A big of background; Lucky Charms is a beagle/Jack Russell Terrier mix, the latter breed being one known for having a prey drive, but that doesn't mean this little guy can't be integrated into a home with other animals. Will he be able to exist in a home with cats? While I don't have that answer, as perspective, I wanted to share our experiences with that exact situation years ago, as my incredible, beautiful, heart-dog "Lucy" entered our home. (FYI, there is an album on Facebook all about Lucky Charms and his foster adventure with us. You can go directly to his shelter bio here).
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Lucy was posted on Craigslist as "free dog, must go ASAP". We'd been rescuing basset hounds for years, and when I saw that I reached out to the poster, letting them know of basset rescues, and also warning about how dangerous it is to give a dog away "free". He replied "I don't care, she needs to go", and worried for her, I headed south to the eastern shore of Virginia. With my phone in one hand and pepper spray in the other, I approached a dilapidated old farmhouse, when suddenly the door opened and he shoved this extremely thin dog out the door and down the steps. "Her name's Dog".....he'd already told me he used her for hunting ducks but she wasn't fast enough, and they'd got a new puppy so she was crated 23 hours a day. There's an entire story that came after he went inside and slammed the door but the point of this story is that we'd just got ourselves another dog, and one with a prey drive.
We weren't going to keep her - the plan was to get her safe and then into a rescue, but Lucy had other plans; she was timid, fearful, and emaciated, but she looked at us like she had arrived home. We started off crating her, which she tolerated for a while as it was all she'd ever known, however her anixety over the crate soon became apparent when she started bending bars on metal crates. We gradually introduced her to our crew which went well, and over time came up with alternatives to a crate, but the fixed stare on our cats was worrying.
Every time she was out in the house, she'd be on a short leash with me. We did as we always do; corrections with a squirt water bottle, reinforcement of down and stay, along with lots of treats and rewards. We progressed to something I've had success with when introducing new animals, feeding them at the same time but on opposite sides of a gate, and she began to relax. I'm not going to lie; it was about six months before we trusted her off leash around the cats, but it worked and no one ever had any issues. Do I believe it can be done with all dogs? Maybe. Would Lucky be able to coexist with cats? I don't know, because the Jack Russell Terrier in him is a natural hunter breed. I DO believe almost any set of animals can be conditioned to accept one another, over time, with plenty of guidance and safe boundaries, but that's just my opinion, and certainly not an endorsement for someone with cats to adopt him. I just wanted to share some perspective on introduction of a new pet, how long it may take, and some of the steps involved, should you decide to go that route.
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about introduction of a new animal to your home, bringing in a rescue dog or cat, and tips and perspective on the initial process, please check out this album on Facebook "New Pet Introduction". We have been rescuing for thirty years, always having dogs and cats from all different backgrounds and situations, and some of the newcomers have been a bit more challenging than others. I cannot stress enough the importance of slowing down, taking the time, and doing a gradual acclimation for ANY new animal to your home!! Not only does it significantly help to avoid fights or putting creatures in a potentially dangerous situation, it teaches the entire family about respecting the space needed for a rescue dog to adjust to a new environment. Coming out of a rescue or shelter can be a very stressful experience, and it is a very common reason new pets get returned to the shelter, because a proper, step-by-step process was not followed.
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