Posted on January 06, 2011 by: WayCoolDogs

It is nothing new for dogs and cats to become enemies–or for cats and dogs to become friends. However, history portrays them as being natural enemies, especially in cartoons or animations. There are many reasons why dogs and cats do not get along, having a lot to do with the decision-making and personal preferences of the owner, or the personality and the characteristics of the animals.

It can also be based on something called “specific animal behavior,” as each animal is born with an individual type of behavior and its own set of characteristics. This is best described as “an internal factor that determines how likely an animal is to perform a behavior.” If the behaviors of two animals do not match or are inappropriate, problems have been known to develop between the cat and dog. In other words, specific animal behavior can benefit the animals or their owner.

When young puppies and kittens grow up together, they usually will learn to co-exist peacefully and accept their differences–something people should learn to do.

Their differences gradually smooth out on a daily basis, learning each other’s body language and adapting to each other over the years.

Nevertheless, dogs of a certain breed love to chase prey…in fact, they were naturally bred to do so. It this is the case, the life of a cat that runs and plays “at will” could be in serious jeopardy, especially if he is at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Different as apples and oranges, cats and dogs often test behavioral theories to the limit on their behavior—its motivation and how it is maintained. Most animal behaviorists work outside controlled conditions of an animal behavior laboratory. There is a need for careful observation, behavioral documentation, variables, the resulting evaluation of any developing behavioral changes. It looks as specific problems, such as when they appeared, the circumstances, frequency, stimuli, who the target of the behavior and the ending result.

Once this is done, a theory can be presented on the behavior—how and why it developed. One example is a cat or kitten that runs and bites at a dog’s feet or legs. This is considered a normal predatory behavior of cats. A solution would be to provide the cat with its own cat specific toys, to eliminate the cat thinking the dog is its personal chew toy. As most cat owners know, this is contrary to the opinion of most cats. Remember, the cat’s motto is, “No matter what you’ve done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it!”

The error of most animal trainers is thinking that that training of animals should be trained by one specific set of training techniques, the same as the public educational system does with our children as compared to the Montessori educational system. As in educational choices, many training techniques work over others for pet owners and pet trainers. Trying to get a dog and cat to get along when they do not want to may push the limits…as most animal training is animal specific. Dogs are trained by a dog trainer and cats are trained by a cat trainer.

In the current society, the changing field of applied animal behavior is rapidly growing, seeking a much more harmonious relationship between animals. However, “…it requires a very broad knowledge of animal behavior and the ability to translate that knowledge into practical methods that reduce the conflicts that people may have with animals…” (by Stephen Zawistowski, Ph.D., CAAB, Executive Vice President, ASPCA National Programs and Science Advisor, “Animal Behavior Society“)

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