Introducing The Puppy To The Cat

[Azreal]

Hi everybody,

My new puppy has sort of taken over the downstairs area where my cats normally spend most of their time & I am trying to introduce them slowly so nobody gets hurt if you know what I mean.

One of my cats is quite dominant & she has been ok so far, a hiss here & there to let the puppy know she isn't happy etc but so far nothing else & we watch any interaction very carfefully so no one gets hurt. My other cat is less dominant & tries to run when the puppy goes near him. I understand we should keep their interactions limited until they have established their relationship but I am trying to work out the best way to do this.

I saw a link yesterday that somebody posted which had some info on doing the introduction of puppy to the cats using a crate & lead.

My question is really in two parts;

1) do you use crates in puppy training & if so, considering I have a Newfoundland what size would you recommend & type of crate & does it matter that we have had her already for two weeks with no crate & she sort of has a secure area she hides in between our lounges?

2) can anybody share how they have introduced a puppy to the cats in their family with success.

Thanks in advance. My cats will appreciate any help you can offer.

Azreal

Edited September 22, 2010 by Azreal

[Kirty]

First thing you need to do is trim your cats claws! We see a lot of puppies with eye injuries because they have been swiped by a cat. You also need to remember that the cats should always be higher in the pack than the dog. The dog must be the lowest ranking pack member.

I would start off with short intros with the dog on a lead, or in a crate (which ever is easier). Allow the dog to approach the cats but scold it for any rough behaviour. Puppies must learn to be gentle with the cats. Reward quiet, calm behaviour. If the puppy knows how to sit, ask it to sit near the cats and reward it. If the puppy jumps around and gets hissed at or swiped, don't tell the cats off! They are allowed to tell the puppy off. When the puppy relaxes and is calm for a little while, end the session. Don't end the session with the puppy being silly or he will think its OK to be naughty around the cats. Start off with very short sessions and gradudally increase them. Never allow your puppy to chase the cats.

If any of your cats run when the puppy is around, you need to teach them that sticking up for themselves is a much better option. To do this, have one person holding the cat and one person holding the puppy's lead. If the puppy gets too close and the cats wants to run, thrust the cat towards the puppy (don't let go of the cat). The pup will probably retreat backwards (but if not, get the person holding the lead to pull it backwards). The cat will learn that if it holds its ground, the puppy will back off. The puppy will also learn that it will get a belting if it annoys the cat!

[SpotTheDog]

Hey Azrael - I'm a new poster to these forums and pretty new to dogs, but cats have been my thing for a long time, so let's see if I can help you.

First, cats are just as territorial and emotionally affected by new things as dogs are - they just demonstrate their reactions differently. A lot of how the introductions are managed depends on whether you keep your cats indoor-only, indoor/outdoor with restricted access so they can't roam, or if you let them free range when they're outdoors. A badly miffed cat, who has unrestricted outdoor access, will often simply leave the household if introductions aren't going to its liking, so that's something to keep in mind.

You've obviously already done first introductions, but for anyone else who reads, there are some dos and dont's. The best way to manage a first introduction is to choose a relatively neutral room within your house, e.g. not where the cat's food, water, or litter trays are. Bring the cat into the room first and it often helps if you give them a high vantage point, so place them on a table, or sideboard, or on the couch. Stroke the cat and give it a treat. Ensure the cat has a free escape route so it can get away from the pup.

Bring the pup into the room on a lead. Keep everything calm and quiet and reassuring. Initially the pup probably won't notice the cat. It helps if there is someone who the cat likes with the cat to stroke and reassure the cat at the same time you have the pup. Once the pup notices the cat, allow him to approach slowly.

Puppies are seriously full on and most cats aren't that interested in seriously full-on puppies, so the cat's first reaction will almost always be to inflate their fur and hiss, and potentially swat the pup. It's up to you to manage this - continue to reassure the cat, and the pup, but try not to let them get close enough so the cat gets a chance to smack the pup. If the cat is up high, allow the pup to approach but do NOT allow the pup to get his paws up on the couch, hair, bench or whatever - he'll get a cat in the face if you let this happen.

Best case scenario on a first meeting is they get close enough for a nose-touch, but let the cat be the one who approaches the pup. If you let the pup do all the approaching, he'll get into the cat's face, nose touch, then maybe bounce, and the cat will hiss into his face and smack him. That's all fine and dandy but a cat can take a pup's eye out and you need to be careful.

Allow the pup to approach, see the cat, praise all calm and interested behaviour, and correct a negative response, like a bark or a bounce, with a sharp noise and take the pup away from the cat. When the pup has settled some, give him a treat. Whoever is minding the cat should do something similar - reassuring stroking and offering a treat.

