cattle dogs and cats

Recently we have recieved several applications with people who own cats. Cattle dogs "can" get a long just fine with cats, however cattle dogs are a herding breed which means that in general, they like to chase things. This means that if you have a dog savvy cat that does not run or show a lot of fear around a dog there is a chance that it can work. Cats that have no experience with dogs that will freak out and run when they see a dog, have a very high chance of getting chased. The movement of the cat running away triggers the dog's drive and off they go.

Many cattle dogs are uninterested in a cat that just sits around bathing in the sun. Many cattle dogs will run after a cat and not do anything to the cat once they catch up with them, other dogs might nip at the cat and try to make it run again so that the game can continue.

Bringing a dog into the home is going to be an adjustment for the cat, many will go into hiding and not come out unless the dog is not home. There is no telling how long that adjustment period will last nor how long it will take for an inexperienced cat to adjust.. it could be never or it could take a matter of weeks. It may be that you have to create a safe room for the cat where the dog will not go.

Overall all most animals can adjust and live in harmony but there is a fairly good chance that it will not be and instant thing.

If you are interested in adopting a dog and have a cat, these things need to be thought about before bringing a dog into the home. We do not have cats in our foster homes so there is absolutely no guarantee that the dogs will not chase and bother the cats. Even if we had a cat.. the dog well may react fine to an experienced kitty but really enjoy harrassing a frightened one.

Figure out a game plan before thinking about bringing a dog into the home and be prepared for the worst... keeping them separate.


Victoria

two new boys

Here are two new boys that are in our courtesty post listing. These dogs are known by one of our members and will make excellent pets. If you are looking for an easy going well behaved dogs that are already through the pup stage these are a good choice. They need new homes due to a divorce so they were not given up for any behavior reasons. Very sweet and very special. Please see our website for their full bio and contact information.
www.acdflorida.com

Victoria

Puppies!!

I have two of them available! Both are females and I would bet that both are a handful.. which is typical of the breed. I have not pulled either of them in yet so they are not up on the website. One is 11 months and has some good basic obedience and agilty training on her. I spoke to her instructor and this dog has great focus and drive so she will be a lot of fun to train and will probably do very well.
She is an owner turn in who has too much on her plate at the moment so we will help find a home for her.

The second one is between 3 and 4 months old. She is in a shelter in Sarasota. I suppose that this one was also an owner turn in.

We have not had too many females lately nor have we had many puppies. They do go fast.

For info on these pups go to the website at www.acdflorida.com and click on the contact link and email me and I provide more information on them.

Victoria

Dog in need

This is yet another shelter dog named Dingo. Unfortunately we do not have room to pull this dog and he is in a bad situation. Our people went out to meet Dingo and found that he was a very nice dog indeed, he was someone's pet and knew how to sit and was basking in the attention.

He was turned in because he likes to herd children which is common for the breed, some can run after them and give them little herding nips.

Unfortunately Dingo is NOT doing very well at the shelter. He is not used to being in a dog kennel and expressesses his dislike by jumping up at the kennel door as people pass by him looking for a dog, because of this behavior no one askes to see Dingo and his chances for being adopted are slim.

He desperately needs to come out of the shelter and get into someone's home. From what the shelter was told he is not great with kids and is not great with other dogs. This too takes away the chances of this dog being adopted.

If anyone has interest in this guy he is at

Bishop Animal Shelter SPCA of Manatee County Bradenton, FL 941-792-2863
bishopspca@hotmail.com

His ID number is 100661
He is 3 years old and weighs 66 lbs (he needs a diet)
He is house trained and is a good house dog.

Victoria

Shelter boy is coming home

We were able to save the little blue shelter boy!! He will be pulled out on friday after he is neutered and not a moment to late. He was scheduled for euthanasia at the end of today.
He was assessed by one of our members and he has a wonderful temperament.. he was someone's pet. When you have a nice dog like this on the put to sleep list simply because there is no room it is really heart breaking and we try like hell to get them out if we can.
This one was worth the effort.

Please feel free to send me any cattle dogs spotted in shelters and I will try to move them into rescue if we have the room.

Victoria

shelter boy

Here is the boy that is sitting in the shetler that will be put down due to kennel cough.. which is nothing more than a canine cold. He is beautiful and he has his tail stuck between his legs.. which means he is scared. Hopefully we will be able to pull him before they put him down...

Victoria

incoming...

We had such a nice run on adoptions last week.. just when I thought that we were gonna get a breather we got emails from two shelters that had dogs that are on borrowed time. So we pulled one nice male today.. I think he is about two years old, nice temperament. He is going to be neutered next week, and then got hit with another one. He is a really really nice looking blue male with half a black face half a blue face with great body speckles. He is 4 years old and they are putting him down due to kennel cough. We are going to try like hell to find room for him.

I found it interesting how many people came out interested in adopting the hurricane dogs but ALL of our dogs are hurricane dogs in a sense. They are all on death row and living on limited time. Whether that is from a hurricane or simply over crowding in the shelters it is all the same.

If you are out there and were looking for a hurricane dog look no further, we have "hurricane dogs" all year round. They are all homeless and alone when we pull them from the shelters.

Victoria

Cattle Dogs and Kids

Many people have come through our rescue site with families and want to know how cattle dogs are with children. I think that the most important thing to consider is how the adults deal with the dog. If the adults in the house offer strong leadership to the dog, the dog will know his place and in many cases be an excellent dog for the family. IF the adults in the house do not offer the dog consistent training and set clear rules and boundaries for the dog, there is a possibility that the dog will be overly rambunctious and knock children over or jump on them.
Cattle dogs are a herding breed and small children running around yelling could inspire their herding drive where they will nip at the ankles and feet of kids.. This behavior needs to be corrected right away and again good leadership needs to be offered.

Many adult cattle dogs with a lower drive do just great with children and make really nice family dogs. One of the benefits of adopting a rescue dog is that we are able to assess how much drive a dog has and see if they respond nicely to little ones or not.

Adopting a puppy would require excellent training where the dog is very clear on his role in the family and what is and is not permitted from day one. A nipping cow dog puppy might be cute but it is not so cute when they grow to 40 lbs.

The very best way to establish a good relationship with your dog is to take him to some sort of obedience class and then practice a lot at home. Obedience is not just a class, it is a lifestyle that results in happy dogs and happy owners.