Most people love to own both Weimaraners and cats. Since they are excellent hunting dogs, people are curious to know if Weimaraners are good with cats.
Here is whether Weimaraners are good with cats.
Generally, most Weimaraners aren’t good with cats due to their extremely high prey drive. However, this can be done with proper introduction, close supervision, positive reinforcement, raising the dog around the cats from puppyhood, giving enough attention, adequate exercises, & mental stimulation.
If you love to own both a Weimie and a cat, remember that Weimaraners tend to hunt anything that moves. But If you ignore any of the factors I mentioned above, it can be a sign of a huge problem.
What happens when Weimaraners and cats get along?
Weimaraners
This strong, speedy, intelligent dog breed was initially bred for hunting wolves, bears, and deers. But in most cases, the Weimaraners were small game hunters.
Usually, Weimaraners tend to chase rabbits, cats, and other small creatures because of their genes’ familiarity. So you need to be careful before putting these two animals together.
This doesn’t mean that Weimaraners will chase every cat every time. But it’s incredibly crucial to be aware of these two animals’ personalities to prevent some potential problems.
Cats
Usually, cats are very reserved and cautious more than dogs when it comes to some strange situations and places.
Even though Weimaraners are good family dogs, they don’t like cats. That’s the thing nature has given. If you are gonna introduce a cat and a Weimaraner to each other, you have to give some extra attention during the first few months.
But sometimes it can be varied.
When the Weimaraner grew up with a cat.
I can cite here a perfect example based on my experience. My mango friend called “Cristy who owned a two and a half years old male Weimaraner” He has a two and a half years old male Weimaraner. His Weimaraner was so clingy dog to his family.
So Cristy’s house there were two cats when the then-new Weimaraner puppy arrives.
So, This puppy grew up with cats, and they are very friendly. Sometimes they share the same bed even snuggle. Actu ally, It is fascinating to see something like that. There wasn’t happen any kind of problem whatsoever.
When a Weimaraner introduces to the cat’s environment.
In this situation, there are loads of problems that can occur. In most cases, they cannot be together. But it doesn’t mean that it is an impossible task. If you can fulfill all the requirements, it’s a totally doable thing.
When a cat or kitten introduce to Weimaraners’ environment
Here I would say, never ever do such kind of a thing. Because it’s so dangerous, and the chances are your Weimaraner can be chase after the cat and hurt him/his.
The fact of the matter is your Weimaraner and cat require specific training to get along stay without making any trouble.
How the previous experiences of Weimaraners can impact the introduction?
If the Weimaraner Pre-socialized one, the introduction would be much more comfortable rather than we imagine. If you gonna adopt a rescued one, the chances are the introduction is gonna be way tricky.
Basically, what does men this is when Weimaraners have had more exposure to other animals and people? Having positive behavior and interactions, Weimaraners would be good with cats.
Suppose Weimaraners have had the misfortune of having previous negative interactions with other creatures. In that case, the training must be more severe, and it can require so much understand about your duty and how it should proceed.
Your Weimaraner’s previous negative experiences can cause your Weimaraner to be so much aggressive toward other animals and even be much scared of other creatures.
To be honest, it’s so crucial to have the excellent mental and physical health of your Weimaraner in order to be qualified to get along with your cat.
So if your new Weimaraner has some physical and mental issues, go ahead and check with a dog trainer or consult a veterinarian.
How to prepare cats for the introduction of Weimaraners?
When you are about to bring a new Weimaraner to your cat, do not forget to dedicate a specific place just only for your cat. To be honest, that place must be your cat’s one of the favorite rooms. In my case, it’s our laundry room.
But here you wanna make sure that your cat has everything he needed. Basically, those needs are,
- Food
- Clean water
- A litter box
- Toys
Important: Make sure to fix a baby gate to the cat’s room. So cats can easily enter the room when there is a barrier to the Weimaraner. It would be so helpful to ensure the safety of your cat.
Here you have to do another essential thing. Once you bring the new Weimaraner to your home, isolate the cat insider his safe room without letting them meet face to face. Then after a while, start to teach your dog the “Focus” command.
I mean, when you use the focus command, the Weimaraner should be able to stop whatever the thing he is doing and look at you and focus.
Important: The cat should always be in a safe room. So don’t forget to shut the door.
Let it flow this way for about a day and a half. So Can you guess what might happen here? Well, this is kind of a first introduction session using fragrance.
Stay with Weimaraner as long as you can.
Spend some time with your cat
So now it is a suitable time to spend some time with your cat. Before you need to keep the Weimaraner in a safe place. Those safe places would be,
- A crate
- A dog room
- With one of your family members.
Make sure to shut the door once you enter the cat’s safe room. Then talk to him, cuddle him, and do whatever the things you usually do with your cat. Here you will see the cat gives some extra attention to the clothes and is cautious about it.