If the cat chooses to leave by sauntering away, do NOT let the pup give chase. If you can, once you've brought the pup to meet the cat, when you take him away again put him in a sit or a lie and distract him with a treat so the cat can get used to looking at him for a while.

Never, EVER, pick the cat up and bring him to meet the dog - you may think you're doing the right thing, but the dog will become extremely excited by the sight of you presenting him with a cat, and the cat can do you some serious damage trying to get away as the dog jumps up at you trying to get the cat - and it's a hard thing to manage because you have your hands full of struggling cat and the dog will be totally ignoring all of your commands in his excitement.

For older resident cats, there's a product called Feliway - a synthesised feline happy hormone. It's available as a plug-in (the bottle fits in a Mortein dispenser, which is half the price of a Feliway dispenser) and in a spray bottle. The plug-in will last a month and can have a very good calming effect for some cats in new situations. You can use the spray to spray on beds, scratching posts etc. to have a similar effect.

Never leave the dog and the cat alone together or outside together to 'sort it out themselves'. It won't happen - you'll just come out with injury, resentment and animosity and you'll have to work on rebuilding the relationship from scratch.

I've found using a babygate across a door has been very useful - the dog can see the cats and they can see him, but he can't get to them. A crate would work similarly but like you, I'm not using one at home at the moment because I use the family bathroom as the dog's overnight bed.

My guy is now around the five month mark and I have six cats. Five of them tolerate him or are wary of him, one attacks him. The attacking cat is quite dog-aggressive, something we didn't realise when we got our pup. I'm currently trying to regain ground after we made the mistake of allowing the cats and the pup simultaneous time outdoors without the pup on a lead - it was down to circumstances outside my control, but it's a bad idea, don't do it.

However now the pup has good recall inside the house, and he comes in and sleeps on his bed in the living room in the evening while the cats are dotted around the couch. He will still try and 'bounce' the cats, but it's very much play - they skip out of the way and go up high, hissing, but he never tries to go up high after them - no paws on the counters or tables, for instance (and he's well big enough). If we're out of the house we don't allow them to mix unsupervised - he goes into his bed in the bathroom behind the babygate and they have the rest of the house.

One cat in particular is adjusting to him - she never hisses, and she nose-touches with him, but he's a little bugger and tries to play-bounce her and it's too much so she darts away from him. However she'll approach him in his bed and when he's quiet, and he's licked her in the face a couple of times (to her horror).

One thing that's worked well for me is feeding them both liver treats. I treat the cat first, then the pup, then the cat, then the pup. My pup has no food aggression or possession issues, and he now associates treat time with time when the cats are inches away from him and he has to sit quietly and behave for his treats.

Leerburg define the time that the pup is ready to be allowed off-lead around the cats as the time he stops barking at them.

You have to take it slowly - I don't have a newfie, but my bull arab boy may be around the 35kg mark when he's grown so it's important that he's controlled and calm around the cats and learns to tolerate them - but I can't see myself ever allowing him and them in the yard, simultaneously, with him off-lead - I think we did too much wrong by allowing them out together for a month or so and I'm not sure we'll ever come back from it.

[aussielover]

I would not recommend holding on to the cat generally. Sometimes they freak out and may injure you if you try to restrain them. I would recommend crating the puppy or have the pup on leash and let the cat approach the dog. I would treat the dog for calm behaviour around the cat. Clicker training is a useful to achieve this. You can also reward the cat for good behaviour with a tasty treat like chicken breast or whatever they like

One of my frinds cat is actually clicker trained, it is extremely cute. The cat is more obedient than most dogs LOL.

You may have a very placid and relaxed cat, in which case, holding onto it may not be such a bad idea.

[SpotTheDog]

If any of your cats run when the puppy is around, you need to teach them that sticking up for themselves is a much better option. To do this, have one person holding the cat and one person holding the puppy's lead. If the puppy gets too close and the cats wants to run, thrust the cat towards the puppy (don't let go of the cat). The pup will probably retreat backwards (but if not, get the person holding the lead to pull it backwards). The cat will learn that if it holds its ground, the puppy will back off. The puppy will also learn that it will get a belting if it annoys the cat!

LOL, Kirty we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, I think that approach is a disaster waiting to happen! The end result I agree with - if the cat learns to stand its ground, the dog has no further game plan and will just back off. However, I'd be really reluctant to hold the cat and present it to the dog, for the reasons I described above. Plus, I know some cats who are timid enough to run, and for them it could take weeks and weeks to come back from a badly managed introduction where they were thrust at the dog, especially if the dog has a prey drive and would respond very excitedly to such a gesture, as opposed to being cowed and backing off.

