Does anyone else's Sheltie do any of this?

I have two sheltie boys and five cats. My pups are 9 months old, and the cats are 10 months, 4 years, 5 years, 7 years and 14 years (most of these ages are guesses besides the 10 month old, they're all rescues).

Initially my two boys were very nervous of the cats, they were curious but they learnt each of the cats personalities pretty quickly and how to interact with them.

10 month old Garfield: They're totally fine with him, as he's totally fine with them. They play together sometimes, but they seem to have a mutual understanding that they mean each other no harm and just want to have a little fun. What helps is that they've all grown up together, so they've been used to each other from the start.

5 year old Milly: She is terrified of almost anything and she can be seemingly aggressive, but it's only out of fear. She is very defensive and hisses at them easily. The pups hate her, or possibly love her... but for the wrong reasons. She likes to run, and they like to chase. Often they'll growl-bark at her as they chase her up the stairs. I often feel really bad for her, she's a cat who likes a quiet/calm home, she finds it difficult to move from one area to another if we have let the dogs free roam of the house for a certain time of the day.

Our oldest cat Sox is really lazy, the pups don't mind him at all, they often sleep with him. Though sometimes when Sox has had enough of their messing he will let the pups know and they respect that.

Shelties are smart (I think a lot of us here are aware of this :biggrin2: ) and largely I have found they treat the cats much how they have been treated in return. You say your two oldest cats want nothing to do with Mia, how is that displayed by them?
 
Oddly enough Beau gets along with cats, he use play with the store cat where I get my dog food from(they opened around the same time I brought my Beau home) it was so funny to watch them play. Some days she(the cat) would look at Beau like," What the heck, Dog, I'm a cat, leave me the heck alone" attitude, then they would play, the only time there was anything negative took place was when the cat came up to Beau and stuck her nose in his face and then twitched her nose. Beau doesn't like that at all, not even with a dog forget a cat.

But, this morning Beau wanted to go up and meet a new dog at the park, since the dog was on leash, I asked the owner if it was alright, and I gave her full warning that Beau might be reactive but, he was fine and started to do zoombies around her in the leaves.

It might just possibly be about the energy level of each individual cat, and dog involved. Beau is very sensitive to this
 
Tinsel learned pretty quickly that cats are not predictable and should be respected. Jack, Bart, Poacher and Chavala get along with him and he respects their space. Sybil, for the most part, just ignores him. I don't allow chasing for two reasons. First, the cats don't want to be chased, it's their home too and second, the cats will retaliate if cornered - I don't need the extra vet expenses.
 
My 2 cats (Hansel and Gretel) are very calm kitties, Hansel will just lay by Angus and let him do whatever. Angus likes to cuddle with him :lol:

Everyone jokes that my cats know nothing better, as they act like dogs and not cats. Greet company, play with dog toys, hang out with dogs.....

:biggrin2:
 
Our neighbor across the street started feeding a little black cat(princess) right after we moved in back in 1998. Keesha(2005), Shelby and Britta always act obsessed (bark, chase) with her when someone is looking. However, when they think no one is watching, they will walk past each other and almost kinda nod like the old cartoon with "Sam" and "Ralph" like it's no big deal. I almost think that there is some unwritten rule about acting like cats and dogs ONLY when you are watching.
 
Maybe it is that sheltie herding instinct coming out? If Mystique is with either one of our cats alone things are good (once she has given them a complete ear wash that is). Our cats are around 5 and 13 and the relationships are similar with each. When all three are in the room it gets loopy. Mystique's life mission become to have both cats on the couch, in the basket, outside or whereever she feels they should be herded to.
 
Kitty Issues

Oh my, it is pretty chaotic around here, cat and dog wise. Our kitty (Miss Pussy Toes) is 10 years old and is used to ruling the household. We recently lost our 14-year-old Lab/Setter mix who was a total lamb, and she and the cat got along famously. She was so passive that she would let the kitty take over her huge dog bed, and she went to sleep on the rug by the door!

Now we have Sammy, a 4-1/2 month old Sheltie, who is obsessed with that cat. He tries to herd her constantly, chases her around the house and outside, and begs her to play with him. Every time he approaches her she gives him a swat, but that will not deter him! He just won't take no for an answer. I do feel sorry for her and try to put her in a place where he can't get to her. But I wonder sometimes if she doesn't like it just a little bit. She'll sit on the edge of the bed (when she could very easily move to the middle of the bed where he can't reach her) and taunt him, swatting at him as he walks by. I am hoping things settle down a bit as he gets older. Janet
 
To me it looks like she is not happy when Britney is in certain areas. Especially if out of reach. But Britney can sleep all day in the recliner and Mia doesn't bother her one bit.
 
My dogs act crazy around our cat, too. But like one of the previous posters, our cat definitely instigates.

We can't say our cat's name out loud without the dogs running, spinning, barking and chasing the cat. Now they know when the cat is doing something naughty (getting on the table, opening a cabinet door) and they chase and bark after him without us saying anything. I really want them to stop, but I'm not sure how. I can call them off with a treat, or put them in a stay, but then they're right back to it.

Like I said, it doesn't help that there is a fine line between annoying us/the cat and them playing.
 
Sally thinks she is Pumpkin's boss and will try to herd her and she also tells us if she is on the kitchen counter- a no no. She will also bark and get excited if we say Pumpkin's name. But,I will see Pumpkin hiding and peeking with Sally and they have their zoomies chasing each other each evening so I think they get along just fine-works for us.
 
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