Integrating our new dog into a 2 cat household--help?
January 16, 2015 11:47 AM Subscribe
We rescued a great 4 year old dog (some mix of a bull dog, Staffordshire bull terrier and perhaps something else) a couple of weeks ago and brought her home to our cats, who are both about 4 years old. The cats are calm around her but we'd like some tips on dealing with the dog's excitement.
I've read a number of the dog/cat integration threads on here and we also had a trainer come by to give us guidance, but hoping that others might have had firsthand experience and tips to share.
More about the situation:
--We picked this dog because she was apparently raised with a cat for the first 3+ years of her life. So far however, there is no sign that she remembers the concept of a cat and is very excitable even if they are on the far side of the room, doing nothing more than sitting or laying down and watching her.
--We have daily introductory sessions (30 mins - 1hour) where the dog is crated and the cats move freely. Our one cat is bold enough to walk and lay within a few feet of the crate. The other cat is more timid but does not seem overly bothered by the dog.
--The dog only seems to be able to not concentrate on the cats when she has a Kong toy with treats and peanut butter in it. We freeze these to take make it slower for her but she still finishes them in under 20 minutes and that is right back to focusing on the cats. We haven't been able to find ANY type of treat/bone/toy that will hold her attention other than peanut butter and we don't want to overdo it on the PB because she is already a heavy dog.
--The dog is very calm and easygoing outside of cat time. She mostly snoozes near us or chews her bone. She doesn't seem that excited by other dogs or squirrels during our walks. She also listens when we tell her to stay off a couch or come to a different room.
--However, the dog hasn't been trained at all. She can just about do sit. The trainer taught us basic commands, but "leave it" and even "down!" aren't in her arsenal. We are working on these commands in tandem with the cat sessions, but the lack of command recognition has obviously made it more difficult and also made us hesitant to have her outside the crate when the cats are around.
-Her reaction to the cats include staring, some whining and the occasional lunge or bark. We *think* the lunges are mostly her saying, "Hey I want to play with/sniff you!!!" type of excitement but we're not 100% sure.
--We plan to continue progressing with the crate meeting sessions and then have her on the leash in the living room. The cats have plenty of places to escape and hide and also observe her from cat trees. We're not exactly sure when we'll have the confidence to have her outside the crate, but probably not until the lunging and barking stops.
We are a bit wrong-footed here because we thought the situation would be completely the opposite, with our cats needing the adjustment period more than the dog.
Just looking for any general tips or critiques on how we can make the process easier and if anyone has navigated this successfully. Thanks!
I've read a number of the dog/cat integration threads on here and we also had a trainer come by to give us guidance, but hoping that others might have had firsthand experience and tips to share.
More about the situation:
--We picked this dog because she was apparently raised with a cat for the first 3+ years of her life. So far however, there is no sign that she remembers the concept of a cat and is very excitable even if they are on the far side of the room, doing nothing more than sitting or laying down and watching her.
--We have daily introductory sessions (30 mins - 1hour) where the dog is crated and the cats move freely. Our one cat is bold enough to walk and lay within a few feet of the crate. The other cat is more timid but does not seem overly bothered by the dog.
--The dog only seems to be able to not concentrate on the cats when she has a Kong toy with treats and peanut butter in it. We freeze these to take make it slower for her but she still finishes them in under 20 minutes and that is right back to focusing on the cats. We haven't been able to find ANY type of treat/bone/toy that will hold her attention other than peanut butter and we don't want to overdo it on the PB because she is already a heavy dog.
--The dog is very calm and easygoing outside of cat time. She mostly snoozes near us or chews her bone. She doesn't seem that excited by other dogs or squirrels during our walks. She also listens when we tell her to stay off a couch or come to a different room.
--However, the dog hasn't been trained at all. She can just about do sit. The trainer taught us basic commands, but "leave it" and even "down!" aren't in her arsenal. We are working on these commands in tandem with the cat sessions, but the lack of command recognition has obviously made it more difficult and also made us hesitant to have her outside the crate when the cats are around.