My dog-aggressive cat, he was out in the yard one day sitting on the compost bins. I didn't realise the pup was out there too. I went out to see the cat and was giving him a cuddle, then lifted him to carry him inside. As I was crossing the lawn, the pup came around the corner. The pup went bananas - started jumping up to get the cat. It's testament to how self-assured the DA cat is that he simply sat in my arms and swiped his front paws at the dog when it jumped. I was trying to fend the pup off with my foot but he was hysterically excited and ignoring me. Eventually (and roaring at the dog like a freigh train, I'm afraid) I set the cat down gently and went to grab the dog, but it was amazing - the cat had waited, patiently and without struggling, until I had all four of his feet on the ground, and then he went absolutely baldheaded for the dog.

A major chase ensued, cat after dog - then the cat stopped and the pup turned and started to leap in and out at him, barking excitedly - I caught hold of him about five seconds after the cat had finally lost it completely and caught the tip of the pup's ear, splitting it. I manhandled the pup (by 'pup', he was 12kgs at this point and capable of bouncing as high as my chest, but yes, still a pup) into the laundry and it felt like there was blood everywhere - I couldn't see the wound and the pup had shook his head so blood had spattered all over his shoulders and I was terrified the cat had ripped his skin so he'd need stitches.

As it was, we did home first aid and that was sufficient, but I'm not too proud to give an example of how I managed to completely arse that one up!

[ravenau1]

Sorry to hijack the thread But SpotTheDog where do you get the spray on Feliway? I used to use it (it's fantastic) but I haven't been able to source any for a couple of years now, just the diffuser which doesn't seem to have the same effect on my cats. I really miss it!

[SpotTheDog]

Sorry to hijack the thread But SpotTheDog where do you get the spray on Feliway? I used to use it (it's fantastic) but I haven't been able to source any for a couple of years now, just the diffuser which doesn't seem to have the same effect on my cats. I really miss it!

Hey - I buy mine online at www.dogfood.com.au - I find those guys really good; I can get my Oz-Pet cat litter, plus feliway plug-ins and the spray, plus catfood / dogfood and various toys, treats, worm tablets etc; plus they deliver free on orders over $130 which is great for me because I'm relatively rural.

Edit to add: I'm not a shill! I don't get anything freebie from these guys for mentioning them so I hope it's okay with the mods.

Edited September 23, 2010 by SpotTheDog

[Azreal]

• 
  

Hey Azrael - I'm a new poster to these forums and pretty new to dogs, but cats have been my thing for a long time, so let's see if I can help you.

First, cats are just as territorial and emotionally affected by new things as dogs are - they just demonstrate their reactions differently. A lot of how the introductions are managed depends on whether you keep your cats indoor-only, indoor/outdoor with restricted access so they can't roam, or if you let them free range when they're outdoors. A badly miffed cat, who has unrestricted outdoor access, will often simply leave the household if introductions aren't going to its liking, so that's something to keep in mind.

You've obviously already done first introductions, but for anyone else who reads, there are some dos and dont's. The best way to manage a first introduction is to choose a relatively neutral room within your house, e.g. not where the cat's food, water, or litter trays are. Bring the cat into the room first and it often helps if you give them a high vantage point, so place them on a table, or sideboard, or on the couch. Stroke the cat and give it a treat. Ensure the cat has a free escape route so it can get away from the pup.

Bring the pup into the room on a lead. Keep everything calm and quiet and reassuring. Initially the pup probably won't notice the cat. It helps if there is someone who the cat likes with the cat to stroke and reassure the cat at the same time you have the pup. Once the pup notices the cat, allow him to approach slowly.

Puppies are seriously full on and most cats aren't that interested in seriously full-on puppies, so the cat's first reaction will almost always be to inflate their fur and hiss, and potentially swat the pup. It's up to you to manage this - continue to reassure the cat, and the pup, but try not to let them get close enough so the cat gets a chance to smack the pup. If the cat is up high, allow the pup to approach but do NOT allow the pup to get his paws up on the couch, hair, bench or whatever - he'll get a cat in the face if you let this happen.

Best case scenario on a first meeting is they get close enough for a nose-touch, but let the cat be the one who approaches the pup. If you let the pup do all the approaching, he'll get into the cat's face, nose touch, then maybe bounce, and the cat will hiss into his face and smack him. That's all fine and dandy but a cat can take a pup's eye out and you need to be careful.

Allow the pup to approach, see the cat, praise all calm and interested behaviour, and correct a negative response, like a bark or a bounce, with a sharp noise and take the pup away from the cat. When the pup has settled some, give him a treat. Whoever is minding the cat should do something similar - reassuring stroking and offering a treat.

