Growling At The Cat

[jaybeece]

The last few days the dog's growled at one of the cats when they're both basking in front of the heater. They're normally fine to share it, in fact she curls up with him and sometimes grooms him.

He first did it because she lightly kicked him a couple of times when he nearly squashed her. He made a short, soft growl, then moved away and sulked in the corner for a bit. It's happened a couple of other times since- both times she didn't seem to do anything, but had a little growl (almost a grumble) and then moved.

He has been aggressive towards her in the past over food and territory, but he's improved out of sight and is pretty relaxed around her now he knows where he stands. This growling doesn't really seem related though as he's not gearing up to attack, he just complains and moves on.

So this is probably going to sound like a really silly question but should I worry about this? I mean, dogs that live together seem to have their little disagreements pretty often, it's just that he's a single dog and I've really forgotten what it's like seeing how cohabiting dogs relate to each other. He's also not much of a growler- I've only heard him do it a handful of times in the past so it's hard to judge.

Should I keep 'em both away from the heater? Or should I just let things be and let get his knickers in a knot occasionally since he's being peaceful about it?

[Golden Rules]

Me, I'd leave the cat in front of the heater and make sure the dog knows he's lower down on the list - just because the dog is bigger (presumably?) than the cat?

My first big Goldie Hamish was so scared of the cat he wouldn't even walk past her in the hallway - he would stand there and whinge until I walked with him

Good luck, I hope it all ends up happy. ;)