Do dogs really hate cats?

None of my dogs has hated our cats, but would sure tear after strange ones. More, my cats have fussed about the dog. I had an old cat that would just sit in front of the back door steps so two big dogs couldn’t get in, or in front of their food dish.

My dogs and cats have always gotten along beautifully, and I’ve had dogs and cats my entire life.
My basset hound and my cat are best buddies. They clean each other, sleep next to each other, they roll around and play. Definitely no hate there. :)

Not all of them. I’ve seen cats and dogs get along better then dogs with other dogs. I think its so cute :)

I have always had dogs and cats together. However my present dog (large part dingo) will kill cats. She has caught one in our yard and killed and had it half eaten before I could get to her. I think it is because of her high prey drive also because for the first 6–8 months of her life she was starving and would kill anything small and furry or feathered for food. I am working on breaking this habit but I will never trust her alone with a cat or a bird.

No, dogs actually like cats. They also like steak and hamburger and pork chops and rabbits.

Really, if a dog is brought up with cats, they stop seeing them as prey and can even come to see them as playmates. I don’t know if you would call this video playful but I found the Rhoomba Cat hilarious. Hope you enjoy it too.

My dog would love to chase the cats next door, because they run, and he loves running. He has not expressed any opinion of the cat that lives in our house.

some do get along. My dog and cat ignored each other….They both wanted all my attention, so if they didnt exist, there was no problem.
On petfinder, i’m finding many dogs hate cats, even though i no longer have felines.

I would say this as territorial issue. Dogs will hate any creature that wander in to their personal zone. Dogs will also ‘hate’ other creature such as raccoon,fox,other dogs,etc,It’s just that cats are more common to be found to live around dogs. Socialized dogs tend to act nicely around cats.

My dog hates cats and squirrels. Especially squirrels . It a territorial thing really. Being a pitbull and pointer mix it’s in their blood.

Most dogs I know seem to want to play with cats. The cats don’t want to play and end up hissing and scratching. I love cats the bestest, but I feel really sorry for dogs when they show all the “hi! hi! Play with me!!” signals and the cats are just not into it at all.

For the most part this is true. And cats hate dogs.

But when they are friendly, it is amazing. It’s like watching a Muslim lie in bed with a Christian.

I’m not sure the word “hate” is even relevant. It’s not an emotional issue, but rather, as @Doctor_D says, one of territoriality, and I would add that it’s purely instinctual (I doubt mother dogs sit baby dogs down and say, “Go out there and hate cats.”). And since some of us have dogs that get along with cats, it’s obvious some breeds and individual animals don’t even have a problem with that.

Nah, they lurve each other!!

It depends if they were raised together or are accustomed to each other. My mom’s cats and dogs get along great with each other but the dogs hate the other dogs and the cats all seem to dislike the other cats. Go figure. I think there are many variables here such as breed, personality and exposure to one another.

I don’t think hate is the right word. My dog sees a cat, she wants to chase it because it runs away, and things that run are fun to chase. If the cat stands its ground she wants to play with it (until she gets clawed). Cats react the way they do out of self-defense not hate. Some will run, some will fight.

Cats and dogs that live together don’t hate each other. I had both a cat and a dog when I was a kid, and when the cat died, the dog was searching the house for days, trying to find her.