If the cat chooses to leave by sauntering away, do NOT let the pup give chase. If you can, once you've brought the pup to meet the cat, when you take him away again put him in a sit or a lie and distract him with a treat so the cat can get used to looking at him for a while.

Never, EVER, pick the cat up and bring him to meet the dog - you may think you're doing the right thing, but the dog will become extremely excited by the sight of you presenting him with a cat, and the cat can do you some serious damage trying to get away as the dog jumps up at you trying to get the cat - and it's a hard thing to manage because you have your hands full of struggling cat and the dog will be totally ignoring all of your commands in his excitement.

For older resident cats, there's a product called Feliway - a synthesised feline happy hormone. It's available as a plug-in (the bottle fits in a Mortein dispenser, which is half the price of a Feliway dispenser) and in a spray bottle. The plug-in will last a month and can have a very good calming effect for some cats in new situations. You can use the spray to spray on beds, scratching posts etc. to have a similar effect.

Never leave the dog and the cat alone together or outside together to 'sort it out themselves'. It won't happen - you'll just come out with injury, resentment and animosity and you'll have to work on rebuilding the relationship from scratch.

I've found using a babygate across a door has been very useful - the dog can see the cats and they can see him, but he can't get to them. A crate would work similarly but like you, I'm not using one at home at the moment because I use the family bathroom as the dog's overnight bed.

My guy is now around the five month mark and I have six cats. Five of them tolerate him or are wary of him, one attacks him. The attacking cat is quite dog-aggressive, something we didn't realise when we got our pup. I'm currently trying to regain ground after we made the mistake of allowing the cats and the pup simultaneous time outdoors without the pup on a lead - it was down to circumstances outside my control, but it's a bad idea, don't do it.

However now the pup has good recall inside the house, and he comes in and sleeps on his bed in the living room in the evening while the cats are dotted around the couch. He will still try and 'bounce' the cats, but it's very much play - they skip out of the way and go up high, hissing, but he never tries to go up high after them - no paws on the counters or tables, for instance (and he's well big enough). If we're out of the house we don't allow them to mix unsupervised - he goes into his bed in the bathroom behind the babygate and they have the rest of the house.

One cat in particular is adjusting to him - she never hisses, and she nose-touches with him, but he's a little bugger and tries to play-bounce her and it's too much so she darts away from him. However she'll approach him in his bed and when he's quiet, and he's licked her in the face a couple of times (to her horror).

One thing that's worked well for me is feeding them both liver treats. I treat the cat first, then the pup, then the cat, then the pup. My pup has no food aggression or possession issues, and he now associates treat time with time when the cats are inches away from him and he has to sit quietly and behave for his treats.

Leerburg define the time that the pup is ready to be allowed off-lead around the cats as the time he stops barking at them.

You have to take it slowly - I don't have a newfie, but my bull arab boy may be around the 35kg mark when he's grown so it's important that he's controlled and calm around the cats and learns to tolerate them - but I can't see myself ever allowing him and them in the yard, simultaneously, with him off-lead - I think we did too much wrong by allowing them out together for a month or so and I'm not sure we'll ever come back from it.

Thanks for this information, I will be very careful about the swiping. I think that one of my cats did have a swipe at the puppy once when she tried to reach her on the top step because i heard her cry ( I didn't realize she could reach the stair where the cat was sitting through the grate)but I haven't seen any marks & I never ever leave them alone together.

My cats are indoor cats, they aren't allowed outside as there are some stray cats in the area & I don't want them getting into fights, so the cats have been pretty much livingr in the laundry & cellar which can be shut off from the rest of downstairs but I feel sorry for them being stuck down there in the cold.

The dog is going to live inside mainly but also outside so it's really important that they can all share the house together. At least the cats can come upstairs from some time away from the dog but they can only come up if the baby gate is open which is used to keep the puppy from hurting herself on the stairs.

Thanks so much for all your info.

[Azreal]

I would not recommend holding on to the cat generally. Sometimes they freak out and may injure you if you try to restrain them. I would recommend crating the puppy or have the pup on leash and let the cat approach the dog. I would treat the dog for calm behaviour around the cat. Clicker training is a useful to achieve this. You can also reward the cat for good behaviour with a tasty treat like chicken breast or whatever they like

One of my frinds cat is actually clicker trained, it is extremely cute. The cat is more obedient than most dogs LOL.

You may have a very placid and relaxed cat, in which case, holding onto it may not be such a bad idea.

Thanks Aussielover, I will look into that. I try to avoid holding the cats usually when they are stressed otherwise i end up with some nice patterns all over my arms but I will look into the clicker training.

