Many dogs and cats get along very well. Dogs who are gentle and friendly and aren’t squirrel-chasing, predatory types can be great housemates with cats.
Even dogs who do chase small prey outdoors can often learn not to chase or harm cats indoors once they’ve grown accustomed to their household cats as family members.
Although you should carefully prepare and supervise your new dog, you should have little trouble integrating him into your household if he’s lived peacefully with a cat before or if your cat has lived with a dog. But keep in mind that dogs and cats, like people, need time to get to know each other. If they’ve never seen each other before, they probably won’t be instant friends.
Since cats take awhile to accept new cats, your cat might not accept a new dog as quickly as you’d like. It might take years for a trusting, mutually agreeable relationship to develop between a cat and dog who live together. The younger, more energetic and more tolerant your cat is and the smaller, calmer and more obedient your new dog is, the more likely it is that your cat will accept living with a canine companion.
Every year hundreds of dogs lose their live by drowning and usually it happens in the family pool. The most vulnerable are puppies and older dogs although many adult dogs also drown because they have not been exposed to water or precautions were not taken to properly introduce them to the water.
TIPS for SAFETY
Never assume a dog can swim or will like being in water.
- Never throw a dog into the pool; he may panic and you may never get the dog in the water again, and more importantly, you have damaged the relationship with your dog.
- Do not allow the dog outside unsupervised unless the pool is safely enclosed by a fence until you are 100% certain your dog knows the way out of the pool from all sides and areas.
- Heat and sunlight are more intense around a pool. Your dog cannot keep as cool as you, so watch for signs of overheating.
- Dogs with short coats, light colored coats, blue eyes and pink noses are extra sensitive to the sun and can get sunburned. There are sun blocks specifically for dogs available online and in pet supply stores.
- Provide them with fresh water to drink while outdoors to discourage them from drinking out of the pool. Chlorine can make them sick.
- A tired dog is a good dog, but an exhausted dog is in danger of drowning. Be aware of your dog’s physical condition.