My understanding is that known quantity is best. So, an adult or young dog who has been previously socialized with cats and kids.

Second best is a puppy that you can carefully socialize with cats. of course, make sure you have time/resources/energy to properly train up a puppy! I actually think this is a wonderful option if you're committed to it. absent something unusual, you really can train a pup to learn that cats aren't prey. (a friend of mine got a goldendoodle puppy that is doing great with her cats. well, perhaps being constantly mistreated by the cats, but after about 10 months, pup still seems to view the cats as superior authorities.) Although I tend to think rare, I have no doubt that there are other horror stories like the one above, though. so, known quantity is best.

Anonymous wrote:Our spaniel is great with our cats. No terriers. My friend once described her rescued-from-the-track greyhound as a big cat. They are very mellow but you can never walk without a leash.

Saying no terriers is absurd. I have had terriers who have lived with cats, as have literally millions of other Americans.

Breed is not a good indicator of whether a dog will live well with cats. Honestly, it's really truly not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most dogs raised from puppyhood with cats do ok. We have two huge German Shepherd Dogs. They pretty much ignore the cats. If anything, they are a little afraid of them. They learned early after a couple of bops in the nose to yield the right away to the cats. If they are outdoors, they might chase the cats, but they don't ever actually catch them. Indoors, they don't mess with them.

I know German Shepherds who spend most of their time trying to herd the cats. They would never harm it, but do want all the cats in one place. It fails day after day, but they still do it.

So OP, a German Shepherd might be a good fit. They are goofy and sweet, and the ones I know wouldn't hurt a cat but might annoy it.

Again: instead of using proxies like breed, when they aren't very accurate, just click the "lives with cats" box on Petfinder and select among the dogs who have already lived safely with cats. I swear to you, it is the best way to do this.

I agree petfinder is a great way to do this! But OP wants a puppy. Female German Shepherds are not aggressive (especially if you seek out a breeder who is responsible and who knows their stuff), and will likely not harm a cat. They will herd the cats day in and day out, which may annoy Maine Coons, but the Maine Coons will also be larger than the puppy and will be able to train it. GSD's are big, goofy, and sweet. I've never met one that is mean, or aggressive. They bark loudly, but that's all I've got that's negative.

My brother had two. One attacked one of his nephews for no reason at all. It had to be euthanized.

It is misleading to imply to people that any breed of dog would be just perfect with kids and cats. Some dogs will, some dogs won't. GSDs do best with a lot of training and exercise. They are generally a dog breed for an experienced dog owner, which OP definitely is not from the sound of her posts.