[Azreal]

First thing you need to do is trim your cats claws! We see a lot of puppies with eye injuries because they have been swiped by a cat. You also need to remember that the cats should always be higher in the pack than the dog. The dog must be the lowest ranking pack member.

I would start off with short intros with the dog on a lead, or in a crate (which ever is easier). Allow the dog to approach the cats but scold it for any rough behaviour. Puppies must learn to be gentle with the cats. Reward quiet, calm behaviour. If the puppy knows how to sit, ask it to sit near the cats and reward it. If the puppy jumps around and gets hissed at or swiped, don't tell the cats off! They are allowed to tell the puppy off. When the puppy relaxes and is calm for a little while, end the session. Don't end the session with the puppy being silly or he will think its OK to be naughty around the cats. Start off with very short sessions and gradudally increase them. Never allow your puppy to chase the cats.

If any of your cats run when the puppy is around, you need to teach them that sticking up for themselves is a much better option. To do this, have one person holding the cat and one person holding the puppy's lead. If the puppy gets too close and the cats wants to run, thrust the cat towards the puppy (don't let go of the cat). The pup will probably retreat backwards (but if not, get the person holding the lead to pull it backwards). The cat will learn that if it holds its ground, the puppy will back off. The puppy will also learn that it will get a belting if it annoys the cat!

Thanks kirty, I'll keep the short intros up& make sure the cats are seen as higher ranking as much as I can.

[ravenau1]

Hey - I buy mine online at www.dogfood.com.au - I find those guys really good; I can get my Oz-Pet cat litter, plus feliway plug-ins and the spray, plus catfood / dogfood and various toys, treats, worm tablets etc; plus they deliver free on orders over $130 which is great for me because I'm relatively rural.

Edit to add: I'm not a shill! I don't get anything freebie from these guys for mentioning them so I hope it's okay with the mods.

Thanks so much!! I am off to buy some right now!

[SpotTheDog]

ravenau1, it's under the cat section (last link on the left from the main page) and listed under 'unusual products'.

[fuzzy82]

We have 6 cats too, one of which was kind of dog aggressive (he was a rescue and he came from a house with a big dog and I suspect the dog was allowed to bully him).

When we got our little poodle x (as an adult from a shelter) we kept them separate for the first night (enclosed backyard, so the cats stayed outside for the night). The next morning we let the dog see the cats through the glass doors, and she was undecided on them. She alternated between growling, whimpering, staring and hiding. The cats looked at her for about 2 minutes and then decided she was insignificant and ignored her.

A little later in the day we took the dog out in the backyard to the cats, where she sat on my partner's lap while I patted the cats, so the dog could see that they weren't wild animals with no right to be in the backyard (she had no previous exposure to cats, so they must have seemed like a bunch of wild animals to her). She was still growling and whimpering and not sure what to do.

Once she calmed down she was put on the ground on a leash, and the cats went up and sniffed her. She carefully avoided eye contact with them but let them sniff her and would sniff them as soon as they turned their backs on her. When we let her off the leash she stayed calm and just looked at the cats. She went up to sniff the DA cat at one point, he had his back turned, but when he noticed her he hissed and spat at her, and she ran across the yard screaming. I was sure the cat had taken her out out, but my partner who had seen the whole thing from a different angle told me that cat hadn't even touched her, so it was all quite funny really.

Fast forward about a week and it was all good. The dog has always kept a respectful distance to the cats except one of them, also a rescue (who it turns out must have grown up with dogs, because she instantly treated the dog as if she had always been there) who she kept sniffing all over and tried to play with. The cat allowed it for a few days before putting the dog in her place, and after that the dog has kept her distance. She will go up and sniff the cats when they come in from the backyard, but after a quick sniff she backs off.

She sometimes tries to play with one of the cats, which the cat tolerates grudgingly, but occasionally she hisses to let the dog know she doesn't want to play.

So all in all we were really impressed at how quickly the cats tolerated the dog, and the dog has been absolutely great with the cats. She is unsupervised around them all day now. It probably also helps that she weighs about the same as all the cats too:)

[Kirty]

SpotTheDog, I have found the technique works really well if the cat tends to run. I have used it on three of my own cats and also on my MIL's cat who spent months hiding outside after the new puppy arrived. Once she realised that holding her own would send the puppy running, she stopped hiding. Of course, if the dog is overly confident and does not back off, the plan may not work.

I don't mean 'throw' the cat at the dog either. You don't let go of the cat at all. Hold it firmly and just 'shove' it towards the dog. I think its important that the cat is never given a chance to bolt because it will just encourage the puppy to chase.