Last Updated on May 17, 2022 by Marco
Dachshunds are a friendly and outgoing breed but do dachshunds like cats or is this pet combo impossible? Are Doxies one of those hunting dog breeds that view every four-legged non-canine pet as prey that needs to be hunted? Or, is there a way to get your dachshund to like a kitten or vice versa – your cat to live well with a Doxie puppy?
Do Dachshunds Like Cats?
Dachshunds can like cats if you teach your dog not to view the cat as prey. And that’s the difficult part. After that, there is nothing about a cat a dachshund wouldn’t like – they are not too large, not too loud, and not too active of a pet to bother your dachshund. The problem is that Doxies are bred to view any small non-canine animal as prey. So, what can you do?
How To Make Your Dachshund More Social?
The name of the game here is socialization. Any pet dog needs to be socialized but that becomes especially important if you want your dachshund to live with a cat. Besides, it’s smart to socialize with the cat too or it can also act aggressively toward a newly introduced pet.
How do you socialize your pets? Simple – get them to meet plenty of people and animals regularly and from an early age. Then, just make sure all these interactions are pleasurable for the pet so that it learns not to fear people or other animals. Do this and a well-socialized dachshund should get along with a well-socialized cat (or a very small kitten) and vice versa.
Learn more about: Do Dachshunds Like Other Dogs And 15 Breeds That Get Along With Them
Is It Easier To Get Your Dachshund A Cat Or Your Cat – A Dachshund?
Surely, it matters which animal was first, right? Are cats more territorial and aggressive toward newcomers or the other way around? Many would say the former as we’re used to viewing cats as inherently anti-social and grumpy. That’s only true if they are not socialized, however. A well-socialized feline can easily tolerate a small dachshund puppy. In fact, a female cat will most likely adopt it as her own kitten and the two will get along swimmingly. In that case, the answer to “do dachshunds like cats” becomes very easy – they do when they are raised by them.
Things become trickier if you introduce a small kitten to an adult dachshund, however. Even if the dachshund is socialized and has seen cats before, chances are that a small kitten will still trigger the dog’s prey drive. That’s just how strong the dachshund’s nature is. So, it’s much easier to introduce a dachshund pup to your cat than a kitten to your dachshund.
Still, even the latter isn’t impossible. If your dachshund is well-trained and socialized, all you need to do is introduce the two animals slowly, preferably through a door (i.e. without direct visual and physical contact at first) for a couple of days, with constant supervision afterward, and with constant praise and petting for good behavior.
The key principle for all dachshunds is that “it’s possible to teach them everything if you’re patient and persistent enough” and it applies here too. If you’re patient and persistent enough.
Learn more about: Why Are Dachshunds So Stubborn And Is There A Quick And Simple Way To Train Them?
So, Do Dachshunds Like Cats and What Can You Do If Not?
In general, dachshunds don’t actively “dislike” cats but they may view them as prey. That’s simply a consequence of the dachshund’s history as a scenthound hunter. So, if anything, it’d be the cat that dislikes being chased, barked at, and pestered by the dachshund that’s simply following its hunting dog instincts.
So, if you already have an adult dachshund that hasn’t been properly socialized, getting it to not chase the cat whenever it moves might be difficult. However, you can do it with enough patience, training, extensive socialization, and a slow and smooth introduction to the two animals. It’d just be difficult and many people prefer not to go through with it. After all, it’s easier to just get a second dachshund or a second cat.
FAQs
Do dachshunds act like cats?
Hound breeds like the dachshund are often said to behave a little bit like cats. There is some truth to this, especially when it comes to training them. The chief difference between the two groups of hunting dog companions – sight & scent hounds on one hand and retriever, pointer, setter, & gun dogs on the other – is that the latter are bred and trained to follow commands and cooperate with their human during a hunter.
Hounds, on the other hand, are bred and trained to follow their eyes and noses and to tune out all other distractions. This has made hound breeds like the dachshund pretty self-driven, willful, and even stubborn when it comes to training. So, just as you’d do with cats, the best way to get a dachshund to do what you want, isn’t necessarily to train it as you would a gun dog.
Instead, it’s much easier to trick the dachshund to think that the whole operation was his idea in the first place. That’s why both cats and Doxies are so easily food-motivated. That’s also why getting either of them to stop doing something isn’t to punish them but to trick them into thinking they don’t actually want to do it – by offering an alternative, by making the activity less enjoyable, and so on.
Are dachshunds good with small animals?
This depends on a case-by-case basis. On one hand, dachshunds get along with smaller dogs more easily than they do with larger breeds. On the other, they are a hound breed and any non-canine pet that’s smaller than them (or, often, as large as them) will trigger their prey drive.
In other words:
• It’s best if other dogs are either smaller or the same size as the dachshund
• It’s best if non-canine pets are either larger or the same size as the dachshund
In either case, however, you’d want to make sure your dachshund is socialized as well as possible. The second crucial step is to make sure the two animals are introduced to each other properly.
Are dachshunds good with farm animals?
They are good with most farm animals, especially big and mid-sized ones. Just be careful with loose rabbits and baby chicks. The former, in particular, was one of the three main prey targets of the dachshund breed alongside badgers and foxes.
Jordan is an animal–lover who specializes in dachshunds. He has owned and cared for dachshunds since he was a child, and his passion for these unique dogs has only grown with time. Jordan is an avid researcher and learner, and spends a large portion of his free time studying the history, behaviour, and health of dachshunds. He has a knack for training and socializing his own dogs, and loves introducing them to new experiences. When not caring for his own pets, Jordan likes to volunteer at local animal rescue shelters, helping to find homes for abandoned dachshunds. He is a true animal advocate, and dedicates his time to ensure that all animals receive the love, respect, and care they deserve.
