Virtually everyone who congratulates me on the homecoming of young Tatsuya then asks, "How's Toffee taking it?"
Toffee is my 8-year-old borzoi and has been the love-of-my life since she was the size of our cat. Heeky Peeky is the orange cat Toffee found in a park as a puppy. Heeky was a tiny, frail, abanodoned kitten, and we took her home to make her last hours on earth comfortable--but she decided to stick around, and came home with us from Japan.
So, just a couple weeks ago, Tatsuya came into a home with an older dog and cat used to having the place to themselves. In the spirit of being proactive rather than waiting for problems to begin, I made sure to keep Tatsuya on leash around Toffee & Heeky, to prevent him from being able to continue pushing their buttons if they wanted to get away. I made sure to give them all the things they love (favorite treats, ear rubs and bum scritches) every time Tatsu was near. And I made sure to give them both individual attention without the baby around as well.
Toffee made the "I'm going to throw up," face for a few days. There were lots of heavy dog sighs as if to say, "Did you keep the receipt? Can you take it back?" Although she made her disapproval clear, she politely tolerated Tatsu's presence except when he tried to climb on the sofa with her. In a very appropriate display of older-dog-in-the-house status, she barked at Tatsu without touching him--a short and sharp message. Tatsu understood immediately and politely backed off. I love seeing natural canine social skills at work!
In less than a week, Toffee had decided Tatsu might be ok. She started trying to initiate play with him--but being 97 pounds to his 25 pounds, she ended up frightening him! Luckily, Tatsu is growing like a weed, and last night, Toffee and Tatsu both ran around in our yard and played with the Wheaten Terrier, Bally, from upstairs. Now, Toffee also allows Tatsu on her sofa as long as he obeys her limits.
Heeky (the cat), surprisingly, fell in love with Tatsu in no time. Within a couple days, they had learned to lie on the carpet head to head and taunt one another playfully. It helps that Tatsu is a real natural at adapting his play style to his playmate. I'm sure all the turkey Heeky got when Tatsu came near helped a great deal, too. I almost wonder if she visualizes a plump Thanksgiving turkey when she looks at Tatsu. :) His snout is a bit beak-like.
Remembering back to Toffee's puppy-hood around cats--that took quite a bit more work! She was cat crazy! Borzoi are sighthounds, after all, and naturally prone to wanting to give chase to other creatures. We used careful management to keep Toffee away from the cats when we weren't prepared to train, and we practiced "sit," "down," "stay," "watch me," "leave it," and "get your toy" a great deal when around kitties. If Toffee elected not to follow instructions around kitties, she got time out. The cats, of course, got to dine on their favorite goodies while Toffee worked. The result of all our efforts, you'll witness in the video clip above.
With the right dog training work as well as supervision and management, even dogs with an inclination to be frantic around felines can learn to co-exist in Pet Harmony.
