--- title: Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, enemies or friends? — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, enemies or friends?», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In Tom and Jerry, Spike the bulldog chases Tom up trees and guards his puppy Tyke, and it looks as if cats and dogs --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, ene… # Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, enemies or friends? Lesson 121 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/0/) — In Tom and Jerry, Spike the bulldog chases Tom up trees and guards his puppy Tyke, and it looks as if cats and dogs are born enemies. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/1/) — Real dogs and cats are not enemies by nature. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/2/) — Many share a sofa, and some curl up asleep on the same rug, especially if they met when young. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/4/) — A dog chases what runs because it comes from wolves that hunt by chasing, and a cat escapes up a tree because its curved claws hook into bark and a dog's blunt claws cannot. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/5/) — Growls, puffed fur and arched backs are warnings that help animals avoid a real fight, and animals that live together soon settle into house rules, just as Tom and Spike make a deal. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/6/) — Dogs and cats raised together, or introduced slowly, can become real friends; the idea that they always fight is not true. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/7/) — A study found that cats and dogs often get on best when the cat comes into the home before the dog. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/8/) — A dog's loose wag often means friendly excitement, but a cat's swishing tail often means it is annoyed or alert; a friendly cat holds its tail straight up with a little hook at the tip. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/9/) — A frightened cat arches its back, stands sideways and fluffs out its fur to look bigger; tiny muscles at the hair roots tighten, as when you get goosebumps. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/10/) — Many dogs chase things that run away, such as cats, squirrels and balls; this is called prey drive, and it comes from their wolf ancestors; a cat that stands still and calm often leaves a dog unsure what to do. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/11/) — Real dogs can be very protective of their puppies and home, but among pet dogs the mother does most of the puppy care, not the father as Spike does. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/12/) — Bulldogs were bred by people to have short noses and flat faces; very flat-faced dogs often struggle to breathe, snore and overheat easily. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/13/) — A dog's nose has hundreds of millions of scent cells, while yours has only a few million, so a dog can follow a trail you cannot even notice. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/14/) — Some dogs bury bones and toys, as wild dogs, wolves and foxes hide spare food to come back to later, and they remember many of their hiding places. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/15/) — Cats climb up trees easily but find coming down hard, because all their claws point the wrong way for going down head-first. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/16/) — A growl is a warning that means «stop» before a bite, so trainers say a dog should never be punished for growling. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/121-spike-and-tom-real-dogs-and-cats/17/) — Animals living together settle into rules about who sleeps where and who eats first, so real fights become rare. - ← previous: [How real mice survive: squeezing, climbing and hiding](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/120-how-real-mice-survive/) - next →: [Looney Tunes: the real roadrunner and the real coyote](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/122-looney-tunes-real-roadrunner-and-coyote/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)