Hello again, all. I was wondering if anyone could give me some tried
and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a kitten.

They are very mild mannered, young, and gentle dogs so I would think it
would not be terribly difficult, but I am definitely open to pointers
to make it less stressful on everyone. Mainly them since they were
here first.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

In article ,
"-Lost" wrote:

Hello again, all. I was wondering if anyone could give me some tried
and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a kitten.

Gates, crates, leashes and supervision. Don't force things. Give the
cat a safe escape place and don't leave them alone together.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"-Lost" writes:
I was wondering if anyone could give me some tried
and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a kitten.
They are very mild mannered, young, and gentle dogs

Just for the entertainment value:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ysNtKG8FlU

Response from Janet Boss :

In article ,
"-Lost" wrote:

Hello again, all. I was wondering if anyone could give me some
tried and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a kitten.

Gates, crates, leashes and supervision. Don't force things. Give
the cat a safe escape place and don't leave them alone together.

Gotcha!

So far so good, but it has only been a day.

Something else that I am having trouble with is my dogs lunging at
the kitty. I have seen them do this before with other critters.
They barrel toward the animal only to loom over them and sniff them.
They are gentle, but the initial charge always freaks whatever it is,
out.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

-Lost wrote:

Response from Janet Boss :


In article ,
"-Lost" wrote:


Hello again, all. I was wondering if anyone could give me some
tried and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a kitten.

Gates, crates, leashes and supervision. Don't force things. Give
the cat a safe escape place and don't leave them alone together.


Gotcha!

So far so good, but it has only been a day.

Something else that I am having trouble with is my dogs lunging at
the kitty. I have seen them do this before with other critters.
They barrel toward the animal only to loom over them and sniff them.
They are gentle, but the initial charge always freaks whatever it is,
out.


That's bad news. Don't let them do that. If they manage to spook the
cat into running away the situation has just escalated. At that point
your dogs could easily egg each other into a cat murder.

I would be inclined to set the dog(s) up in a carefully controlled
situation involving a prong collar and a long-line and I would rock
their freakin' world for lunging at the cat.

Response from Kathleen :

-Lost wrote:

Response from Janet Boss :


In article ,
"-Lost" wrote:


Hello again, all. I was wondering if anyone could give me some
tried and true methods of getting my dogs acclimated to a
kitten.

Gates, crates, leashes and supervision. Don't force things.
Give the cat a safe escape place and don't leave them alone
together.


Gotcha!

So far so good, but it has only been a day.

Something else that I am having trouble with is my dogs lunging
at the kitty. I have seen them do this before with other
critters. They barrel toward the animal only to loom over them
and sniff them. They are gentle, but the initial charge always
freaks whatever it is, out.


That's bad news. Don't let them do that. If they manage to spook
the cat into running away the situation has just escalated. At
that point your dogs could easily egg each other into a cat
murder.

I would be inclined to set the dog(s) up in a carefully controlled
situation involving a prong collar and a long-line and I would
rock their freakin' world for lunging at the cat.

OK, duly noted. Currently kitty arches her back and stands her
ground, but I am not worried about that right now. I want them to
stop the lunging period, so tomorrow I will be picking them each up a
prong collar. They are also called training collars right?

Like this?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...54857&cp=&sr=1
&origkw=training+collar&kw=training+collar&parentP age=search&keepsr=1

I do have a set of shock collars, but it never worked well in my
book. Either my dogs did not notice it, or they yelped in pain with
the next highest setting. Ugh.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

I would be inclined to set the dog(s) up in a carefully
controlled situation involving a prong collar and a
long-line and I would rock their freakin' world for
lunging at the cat.

OK, duly noted.

Kathleen's approach is a novel one to me. That said, if a
training collar was to be used in such a situation, a top
quality prong--with a backup collar--would be the best, for a
bunch of reasons. Better than the other types of training
collars, at least.

"Carefully controlled" to me means "don't do this at home," so
first I'd look for some one-on-one training.

Currently kitty arches her back and stands
her ground, but I am not worried about that right now. I
want them to stop the lunging period, so tomorrow I will be
picking them each up a prong collar. They are also called
training collars right?

Prong collars are training collars, not necessarily vice
versa.

Like this?

Yes.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"-Lost" wrote in message
...

OK, duly noted. Currently kitty arches her back and stands her
ground, but I am not worried about that right now. I want them to
stop the lunging period, so tomorrow I will be picking them each up a
prong collar.
..........Good gravy, they don't need prong collars or to be yanked off their
feet. I've had cats and dogs living together for years (11 cats and 6 dogs
over the years - current population is 5 cats and 3 dogs) and have
introduced multiple animals to each other. It's actually harder to
introduce a new cat to other cats in the house than get them used to dogs.
When the cat is in the room, both dogs should be on a leash. Make them sit.
Shouldn't be any leeway in the leash. If they get up, tell them no, leave
it or other words of your choice. You can work both dogs together and each
separately. When they stop acting up, give them a treat. The one who acts
up doesn't get a treat. Won't be long and they'll be more interested in
the treats you can give them than the cat. When the cat gets close to the
dogs and they do nothing, give them a treat. Never leave them alone
together. They'll have to live together for a few months before you can
trust them alone in the house together. Part of this whole thing is getting
your dogs to listen to you, sit on command and understand leave it. Which
doesn't have much to do with the cat, but your relationship with your dogs.

