I know that lots of people want to have a dog and a cat in the same household. I did some research to see if this would work with an Airedale.
So, are Airedales good with cats? You need to be careful when introducing your Airedale to cats. If socialized from a young age, there’s a chance that an Airedale can live with cats, although it’s never guaranteed.
Airedales have strong hunting instincts that were developed very early on in their existence as a breed and as still prevalent today. Because of this, they can sometimes react aggressively towards small mammals such as cats and rodents. If you teach your Airedale from a young age how to coexist with a cat, there’s a chance that the two of them will be able to get along just fine. However, if your Airedale does not have this opportunity, you need to be very careful introducing them to small animals.
In this article, I cover a few different scenarios where the two species may interact:
- Buying a cat when you already own an Airedale
- Buying an Airedale when you already own a cat
- introducing your Airedale to cats that aren’t part of the family
Getting an Airedale When You Have Cat
One of the most common questions that I see is whether or not you can bring an Airedale into your house if you already have a cat that you own. While there are still some risks associated, this scenario actually has the highest chance of working out for you.
Check out this video of an Airedale and a cat playing together:
If you bring an Airedale puppy into a household that already has a cat, the puppy will be given a chance to learn and adapt from a young age. The first stages of their life are when dogs are most malleable, and when their behaviour can most be changed. This is especially important with an Airedale, given how stubborn and headstrong this breed can grow up to be.
When your Airedale is young, you’ll need to keep a close eye on it and watch how it acts around your cat. Any hint of aggression or stalking needs to be reprimanded extremely firmly, so that the Airedale can learn that these behaviours are completely unacceptable. Furthermore, you should watch to be sure that the Airedale actually likes your cat and that they aren’t just tolerating it; genuine affection between the two animals makes it less likely that your Airedale will one day ‘turn’ and become aggressive.
Now, as I said, there are still risks associated with this option. Even if you do everything right — introduce them from a young age, properly socialize the Airedale, and reprimand it for any aggressive behaviour— there’s still the chance that your Airedale will one day become aggressive towards your cat. As I said, these animals have a deep-seated hunting instinct, and it’s difficult to completely remove that from their brains. You can’t be watching your Airedale all of the time, and there’s always going to be the slight risk of something bad happening.
Getting a Cat When You Have an Airedale
So, what if it’s the opposite situation? If you already have an Airedale and want to get a cat, is that something that’s going to be possible?
Now, before I answer those questions, I need to give a bit of a disclaimer: you’re going to know your dog far better than I ever will. Individual personalities vary widely within breeds, so there’s a chance that what I say has no relevance to your situation. If you’re observed your Airedale being friendly and welcoming to cats in the past, what I say next might be completely wrong regarding your specific Airedale.
However, introducing your mature Airedale to a cat is a risky thing to do. Like I said, these dogs have a hard-coded hunting instinct in them, and it’s very difficult for them to turn that off. If they haven’t been socialized from a young age, your Airedale probably won’t understand that cats are also pets, and that they should be treated as members of the family. Instead, your Airedale will just see a small, foreign animal inside its house, and its hunting instinct will kick in.
I know that at this point, some of you are probably thinking that this doesn’t apply to your Airedale. After all, these dogs are goofy, friendly, and extremely good-natured— right?
Well, yes and no. For the most part, Airedale’s and friendly and playful. However, there’s always the chance they can ‘turn’. My mom always told the story about when she was growing up and owned her own Airedale, who was as goofy and loving as they come — until it spotted a cat out the window, tore through the door, and treed the poor animal. When my grandmother tried to pull the Airedale away, it refused to move and had to be carried away by my grandfather.
So, even if your Airedale seems fairly far removed from the bear-hunting, land-protecting creature that they once were, I would be hesitant before you bring a cat into the household.
Introducing Your Airedale to Cats
The story above should be a pretty good indicator that introducing your Airedale to a cat when it hasn’t properly been socialized can be fairly risky. Depending on the personality of your dog, it might immediately see the cat as prey; even if it doesn’t, there’s always the chance that it could turn suddenly.
However, if you’re thinking of getting a cat and want to know how your Airedale will react, this can be a good way to get a gauge. Now, obviously, you’ll want to do it under strict supervision, but having your Airedale spend time around one of your friends’ cats can help you understand how they’re going to react if you bring a cat into the household. If the Airedale immediately goes into hunting mode, it might not be a great idea; if, however, the act amiably towards it, it may mean that you can socializing the Airedale into being friendly towards cats.
Socializing Your Airedale
I’ve spoken a few times so far about socializing your Airedale, so now it’s time to talk a little bit about what this actually means. How do you socialize a dog? What does it do for them? How can you tell if it’s working?
At the most basic level, socializing your dog just means exposing them to other people and animals, preferably at a young age. Doing so teaches your pet how it can and can’t act given the situation its in — basically, you’re teaching your animal social skills, hence the name ‘socialization’.
The best way to do this, obviously, is through exposure and behaviour reinforcement.
Exposure just means getting your dog face-to-face with other animals (in this instance, cats). By doing so, your Airedale will learn that they’re sentient beings, not just prey that can be hunted down.
Behaviour reinforcement means rewarding your Airedale for the behaviour that you want — being friendly towards the cat, treating it well, etc. — and punishing the behaviour that you don’t (such as acting aggressively). By doing this, your Airedale will learn how it should be acting. This helps it build good habits, and these habits then become normal behaviour for the Airedale.
History of the Breed
After reading the article, it might seem as if Airedales are aggressive or hard-to-train dogs. That actually couldn’t be farther from the truth, and understanding the history of the breed can help shed some light on why.
Airedales as a breed were born in the 1800’s in the English countryside. At first, they were used mainly for two purposes:
- Big game hunters would use packs of ten or more Airedales to take down bears. To do so, the dogs had to work together and protect one another.
- Farmers would use Airedales to hunt small game and to keep rodents away from their crops. This led the terriers to develop their hunting instincts.
So, when you combine those two things, you get a dog that is fiercely loyal to the members that it recognizes as its ‘pack’, but has a deep-seated instinct to chase down and kill small, furry animals. This is the reason for the way Airedales behaviour towards cats that they are not familiar with.
However, it also means that if you are able to get the Airedale to recognize the cat as part of your family, it’s going to treat it with the same friendliness and loyalty that it does for everyone else. The trick, as I’ve said before, is introducing them when they’re young.