my dog is a bit special needs. a friend has described her as close to “feral,” she was neglected for most of her life (had most of her teeth removed because of how poorly the owners took care of her, they were unsalvageable), tends to shut down completely when she’s scared, but has got on swimmingly since i got her close to two years ago and, especially in comparison to when i adopted, she’s truly blossomed. a lot more sociable, confident, and loving.
because my dog improves especially with the presence of a companion (not necessarily a canine one), i wanted to get her a friend. especially considering this was around when we “reopened,” because she has separation anxiety that i figured would ease when with my parents’/friends pets, as this was true in the past. i got a cat, wanting something lower key than the dogs she really likes but is sometimes overwhelmed by.
the cat isn’t the problem, i want to note: she acts like a cat does. she’s about nine months old (and that could be the friction), she’s pretty sweet and outgoing and funny and playful. the problem is, i think she’s sensed that my dog isn’t as confident as she is, so she tends to just harass my dog to try to get what she wants. usually, this is to play. she’ll chase her around, or charge her when we get back in from a walk, or swat at her and bite her when she tries to get up to do something. but how my dog reacts is that she stays mostly confined to one chair, as the other places she likes to sit have become the cat’s territory. she doesn’t feel comfortable getting up to go get water or food it seems like, and to get her to come outside, i need to leash her up and goad her. these are all things i’ve worked through with her when she’s had rough adjustment spells, i’m used to her reacting this way when she’s upset. but it’s constant now, and the thing that’s different is undeniably the cat.
separating them seems to help my dog, but only for while they’re separated. and it obviously pisses the cat off. doesn’t feel like a fair or sustainable fix for either of them, especially because my place isn’t huge and all i can really do to confine the cat is close the bedroom door.
i don’t know what to do at this point. neither of them are acting in a way i feel i can correct. this became a problem about as soon as i let the cat start exploring the apartment, and it hasn’t truly let up in the nearly four months since. they’ve had a few moments of peace, but it mostly feels like the dog is just deeply scared of the cat all the time. any advice is helpful.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/r9aj20/advice_needed_cat_engaging_dog_for_play_and/
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