I was thinking about purchasing a dog from leeburg kennels. I currently have a cat that is about 4 years old and was wondering if I would run into problems? I know I posted this on the MWD forum but would it be any different with a puppy? My cat does run around alot... she is kinda a scared cat that runs alot... any advice? Does this mean no dog for me? If the dog would end up killing or hurting the cat my wife would kill me so I am just trying to be careful and reassure her. Thanks for your help.

Hi David... I have one of Ed's female pups (she was 8 1/2 wks old when she arrived) & also have a cat. The cat was three when I got the pup. The GSD is now just 1 yr old & the cat 4yrs. They now often play together. She is a very drivey dog. It took many months before I could allow the two together without fear that the dog would hurt the cat. She was ready willing & able to chase anything that moved without descretion as a pup. She has now learned to direct her drive to the proper prey items. (sleeve, tug etc)I now can allow them together without any fear of harm coming to the cat. But still keep an ear or eye or both on the encounters. The dog will still follow( but not quite allout chase)the cat at a very fast walk.(she knows not to run in the house or to chase the cat) It took a few corrections before the dog learned that the cat was not a menu item. It also took short supervised introductions with a gate as a barrier over a long period of time before this all came to pass. I have an inside only cat so they are not outside together. I do feel, however, that I would not fully trust my dog outside with the cat unless I was there & unless she is 100 % on recall. Her drives are very very high outside & it is a little harder to control the situation out there. She is almost 100 % on recall but the temptation just might be too high out there. If you have an outside cat you might want to wait until the dog is a bit older & better able to resist temptation & be absolute 100 % on recall & supervise the encounters. JMO

WOW, that is one good looking kitty!!!

Sting thinks his life evolves around pups. There is a saying about "WALKING THROUGH THE VALLEY OF DEATH" well Sting "WALKS THROUGH THE VALLEY OF PUPPIES" He kicks ass the whole way and has a constant look on his face that says - IS THAT THE BEST YOU HAVE TO OFFER?????

Hey Ed, Sting should have kicked Zasha's butt a few more times 'cause she thought my cat Sami was on the menu for a while after she arrived. Either that or maybe I should have sent Sami out there to Sting for some "kick butt" training. Actually she never tried to hurt the cat but just didn't want to tone down the play to a level that the cat could handle. She always wanted to be too rough with her. She has never tried to really hurt her at all, but just with the size difference & drives it was a problem. Sami is a small cat only about 7 lbs. Sami also knew that Zasha was not playing agressivly to hurt her & was just a pup & she has NEVER layed a claw on her. Thank goodness. It was for those reasons that it took a long time for Zasha to be able to play with Sami without hurting her.