THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM: PROMOTING SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DOGS CATS

摘要

Although close to half of the country's 86.4 million cats and 78.2 million dogs share their lives with one another, the quality of these relationships poorly known. Dogs and cats not getting along in the same household is a common problem, and these pets are often seen by behavior consultants. In one study of dog and cat households, it was found that 9% of the dogs and 8.5% of the cats were consistently aggressive to the other species with whom they lived, while 24.5% of the dogs and 26% of the catswere consistently indifferent to each other (Feuerstein and Terkel 2008). The researchers also found that having the cat in the home first and introducing the dog second was associated with more amicable relations among the cats and dogs, and that introducing the animals to each other at a young age (< 6 months for cats, < 1 year for dogs) was associated with more amicable relationships. Dogs and cats can learn to read the communication signals of the other species that have opposite meanings (rolling on the back means submission and Mendliness in dogs, whereas it indicates a defensive threat in cats), but it is better learned if the animals are exposed to each other from a young age. Said another way, expect it to take longer for older animals to learn to read each other's signals and to learn to get along.