The cat pretty much ignores this trio of pissed off dogs. How does the cat know they’re not going to attack?
Maybe the voice over is wrong and they do know the cat. So the cat may know them, but they may still be pissed that it’s eating their food.
Because everything in those dog’s behavior conveys that they’re big squishy wimps who aren’t going to do jack shit about the cat eating their food. They’re scared shitless of it, and it takes them quite a while to even get up the nerve to make any noise or approach it.
Besides, it’s not like the sort of cat who would climb through the dog door into a strange house just to check out the eats is a shrinking violet.
It might’ve grown up with dogs who wouldn’t do shit.
I have 2 beagles and got a cat. I was sure it would not work. They hunt critters and chase animals all over the place.
We brought the cat in and he went into the back room all by himself. The next day he came out and acted like he owned the place and it has been fine ever since. You just never know.
Yep. There are three pussies there and, strangely enough, not one of them is the cat.
My late tom Shadow was like that. He’d approach any living creature in an open, straightforward way, trotting to sniff the nose of the biggest stranger dogs in a beeline.
Our cat Inu has been utterly afraid of our dogs (who are more intimidating that those pussies) since day one. He popped out of the woods while we were walking the three beasts and followed us 2 miles home, running in with the dogs. That photo was taken the night after he adopted us. Some cats just aren’t afraid of dogs.
The SO’s cat, Spartacus, was a ferral cat before he was adopted. There are a couple of “family dogs” out here (we live in the country) that adopted the SO, his brother (who lives across the street), and his Mom (who lives next door to the brother). My daughter’s cat will hiss at anything - dogs, cats, birds, etc - while Sparti is very even tempered. I’ve introduced the Great Dane to Sparti and they sniff and lick eachother. As long as a cat doesnt come across as being defensive, the dogs are ok.
Oh, and as long as they dont see the cats outside on a leash. Yup. Thought I was a goner that day! (The alpha-dog is bigger than me for ogs sake!)
My dad had a puppy and two cats. Those cats had that dog so cowed that as a fully grown 150 lb. part St. Bernard adult he would still go three rooms out of his way to avoid having to walk past one of the 10 lb. cats.
I on the other hand, have a tom who was having a romantic relationship with the dog next door. They would run to meet each other, do some sniffing and then disappear under the deck for a while. He still has not gotten over her moving last month.
I love dogs, but cats can generally kick their asses. Did you see how one came up to sniff the cat, and the cat raised its tail and turned around to stare him down? Those dogs know their place, and their place is to stay the heck out of that cat’s way, because it will cut them.
I would ask rather, why are these dogs so visibly afraid of that cat? I can think of 2 reasons:
- They don’t know what it is, and are very timid my nature.
- They have had a prior bad experience with a cat and are legitimately cautious.
- They are very submissive by nature, are assuming the cat is dominant because it is currently controlling the food, and are treating it like a dominant dog.
The cat isn’t afraid of the dogs, because the dogs are acting afraid of the cat.
If you figure that the guy with the camera is viewed as the alpha by the dogs, they may not be attacking because he’s not. They’re pissed off, but they’re waiting on him to give permission to jump the cat.
Just a theory, though. I’m leaning more toward them being cautious because the cat is so unafraid. Confidence is a huge advantage in a confrontation.
Lucky for the cat the dogs aren’t Jack Russells.
or maybe just mine.
We adopted a fully grown, never fully domesticated 85 pound purebred Doberman who wasn’t quite right in the head and who was genuinely cowed by our beloved (now departed) Siamese Loki.
Such that if Lyric –the doberman- got too close, Loki would cock his head, bring his paw back and then WHAM strike at the dog’s face (claws not extended) which always did the trick. You remember in the cartoons when the character would be muttering a string of profanities to himself under his breath, that’s what Lyric would do in a low growl as she slinked away.
IME, JRT’s have prey drive. They don;t attack if the prey doesn’t run. The JRT at the barn used to bark and bark at the barn cat to make it run. It would stare it down distainfully. Not acting like prey – eventually the JRT would give up.