-Her reaction to the cats include staring, some whining and the occasional lunge or bark. We *think* the lunges are mostly her saying, "Hey I want to play with/sniff you!!!" type of excitement but we're not 100% sure.
--We plan to continue progressing with the crate meeting sessions and then have her on the leash in the living room. The cats have plenty of places to escape and hide and also observe her from cat trees. We're not exactly sure when we'll have the confidence to have her outside the crate, but probably not until the lunging and barking stops.
We are a bit wrong-footed here because we thought the situation would be completely the opposite, with our cats needing the adjustment period more than the dog.
Just looking for any general tips or critiques on how we can make the process easier and if anyone has navigated this successfully. Thanks!
I don't understand your approach here at all. If it's been a month and you have only let the get acquainted through a crate, it sounds like you've not let the dog sniff the cats, etc.
Her reaction to the cats include staring, some whining and the occasional lunge or bark. We *think* the lunges are mostly her saying, "Hey I want to play with/sniff you!!!" type of excitement but we're not 100% sure.
Well, what reaction are you looking for? It's a dog and a cat; the dog is going to sniff or bark or lunge and the cat is going to whack the shit out of the dog and the dog is going to howl and the natural pack order will be established.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:08 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Her reaction to the cats include staring, some whining and the occasional lunge or bark. We *think* the lunges are mostly her saying, "Hey I want to play with/sniff you!!!" type of excitement but we're not 100% sure.
Well, what reaction are you looking for? It's a dog and a cat; the dog is going to sniff or bark or lunge and the cat is going to whack the shit out of the dog and the dog is going to howl and the natural pack order will be established.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:08 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It's been two weeks. Almost every resource we've read has suggested months and not weeks for the process to play out. Main concern is the new dog not killing our cats.
posted by the foreground at 12:24 PM on January 16, 2015
posted by the foreground at 12:24 PM on January 16, 2015
It's a dog and a cat; the dog is going to sniff or bark or lunge and the cat is going to whack the shit out of the dog and the dog is going to howl and the natural pack order will be established.
This is not always the case - there are some dogs that are prey-driven and will chase and kill even an inside cat. OP, I salute the care that you are taking.
With my dog (a greyhound - a prey-driven breed) he showed a lot of obsessive, whiney interest in my cat but the adoption group said he was cat-tolerant. So I put a muzzle on him and at all times for a couple weeks he was either on a leash that was in my hand, or muzzled, or both (or in his crate). Every time he even looked at the cat and his ears perked up, I corrected him with a "No!" and when he turned his head away from the cat and looked at me, he got a treat. Over and over, correction for interest and reward for ignoring.
He has now lived peacefully with two cats and barely acknowledged their existence. For some dogs you don't want to encourage/allow interest and chasing because the chasing can be its own reward and harder to correct once the dog learns that.
On the other hand, retired greyhounds are usually pretty chill dogs, don't have high energy, and as a breed are pretty sensitive to verbal correction. Apologies if these tips are too tame or you've already tried.
posted by misskaz at 12:27 PM on January 16, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is not always the case - there are some dogs that are prey-driven and will chase and kill even an inside cat. OP, I salute the care that you are taking.
With my dog (a greyhound - a prey-driven breed) he showed a lot of obsessive, whiney interest in my cat but the adoption group said he was cat-tolerant. So I put a muzzle on him and at all times for a couple weeks he was either on a leash that was in my hand, or muzzled, or both (or in his crate). Every time he even looked at the cat and his ears perked up, I corrected him with a "No!" and when he turned his head away from the cat and looked at me, he got a treat. Over and over, correction for interest and reward for ignoring.
He has now lived peacefully with two cats and barely acknowledged their existence. For some dogs you don't want to encourage/allow interest and chasing because the chasing can be its own reward and harder to correct once the dog learns that.
