Introducing older dog to very small kitten

[Muddy unicorn]

We’ve unexpectedly acquired a very small kitten - he was dumped by the roadside and crawled into our hedge. We found him when we were checking on the horses. The vet reckons he’s about 6 weeks old and other than being a little dehydrated, cold and hungry (all now fixed!) he’s in remarkably good shape. Our 1-year old dog is being very good with him and I have no worries about their interactions (I wouldn’t leave them alone though), however I don’t think our older dog recognises him as a cat and is being very hyper around him, darting towards him, shaking with excitement and completely unable to settle. We have him on a short lead when the kitten’s in the same room just in case but I wondered if anyone had any advice on how to get him more relaxed around the kitten. The kitten is thoroughly unfazed but I don’t want him to become scared of him. The dog is extremely respectful of adult cats but has never met such a tiny kitten before.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I liked but didn’t reply first.
OH found a kitten last October and we had 3 dogs at the time and one older cat.
The dogs were at first very interested but as the kitten, like yours seemed pretty unfazed we king of stood back a little.
I’d say the house lead is a perfect idea. I’d be sure that the kitten can always get away, has an escape route.
I was so worried at first but the reality is it’s all been fine. Kitten is now a cat and really confident around them all, even now, a new puppy the cats are pretty cool.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

If you happen to have an Adaptil diffuser, or spray laying in a drawer somewhere, I would try it to see if it could take away a bit of the "hyperness". Could you take a little bit longer dog walks? Do a little bit more brain/nose work, so the older dog have a little bit less energy to get worked up over the new mysterious family member?

Do you have puppy pens/crates that you could place in the middle of the living room/whatever room you spend a few hours in awake after being out doing work/hobbies, so the dogs gets a chance to see the kitten moving around freely in their home some days/evenings in a row? If you already have crates/puppy pen standing in one room, and don't want to move them/it, could you put some pillows on the floor, and spend a few hours in that room?
Or if you have puppy pen/compost net that could be placed across a room, so that it's split in two, could you do that with dogs on one side, you + kitten on the other?

Is it possible the new kitten still smells different/from being at the vets? Do the dogs have some favourite pillows, or blankets/dog rugs which smell of them (preferably some you should've washed last month but never got around to actually throwing in the washer)? Do you have an old shirt or towel that smells of you? Could you rub the kitten with something like that, to make him smell of your dogs/you just before you take older dog into the room the kitten is in? A) Hopefully it might help older dog realise that regardless what the kitten is, he's a family member. B) Ideally the kitten will be too busy washing himself clean from the new smell, to have time to move around the room much, which could trigger the older dog's excitement.
C) Be aware that it's fully possible the above suggestion have the completely opposite effect = the older dog just becomes even more excited over the strange thing which now tries to disguise himself in their/your smells, and the kitten might start dashing around like crazy trying to get away from your attempts at rubbing smells that isn't his all over him.

Whatever you choose to do, if that is to continue with what you're already doing, try mine, or someone else's suggestions, most of all, try to simply stay calm = don't get stressed when the older dog gets hyped, and let it take whatever time it needs to take.
Of the new cats/kittens, and dogs/puppies I've introduced to each other through the years, none of them have followed exactly the same script, or time frame.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I know it's barely a day later, but how have things been going @Muddy unicorn ?

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Dog still very hyper - kitten still unfazed! I think it’ll be fine when the kitten is bigger, it’s just a bit unnerving at the moment as he’s so tiny and fragile.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Dog still very hyper - kitten still unfazed! I think it’ll be fine when the kitten is bigger, it’s just a bit unnerving at the moment as he’s so tiny and fragile.

Only because it's better to be prepared, I want to say that a few weeks from now, your kitten will probably start to train his skills in strutting sideways with arched back towards your dogs. These training attempts might be so quick that you barely notice them, but depending on his congenital level of courage, it's also possible that he might behave a bit like the kitten version of a Jack Russell, the amount of courage is disproportionate to actual size.

Hopefully by that time, your older dog have recognised that the kitten is family. Otherwise, just use loads of patience.

 

[Kunoichi73]

The dog will soon realise that the kitten is now in charge and the pecking order has changed for good!

When we we a new kitten, our dogs accepted it fairly quickly. But then we'd always had dogs and cats together, with different ones moving in at different times. They all generally learnt live together, even those that weren't best mates.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

When he arrived as a bouncy puppy ten years ago we had two resident adult cats who looked at him disdainfully and whacked him on the nose when he got too close. So he very soon learned you don’t tangle with a cat as they mean business.. One of the cats particularly enjoys sitting on the middle of the stairs, effectively marooning the dogs who daren’t go past him. That’s why I think he’s not recognising the kitten as being in the same category as adult cats .
We’ll carry on using a house lead and supervising frequent, short interactions