Introducing Dogs and Kittens

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catherine22

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My mum has just got 2 kittens, they have been brought up with dogs. However she sometimes (Once a week ish) has my 3 year old weimeraner, who she would still like to have, so we need to introduce him to the kittens.
He has never lived with or really been in contact with cats/ kittens
How is the best way to go about introducing them for the first time?
 
Let him sniff where the kittens have been without coming into actual contact with them.

Have a kitten on your knee/somewhere out of reach. Bring him into the room nice and quietly. Ask him to sit/lay down. Stroke the kitten then stroke him - repeat until you're happy. May need to repeat that bit over several days.

When you're happy with the above have the kitten (and yourself) on the same level as the dog (with the dog in sit or down) and repeat the nice calm stroking. Repeat as often as needed.

Let kitten and dog interact under supervision. If all goes well brilliant if not go back a stage or two.

That's how I introduced my two new cats (never seen a dog before) to my cat friendly dogs. I'm sure other people have better ways to introduce them :)
 
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I'd agree with Jake 10. The only thing I'd add is once he's ready to see the kittens running round, keep him sat at your side & preferably do it when he's just had a long walk to reduce the chance of him being tempted to Chase & play too rough with them.
 
Well I had the dog sat next to me in the lounge, mum and dad walked in holding the kittens, dog went really alert - was pointing at them, then started whining and straining at his collar.
when we went outside, the kittens were on the window sill indoors and dog jumped up at the window, was pawing at it and whining
should we persevere or is this a major negative sign? or should we wait until the kittens are older?
 
Good luck with this.....our two older dogs grew up with cats, shared beds and bowls etc. When Sophie went to Rainbow bridge last year we got a kitten. Persevered for 3 months but eventually on advice had to rehome her as the dogs saw her as prey and wanted to kill her. We would never have had a moments peace and it wasn't fair on anyone. Sadly the puppy bonded with her really well and missed her for a while after she went.
I realise your dog is not living with the kittens but you must be very careful, he has already shown you he thinks they are prey by pointing.
 
Your dog needs to be taught with a firm hand that those cats are not to be chased. i got a rescue lurcher. The minute she walked into the house and saw the cat for the first time she started to go for it. I slapped her hard and shouted 'no'. She was shocked, but she didn't go for it. For the first week I had to keep an eye on her at all times, if she even looked at the cats to go for them I would shout no and smack her. Timing was key, she had to learn that it was totally unacceptable behaviour, and when I smacked her I meant it. Within a week she had accepted that chasing the cats was not allowed, and she never did it again. Once the cats realised she was not allowed to chase them they didn't run so her desire to chase was reduced. I have lurchers and a bedlington, all have to get on with the cats, and I will not tolerate the cats being attacked. I would persevere, I have always had dogs and cats together, but you have to be firm, agressive behaviour in the dog is not acceptable and neither is attacking cats.
 
catherine22 said:
Well I had the dog sat next to me in the lounge, mum and dad walked in holding the kittens, dog went really alert - was pointing at them, then started whining and straining at his collar.
when we went outside, the kittens were on the window sill indoors and dog jumped up at the window, was pawing at it and whining
should we persevere or is this a major negative sign? or should we wait until the kittens are older?
Click to expand...

Remove the kitten as soon as the dog shows any negative behaviour. Do some sit/down, watch me type stuff to refocus your dog (reward all good behaviour). Continue to do this when kitten is brought back into the room rewarding the dog when he focuses on you, ignores the kitten and does as you say. Again as soon as he shows any unwanted behaviour refocus him or if that doesn't work remove the kitten.

This will likely need repeating until the message - kitten isn't important/exciting/prey etc - sinks in. - This didn't fully sink in with my terrier until the cat had left some impressive cuts on her nose :rolleyes: but it sunk in pretty quickly with all the other dogs.

** Only introduce one kitten at a time until your dog is as non reactive as possible with each kitten on their own. The let him meet both at the same time. This in theory should make introductions etc easier :)
 
Ok, we are going there again tonight so we will try again. Is it worth rewarding him with treats when he does ignore the kitten?
Do we walk in holding the kitten and have him sat or is it best to keep hold of him and have the kitten on the floor?
Should he be allowed to get close enough to sniff the kitten or only be allowed to look and not touch at the moment?
We will try just one at a time this time
 
catherine22 said:
Ok, we are going there again tonight so we will try again. Is it worth rewarding him with treats when he does ignore the kitten?

Yes, eventually you shouldn't need to but as this is all new to him all positive reinforcement is good :)

Do we walk in holding the kitten and have him sat or is it best to keep hold of him and have the kitten on the floor?

Could you already have the kitten on someones knee and bring the dog in nice and calmly? If not then bring the kitten in when he is focused on you preferable in sit or down. I wouldn't have the kitten on the floor until your dog is less excited by the kittens presence.

Should he be allowed to get close enough to sniff the kitten or only be allowed to look and not touch at the moment?

If you think he's doing fine with the kitten being in the room then try it. If all he does is sniff then it should be Ok. I wouldn't let him if he pulls towards the kitten or becomes overly interested.

We will try just one at a time this time
Click to expand...

Hope it all goes well. :)
 
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