My new dog is cat-friendly. How do I introduce her to my cats?

Hello, relationship between dogs and cats takes time to develop. Ideally you should introduce your cats to your dog slowly to allow them to get used to each other. Keep a distance between them and see how your dog reacts towards them. If he begins to chase after them, then remove them from he same room. If he is curious and your cats are tolerated your dog then allow them to interact with one another. This may take several weeks to allow them to assimilate, but often, dogs and cats cat get along well. Hope this helps and best of luck.

I would recommend separating the cats in another area of the house when Sam comes home. Over time, you can bring out one cat at a time to see how they interact. Make sure that the cats always have a safe space away from Sam to be safe.

Start with a door between them so they can sniff each other. From there keep one in a kennel so they can see and sniff each other and you can gauge how they interact. If there is aggression then keep them separate still. If they seem to get along then pick a single cat to leave with the dog one on one while the dog is in a leash sobyiu can control the situation. From there you can slowly introduce the other the same way before placing them all together

I have a few suggestions for you. First, dogs often see cats outside as an invasion, but may treat cats in the house differently. My dogs wil chase a cat outside, but happily live with 2 cats in the house. Hopefully that will be the case for you. But you have to play it safe. So, I would recommend only allowing Molly to see the cat when she is on a leash initially, so you will have control over how close she can get to the cat. if Molly is treat/food motivated, one nice way to do this is to give her treats when she can see the cat, but ignores the cat, so she learns that is a desired behavior. Make sure the cat has lots of "safe" places that he can get away from Molly. Depending on Molly's reaction to the cat, you will have to determine a safe schedule to continue their introduction from there. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Great question! Introducing them should be done slowly. When you first bring Mousewhisker (I love his name!) home, I would keep them in rooms separated by a door. This way, they can get used to the smells and sounds of each other without contact. Make sure your cat has a litter box, food, and water in their room. You can also place a blanket with the dogs's smell in the cat's room, and a blanket with the cat's smell in the dogs's room. I would also consider get a Feliway for your cat and a DAP for your dogs. These are pheromone diffusers that help with anxiety and should also help ease the transition. Once all the pets seem relaxed with the current situation, swap rooms placing the cat in the dogs's room and vice versa. You can do this switch several times over the course of the introductions. Once they are all comfortable with the smells of each other, it's time for them to meet face to face. I would introduce the dogs on a leash to the cat while he is in a cat carrier or on the other side of a baby gate. Reward the puppy for being calm and quiet near the cat. Once they seem comfortable with each other, the baby gate can be taken away. Make sure your cat has a cat tree where he can escape from the dogs as needed, and don't allow the dogs to chase the cat. I hope this helps!

Cat-dog introduction can definitely be tricky particularly when the kitty is somewhat shy or aloof. Cats are usually pretty picky in terms of who they choose to like and dislike at first, so I would not be surprised if you see some swatting and hissing in the very beginning. The best thing you can do to up your odds of a pleasant coexistence if a very slow introduction under supervised settings. I would first have your dog and cat completely separate, but in adjacent rooms so they can hear and smell each other through the door. Once this has happened for a day or two, you can place the dog in a crate and allow the cat to mosy into the dog's area. This will allow you to gauge the dog's reaction as well as the cat's in a safe way. Any positive interaction between the two should be rewarded (both the cat and dog). Once you feel comfortable, you can begin to let the dog out but only on a leash. You need to be convinced that the dog is not going to try to harm Shadow in any way. The dog should be rewarded for any good behavior (in this case, even leaving Shadow alone or ignoring completely should be considered good). If Shadow tries to approach this is fine as long as you have a solid hold on your dog. If this goes well after several supervised sessions, you can try off-the-leash supervision. Keep at this, for a while until you feel completely comfortable that they aren't going to try and kill each other! Hopefully they can have a peaceful coexistence or even be friends if your lucky!

I would recommend using a baby gate to keep them separated. However the cat will still be able to see and socialize with the dog through the gate. Once Alix is comfortable he can start jumping the gate and interacting with the dog. It is a slow process and just be patient.