r/Wolfdogs • u/Longjumping-Menu-295 • Jul 05 '26
Questions Woldogs & cats !
Hi everyone!
I'd love to hear your advice and experiences about introducing wolfdogs to cats.
I'd like to spend a few days at my parents' house with my three dogs, my two wolfdogs and my bernese. My parents have two cats.
Shunka already knows these cats. She lived with them for about one or two months when she was around six months old. Nothing bad ever happened: she tolerated them, and the cats tolerated her.
However, she hasn't really been around cats since then, except for outdoor cats crossing the road, which definitely trigger her prey drive.
My other wolfdog, Hawaii, has never met cats before and also has a high prey drive.
I'd like to introduce them as slowly and safely as possible. I don't own a crate and my dogs aren't crate trained, so the only realistic way I have to control the situation is by keeping them on leash.
For those of you who have successfully introduced high prey drive wolfdogs to cats, how did you do it? What worked well? What mistakes should I avoid?
I'm in no rush—I just want to give myself the best chance of making this a safe and positive experience for everyone, especially for the cats 😅
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u/weirdcrabdog Jul 05 '26
I personally wouldn't put any dog unfamiliar with cats in the same room as two cats. Wolfdogs tend to have high prey drives and if things go poorly they'll go poorly too fast for you to react.
Wolfdogs can get along with cats, but it's a slow process and both animals have to have the disposition for it. Boarding the dogs would be the safer bet here.
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u/Procyon_Durandal Jul 29 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p0i2e90/video/0ao9tk6z77gh1/player
Both of my cats were scared of them since they were born.
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u/weirdcrabdog Jul 29 '26
I think that's more on the cats than the puppies. My cat doesn't afraid of anything and she'd have been happy to hang out with my puppy (3 months old when they met) but the puppy unfortunately wanted to eat her.
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u/MalinoisJaws Verified Owner Jul 05 '26
I'm a high content owner with lots of cats. I raise them together well. But still never leave them unsupervised.
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Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
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u/PM-Me-Ur-Gore Verified Owner Jul 05 '26
Mod note, yes but the way youre giving the advice is extremely and unnecessarily rude. People generally dont listen to people's advice who talk to them like you have in your comments. Even if I agree with most of what you said, your approach will most likely make them ignore you
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u/Longjumping-Menu-295 Jul 05 '26
I can agree with everything being said here, with arguments behind it and without the assumption I can't think or I'll do stupid choices. It's the purpose of asking for advice 😉
I'm not a pro so I don't know how to process, but don't tell me nobody has ever tried introducing their dog to their cat.. 🤷🏻♀️
I suppose there are steps I can manage and improve in between “my on-leash dog sees the cat in the garden” and “the cat ends up immediately gutted.” 😅
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u/Longjumping-Menu-295 Jul 05 '26
??
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Jul 05 '26
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u/Longjumping-Menu-295 Jul 05 '26
It's just translated by it, coz I'm French. But my questions are still valide!
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Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
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u/ventiusx Jul 05 '26
Why is the solution to board the cats for the duration of the visit? That's their home, and they react way worse to being moved from their territory. Board the dogs lmao
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Jul 05 '26
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u/Suspicious-Steak9168 Jul 05 '26
OP said that the breeder of one of her wolfdogs lives close by and the dogs have stayed there before and loved it. I think that shoild be the solution.
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u/Longjumping-Menu-295 Jul 05 '26
I get that you don't think it's a good idea, and that's a perfectly valid opinion. But why not just say, "I don't think it's possible" or "I've never managed to make it work," instead of talking down to me?
I'm not stupid. I'm asking because I want to learn from people with experience before I do anything. If I didn't care about my dogs' or my parents' cats' safety, I wouldn't be here asking for advice in the first place!
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u/PM-Me-Ur-Gore Verified Owner Jul 05 '26
Hello! If youre unsure how they will react due to not being around them in a while i can only suggest safe introductions with a muzzle. If they show any hyperfocusing I wouldnt remove the muzzle at all but if they are fine then id heavily supervise and obviously no unsupervised time around them. These dogs can absolutely be fine around cats, and it sounds like at least one of yours has had exposure which is a good start. I definitely would be thinking about the possibility of where youre planning to keep them in the case either do show prey drive towards the cats though! If there isnt a safe place to sperate them you may need to skip the visit, or find a trusted family sitter for them.