Do Maine Coons get along with dogs?

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The question is not great in my opinion because it presupposes that some cat breeds get along with dogs and some don't. That is incorrect or at least misleading or inaccurate. Maine Coons are domestic cats and like any other domestic cat, purebred or not, whether they get along with dogs or not depends whether they are socialised to get along with dogs. The question is whether the breeder of the Maine Coon in question socialised her kittens to get along with dogs during their first 7 weeks of their lives. That rule applies to all cats including any breed of cat.

Do Maine Coons get along with dogs?
Confident and relaxed Maine Coon gets along with dogs. Photo in public domain.

Any website which purrs about all Maine Coons being great with dogs is bullshitting. They are feeding information to people that they want to hear. And they want Google to rank their page highly so they get hits.

That said the other factor - but much less of a factor - as to whether a cat gets along with dogs is whether they are confident, laid back and calm. That, too, is part of selective breeding by breeders to  incorporate beneficial and attractive inherited character traits. But breeders tend to focus on selective breeding for appearance over character.

Maine Coons are said to be, 'relaxed and easy going, the Maine Coons generally get along well with children and dogs as well as other cats', so says Gloria Stephens, a cat show judge and author of Legacy of the Cat. But even she is presupposing that Maine Coons are generally socialised to people and dogs. They normally are but so are most cats of most breeds because that is the task of a good cat breeder.

What is the conclusion? Maine Coons will generally get on with dogs but just ask the breeder from whom you are purchasing the cat if she has socialised her cats to dogs, people and cats. If she replies in the affirmative you are good to go. If there are doubts try another breeder.


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