@imagebeastmarkbeast I have a border collie that wasn't raised with cats but he's coexisting with his "kitten brother" nicely now. Said "kitten" is almost 20 lbs now, but even when he was tiny my 45 lb collie was always gentle. I worked him hard from a very young age and he learned how to have a "soft" mouth and strong impulse control. We introduced him to cats slowly starting from age ~1 and a half, eventually practicing having them co-habitate (via roommates, where we agreed to move out if it didn't work out), and then finally adopting a kitten into our family permanently. I think in our case, it was 100% nurture (training and practice) that made it work.
The only time they fight is when there's something really valuable that they both want (but even then, kitty's claws are never out and pupper never actually closes his mouth on him). To reduce the chances of bad blood ever forming between them, we always make sure to not play favourites and to separate them when they eat. Besides that they're like peas in a pod.
Funny story, on Thanksgiving one year the cat tried to get up onto the counter while the turkey was being prepped (he was standing on a box and had his front paws up on the counter, looking at the food). The dog saw this and silently came over, gently picked him up by the scruff, and plopped him down on the floor. The cat then turned around and slapped him lol, and then the dog turned and looked at my boyfriend who was standing right there, with a look on his face like "did you see what he just did?!?"
He definitely thinks of himself as the nanny/enforcer, but always very gentle. They aren't at the cuddling stage yet but they do both like to climb into our bed and touch their feet together at night.