What is going on here? Since you already spend some considerable time with the Weimaraner, the cat can feel his scent. To be honest, it gives them thousands of messages about the dog.
This is very important for training cats and Weimaraners to stay well with each other.
Let the cat and Weimaraner smell through the door.
After completion of the previous step, spend some time with the Weimaraner. Here, the dog can feel the cat’s scent, and it gives thousands of messages about the cat.
Although they have’ t yet met face to face, they know each other appropriately.
Okay, now bring the Weimaraner next to the cat’s safe room and spend time there. In this situation, both of them can hear each other and feel each other. That feel could be both positive and negative.
If the Weimaraner gonna be super involved with the door or bark or growl at the door, use the “Focus” command to grab his attention toward you.
You can also use some tasty puppy treats or his favorite toy while saying the command. I mean, he must feel that involvement with the door is way less interesting, and he must think, “If I act on the “Focus” command, I can be getting rewards”.
After a while, the Weimaraner and cat would come to the door next to the door, and they will start to smell through the door. If the Weimaraner doesn’t make any trouble, you are good to go.
Continue this process for two days and three times a day.
Let the Weimaraner and cat see each other through the baby gate.
Keep the Weimaraner leashed and go to the same place. Now you need to open the baby gate about two or three inches. Do everything as you did in the previous step.
I mean, if the Weimaraner is going to involve with the cat, grab his attention as you did previously.
If everything is fine, Open the door a few more inches next time. And continues as did earlier. When the door is almost completely open, both of them can see each other clearly, and if nothing is going wrong, you are completely fine.
If any case, the Weimaraner growl at the cat (I hope not) or shows some bad behavior, please start with the previous step.
Let the Weimaraner and cat meet each other.
Now, Open the baby gate completely and let the cat come out naturally.
Important: Don’t force the cat to come out, and it’s better to keep the Weimaraner on a leash.
Once the cat comes out, keep your full focus on the dog. If he is going to involve with the cat, use some of those tactics that you have used before to get his attention toward you.
Here, they can feel each other’s sounds and movements. Wait a while, and then you will see that everything is going well.
Important: Close supervision is a must. If you do everything correctly, you can realize that Weimaraners are good with cats.
Are adult Weimaraners good with cats?
This is what I cannot answer properly. Because it depends on the individual, some grown Weimaraners are good with cats while others are don’t.
If the Weimaraner is rescued one, at least he doesn’t have basic obedience training. Furthermore, he may have had the worst experience with cats. (like chasing)
On the other hand, most people tend to adopt grown Weimaraners. If these Weimaraners have grown up with cats, they will probably be good with them.
There is much to think about before adopting a cat and Weimaraner. Not only Weimaraners, but there are many dog breeds chase and kill cats, rabbits, and other small animals. So this doesn’t make them bad.
Furthermore, it is difficult for owners to adopt grown Weimaraners if they have no dog experience. So I strongly advise you not to bring a grown-up Weimaraners if you already have cats in your home.
But when we consider the great Pyrenees dogs or springer spaniels, they can get used to cats. But even with extensive training, these Weimaraners have an extremely high prey drive and often kill cats.
Somewhere you have seen cats and Weimaraners stay together. Actually, my understanding is that it seems to like some kind of agreement among them. Those are very interesting relationships. Sometimes they sleep together, and at other times they behave like Tom and Jerry.
Things to consider when dealing with cats and Weimaraners.
Obviously, Weimaraners can live with cats. Even though you decide to adopt a Weimaraner puppy, there are many things you should keep in mind.
Because high prey drive has written in their genes, it’s necessary to apply a set of rules for the Weimaraner puppy. This set of rules would help you to behave correctly with your cat. Eventually, they will become good friends.
Important:
- Don’t let your Weimaraner puppy run after the cat because it’s something like chasing. Probably they should have some measure of prey drive.
- Apply a baby gate into the cat’s favorite room. My case, it’s our laundry room. If something goes wrong, immediately, your cat will go through the baby gate. But if a Weimaraner has grown with cats, this kind of problem will never happen because they can be good friends.
- Give your Weimaraner daily strenuous exercises because these dogs are super high energetic dogs. Otherwise, they can be a little bit aggressive. Maybe their behavior can be a little worse. Sometimes you might think, “are Weimaraners dumb?“. So this can be a sign of risk for your cat.
Conclusion
Many people love Weimaraners as well as cats. But there is a common problem among them. “Are Weimaraners good with cats?”. It’s a pretty reasonable problem because these dogs are high prey drive dogs. So this article is an in-depth review of it.
So which one do you most prefer grown Weimaraner and puppy? And tell us the reasons in the comment section.
