Put simply, cats and dogs speak different languages. When you have one or more of each in your house, you are essentially housing a bilingual family. The hard part is that people often do not speak the language of dogs or the language of cats, making most cat and dog households a trilingual household (cats, dogs, and humans). That is a lot to deal with, especially when all three do not speak the other two languages very well. In this situation, there are bound to be some conflicts that arise, and it is our job as the human to lead everyone through this situation as best we can.
Step One: Educate Yourself
In a home of three different languages, someone has to step up and learn, as least a little bit, of the other two languages. With humans, cats, and dogs, the human is the one that must step up to the challenge and help the others follow suit. This means that as the humans in this family, we need to learn about dog body language and cat body language, where they are similar, and where they are different. As a result, the first step to having a cat and dog household is to study dogs and cats. Here are a couple tips to get you started:
A similarity: displacement behaviors. Cats and dogs often express similar displacement behaviors, which are signs of stress. These are behaviors that are displayed out of context and can be behaviors such as yawning, licking lips, scratching, and a few others.
A difference: tail position. A dog who is holding its tail straight up is in a state of high arousal and can even be potentially aggressive or challenging. However, a cat who holds its tail straight up is relaxed and enjoying life.
Step Two: Train
Once the human has a better understanding of the two languages, the person needs to proceed by teaching the other two to understand the human language. This is normally what training consists of, teaching dogs and cats cues that tell them, “Go to your bed,” “Sit” or “Come” (yes, you can and should teach these things to your cat as well as your dog). Once the cat and dog can understand the human better, the human can teach them to understand each other better. This is where you can teach your cat to go to a certain space when it needs “help” with the dog’s behavior, and you can teach the dog to go to its bed and calmly stay there when the cat is in the room. We can also teach both the cat and the dog how to interact with each other, teaching the cat to walk away instead on lash out, and the dog to back away and stay calm instead of leap and playing invasively.
Closing Thoughts
Always remember to be understanding. Learning a new language can be a challenge for everyone. But there is always a way to communicate, especially if both sides (or all three sides) are willing to learn and do their part in understanding and teaching each other so they can maintain their own language, while learning to understand another enough to communicate and enjoy each other’s company. As always, allow yourself to enjoy the process of learning!
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