[nagdu] German shepherds and cats

[Nicole Torcolini]

Most guide dogs are trained to leave other animals alone. The animal in
which my dog is most interested is other dogs. She is a black lab. She does
not mind cats and will actually try to play with them like they were dogs,
much to the dismay of the cat.
As a side note, although I have never had a German Shepherd, I know from
others that they are more likely to have aggression or medical problems than
other breeds. They also sometimes have a harder time handling stress and are
more likely to not eat in stressful situations. If this is your first guide
dog, some schools really prefer to not give German Shepherds as the first
guide, but this is probably not applicable in your situation as you have
owned them before.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kathy
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 7:46 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] German shepherds and cats

Hello everyone.  This is Kathy in Seattle and I am in the middle of applying
for a guide dog.  I'm waiting for the home visits at this point.
 I agree that one should get the best dog (and breed) for your own unique
situation but I admit to being quite partial to german shepherds, mostly
because I grew up with and also owned collies and german shepherd mixes.
 For those of you who have or have had german shepherd guides, have any of
you had cats in your household?  How did that work out?  With the prey drive
that some shepherds are known for, I'm concerned about our kitties becoming
a midnight snack. :)  They are large Ragdolls and incredibly sweet, and the
last thing I'd want to do is to cause them loads of stress.
 I think in the long haul, they will love having a dog around because they
sort of act like dogs themselves.  But only if it doesn't eye them with a
culinary interest.

Thanks for the advice!

Kathy
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