On the other hand, retired greyhounds are usually pretty chill dogs, don't have high energy, and as a breed are pretty sensitive to verbal correction. Apologies if these tips are too tame or you've already tried.
posted by misskaz at 12:27 PM on January 16, 2015 [5 favorites]
I was in the same situation a year ago when I adopted a two year old retriever mix and introduced her to my two cats. She didn't bark a lot, but she wasn't trained yet either. She would sprint towards the cats, but I was more nervous about their safety than they seemed to be.
My dog was (and still is) much more anxious on a leash than off leash, so I actually let her roam free in my living room within a day or two of bringing her home. I had a cheap suspension-rod baby gate set up at the bottom of the stairs to the 2nd floor of my home. The cats could come downstairs when they wanted to, but could jump back through the railings on the stairs or over the gate to run away if needed. In addition to a few extra pieces of tall furniture in the living room (a spare bar stool worked great), I cleared some shelves on bookcases so the cats always had a nearby option for quickly finding higher ground where they could still observe the dog.
It took about two weeks for the three of them to calmly be in the same room. My dog eventually became less interested in chasing them and soon the cats were curling up with her on the couch. They get a long much better than I ever thought they could.
Best of luck!
posted by Katie8709 at 4:01 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
My dog was (and still is) much more anxious on a leash than off leash, so I actually let her roam free in my living room within a day or two of bringing her home. I had a cheap suspension-rod baby gate set up at the bottom of the stairs to the 2nd floor of my home. The cats could come downstairs when they wanted to, but could jump back through the railings on the stairs or over the gate to run away if needed. In addition to a few extra pieces of tall furniture in the living room (a spare bar stool worked great), I cleared some shelves on bookcases so the cats always had a nearby option for quickly finding higher ground where they could still observe the dog.
It took about two weeks for the three of them to calmly be in the same room. My dog eventually became less interested in chasing them and soon the cats were curling up with her on the couch. They get a long much better than I ever thought they could.
Best of luck!
posted by Katie8709 at 4:01 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
My old dog loved chasing cats. Off like a shot after any cat she saw. But she never wanted to hurt them, if the cat didn't run she would bark or poke at it a bit to see if she could make it run then they would coexist peacefully ever after. Our neighbors cat clawed her a few times and she didn't react at all.
The dog I have now might kill a cat that ran or that attacked her if she could catch it. High prey drive plus she's been swatted before and took it really personally. Basically a bad mix of fear and inborn hunting drive. She's fine with indoor cats, as long as they're not aggressive, an aggressive cat would be bad.
So if you're not sure, I'd take it slow. The muzzle seems like a really good suggestion for first time intros. Cat owners have a very inflated sense of a cats ability to defend itself from an aggressive dog, which is basically nil.
posted by fshgrl at 9:49 PM on January 16, 2015
The dog I have now might kill a cat that ran or that attacked her if she could catch it. High prey drive plus she's been swatted before and took it really personally. Basically a bad mix of fear and inborn hunting drive. She's fine with indoor cats, as long as they're not aggressive, an aggressive cat would be bad.
So if you're not sure, I'd take it slow. The muzzle seems like a really good suggestion for first time intros. Cat owners have a very inflated sense of a cats ability to defend itself from an aggressive dog, which is basically nil.
posted by fshgrl at 9:49 PM on January 16, 2015
I know someone who has a few baby gates up at their house that are not flush to the floor, but raised like maybe 7 inches off the floor, so her cats can escape under them to a dog free room, if need be. Her dog can't make it under the gate but, her cats can go under with minimal effort (one is old and can't make it over the gate). I also remember her using the gates to sequester larger areas of the house so everyone had their own zone for a bit, after doing a similar "meet and greet" crate thing, like you are doing. She raised the gates after the introduction phases and has kept them for her peace of mind.
Good luck to you!
posted by bookshelves at 10:59 PM on January 16, 2015
Good luck to you!
posted by bookshelves at 10:59 PM on January 16, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
If one of your cats is confident you could try letting them approach each other. Dog might just be wanting to get a good sniff and learn about this new friend.
posted by mymbleth at 12:02 PM on January 16, 2015