......It's good the kitty stands her ground. Sounds like she'll do fine with
the dogs. Doesn't mean your dogs won't chase other cats out of your yard
that aren't part of the household. I've had dogs who would try to chase our
cats when they were outside just to play. A dog would rush up and the cat
would sit there and look at them. Cats actually sometimes like to be
chased. I have one that makes laps in the house in the morning inviting her
to chase her. I have a feral cat in the house, been here for years. She's
absolutely in love with one of the dogs and even grooms her on occasion.
She won't let me pet her, but gets on fine with the dogs.

.......So don't turn it into a battle with blood in your eyes, or that's what
you'll have. It just takes time and patience.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

In article ,
"buglady" wrote:


......So don't turn it into a battle with blood in your eyes, or that's what
you'll have. It just takes time and patience.

I think this is the kind of situation which really begs for in person
help.

I've introduced a lot of cats and dogs over the years, in a number of
combos (existing cats, new cats, new kittens, new puppies, visiting
puppies, visiting dogs, new dogs, you name it). Each has been a bit
different, since no animal is just like another.

My first dog was hell bent on attacking the new kitten. The dog was 10
at the time and had never met a cat to my knowledge (not up close and
personal). He also had killed several young opposums in our yard in the
preceding months. Of course, I got a little gray kitten. OK - not the
best idea, but it worked out fine, but took effort and care.

The kitten had her own room while we were at work. They could sniff
under the door, and knew each other existed. We would bring them
together in the evening, with the dog wearing a slip collar and leash.
He would get praised for leaving her alone, corrected for going after
her.

It was stressful, but by the middle of week 2, she could do pretty much
anything to the dog and he didn't react. They lived in harmony for the
next 5.5 years. During that time, I moved an adult stray cat in. The
dog didn't even blink.

It obviously helps to have well behaved dogs. The last time I brought a
kitten home, I let the dogs sniff him through the carrier door. I then
put the carrier in the laundry room (a large room where the cat stuff
is) and opened the door. My adult cat came down, sniffed the kitten and
was happy for the new arrival. The kitten was fine with her. The
kitten sat on the other side of the gate from the dogs and growled. The
dogs ignored him. Little by little, the kitten climbed over the gate
until he was on top of the loveseat the dogs were sleeping on. Still
growling. I brought the kitten home at 4 in the afternoon. By 10 at
night, when we went to bed, he was curled up with the older dog, Lucy
and fine with the younger dog.

That cat is 6 now and has dealt with the arrival of 3 puppies. One a
boarder, one a foster, one permanent. Each time got easier. He spent
some time on top of the fridge but adjusted just fine each time. He'll
have more puppies in his life, that's a given!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Janet Boss wrote:

In article ,
"buglady" wrote:


......So don't turn it into a battle with blood in your eyes, or that's what
you'll have. It just takes time and patience.


I think this is the kind of situation which really begs for in person
help.

I've introduced a lot of cats and dogs over the years, in a number of
combos (existing cats, new cats, new kittens, new puppies, visiting
puppies, visiting dogs, new dogs, you name it). Each has been a bit
different, since no animal is just like another.

My first dog was hell bent on attacking the new kitten. The dog was 10
at the time and had never met a cat to my knowledge (not up close and
personal). He also had killed several young opposums in our yard in the
preceding months. Of course, I got a little gray kitten. OK - not the
best idea, but it worked out fine, but took effort and care.

The kitten had her own room while we were at work. They could sniff
under the door, and knew each other existed. We would bring them
together in the evening, with the dog wearing a slip collar and leash.
He would get praised for leaving her alone, corrected for going after
her.

It was stressful, but by the middle of week 2, she could do pretty much
anything to the dog and he didn't react. They lived in harmony for the
next 5.5 years. During that time, I moved an adult stray cat in. The
dog didn't even blink.

It obviously helps to have well behaved dogs. The last time I brought a
kitten home, I let the dogs sniff him through the carrier door. I then
put the carrier in the laundry room (a large room where the cat stuff
is) and opened the door. My adult cat came down, sniffed the kitten and
was happy for the new arrival. The kitten was fine with her. The
kitten sat on the other side of the gate from the dogs and growled. The
dogs ignored him. Little by little, the kitten climbed over the gate
until he was on top of the loveseat the dogs were sleeping on. Still
growling. I brought the kitten home at 4 in the afternoon. By 10 at
night, when we went to bed, he was curled up with the older dog, Lucy
and fine with the younger dog.

That cat is 6 now and has dealt with the arrival of 3 puppies. One a
boarder, one a foster, one permanent. Each time got easier. He spent
some time on top of the fridge but adjusted just fine each time. He'll
have more puppies in his life, that's a given!


I can't have cats - allergic family - but I like them and would have
them if I could. And I personally know five documented cat killers.

The cattledog at the stable managed to kill at least one kitten out of
every litter born to the semi-feral barn cats. She was also suspected
when one of the adult females was found dead and slobbery.

A pair of tervs; the owner opened the back door to let them out, not
realizing that the neighbor's cat had come over the privacy fence and
was in the yard. They rocketed out the door, hit the cat almost
simultaneously. At least it was fast.

A jrt rescued off of death row. It was the second time he'd been turned
in for killing a cat. There was very little info provided about the
circumstances.

Another jrt who turned on and killed a cat she'd lived with for 5 years.
They'd never been buddies but had learned to mostly ignore each other.

So I take dog-on-cat aggression seriously, especially when there's more
than one dog involved.