Ringo broke Harley when Harley was playing too rough one day and wouldn't stop, Ringo grabbed Harley's jaw with his bottom teeth and didn't let go. Harley squealed and that was that. He still plays rough, but he knows that when Ringo says "No" (well, in cat talk) he means it.
Kami randomly attacks Harley, which sounds mean, but it helps keep him in line. The cat and dog will have to work it out. If she isn't aggressive then I really wouldn't worry about it too much. Hopefully, since Villain treats the cats as dominant she will too, but it definitely won't happen overnight.
Like Kirby said, they should be able to work it out.
One thing that does help is training the dog to understand the phrase "Leave IT". It is a good phrase and works for anything that you want the dog to not get into. The obeidence school we went to said that it was the second most important thing you could teach your dog next to "come".
Thanks, kirby and gingerzing.
I was told by behaviorists at the SF SPCA 1) to make sure you have an accessible high place for your cat to get to when he wants to get away and 2) usually the cat will tell the dog when enough is enough by scratching or whatever cats do when they get mad and then the dog learns not to do that.
Your new baby is adorable. She looks very much like a pitty that is going to grow so more. I've never heard of a puppy that stopped growing at nine months old.
Opilies Wrote:I was told by behaviorists at the SF SPCA 1) to make sure you have an accessible high place for your cat to get to when he wants to get away and 2) usually the cat will tell the dog when enough is enough by scratching or whatever cats do when they get mad and then the dog learns not to do that.
I just hope she is not a killer dog and that scratching will be enough to stop her. The cat won't go anywhere near her.
Opilies Wrote:She looks very much like a pitty that is going to grow so more. I've never heard of a puppy that stopped growing at nine months old.
YIKES!!! The foster family was told by their vet that she's full-grown! We kind of like her small size...I hope she doesn't get too big!
I don't know the growth rates later, but here are the guidelines:
At 3 months, a dog is 1/4 full grown
At 4 months, a dog is 1/3 full grown
and At 6 months, a dog is 1/2 full grown
I would guess that she would be full grown by a year old, but may end up closer to 50 lbs. A complete guess on my part, I will admit.
Our humane society specifically checks dogs with a 'test cat' to see their temperament, and will refuse to adopt certain ones out to houses with cats. These are typically huskies and greyhounds and other breeds that are known for hunting small animals. Unfortunately I can't offer any specific advice as in some dogs it just seems instinctual. Their solution is to just avoid the problem completely, if possible, which doesn't help you at all.
I thought most dogs were 9-12 months, some can be as long as 18 months to fill out and be their adult weights.
My only references are a rat terrier and a wheaten terrier (Oscar) since all my other dogs were grown when we got them, but the rat stopped growing at 7 months and Oscar was fully grown at around a year, except for a few pounds he's since put on.
It depends on her interest in the cat. It can be difficult to tell if it's an aggression that just won't go away, or it's an interest. It took us a long time to trust Harley and/or Kami was put up in her room when we weren't here. He tends to play too rough with Ringo, but since Ringo has established himself as dominant it's not a problem. Kami, however, won't let Harley near her- which makes him more interested. He does fixate on her and that has caused her a lot of stress (which means she'll act out by peeing, or acting even more unusual than she does) but we know he wouldn't hurt her. He really doesn't understand why she doesn't like him, especially when his best friend is the other cat!
Even so, there is always a change that a new dog will not be cat friendly or be able to be in a home with any cats and that's a risk we all take when adopting.
If the cat tolerates Villain then she should, in theory, tolerate Lilly, but like with my situation that's just in theory....
As mentioned, make sure the cat has safe places away from the dog(s). High places she can sleep, hidden places she gets to that the dogs can't etc. Kami has her own room, our 2nd bathroom, that has a babygate in the doorway. It's off the ground a few inches so she can slink under it and get to her cat box (another plus- the dogs can't get to it!), her water, her bed etc. It's her haven so even when we're not here and she gets picked on she can run in there.
Good luck! Harley, our 2nd dog, was an adoption as a adult dog that was supposedly good with cats and he was definitely our roughest to get used to.
CF Scorpio Wrote:She is very sweet. If anyone has any tips on how to break a dog from chasing a cat, I'd appreciate it. I looked on several websites yesterday and am trying to figure out the best way. She's the type of dog who just gets terrified if you scold her, so negative reinforcement may not work with her.
"Leave it" is the command you need to teach her. But in the meantime, I'd keep her on a leash so you can step on it or keep her from chasing when she starts. You could also try a spray bottle if she responds to that.
She is so cute.
hockeyhound Wrote:CF Scorpio Wrote:She is very sweet. If anyone has any tips on how to break a dog from chasing a cat, I'd appreciate it. I looked on several websites yesterday and am trying to figure out the best way. She's the type of dog who just gets terrified if you scold her, so negative reinforcement may not work with her.
"Leave it" is the command you need to teach her. But in the meantime, I'd keep her on a leash so you can step on it or keep her from chasing when she starts. You could also try a spray bottle if she responds to that.
She is so cute.
ITA with HH and everyone else here. The command "leave it" is very very important for Lilly to understand.. And the spray bottle works for dogs as well as cats, lol
Lilly is a cutie pie.. I hope you have many years of happiness with her
CFS.
And
with your training.
Also positive reinforcement is needed too. When Lily does something you want her to do, always ALWAYS tell her good girll or good job Lilly and give her a treat.
They live for that! LOL