Dog and kitten

tagsmom899301

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Hi all, I just joined this site and already I am posting a question. Let me give you some background first. I have a 5 yeard old Bernese Mountain dog mix (probably some spaniel in her). Bobbi (a female) has been with our family now for 2.5 years. She does not handle change well (when we moved she had to be sedated). We moved to our current location in December, our next door neighbors have three pit bulls. At first Bobbi went ballistic every single time she saw them. After a few months she was fine around them, they could be off leash and she just wanted to play with them. They even interacted a few times. Bobbi has encountered cats on several occasions and each time she ignored them. We took this as a good sign.
About three weeks ago we brought a sweet little black and white male kitten into our home (he is now 12 weeks old). We started with only smelling through doors and once Jelly got his clean bill of health (sort of) we started putting Bobbi on the leash and Jelly roaming free. We quickly learned Bobbi became too hyper and started putting her in her kennel while Jelly roamed free. We would then swtich with him in his Kennel and Bobbi free. Everything was going well. I did find out that Jelly had worms so treated both animals. All was going well and Bobbi was seeming calmer and calmer. Yesterday I put her on leash and while she was at first excited and eventually calmed down and allowed him to be on the couch while she sat on the floor in front of him. He moved into my arms which made her sit up. Once she calmed down I turned him a bit so she could smell his butt, I thought it would help. I was wrong. Bobbi lunged and snapped at his rear. I was able to keep her from what I can only assume would have been a bite. I corrected her while staying calm and just moved the cat. I have been toying with the idea of putting the dog in a muzzle and allowing both animals to roam free (under supervision of course). My hope would be that they could get better used to each other while maintaining a level of some security for the cat. What do you all think?
 

eagleeye

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Just my opinion, it might be worth your while to consult with a canine behaviorist. It's hard to say over the internet how serious Bobbi was with her snap. For the safety of the kitten, I think you'd want to keep them separated until you have a training plan figured out. I wouldn't use the muzzle until you've talked to a professional, either. My concern would be that Bobbi would associate the muzzle with the kitten and it'd be a negative experience for her.

My husband and I recently introduced our resident dog, Stockey, to our rescued stray kitten, Lusa. It was a very slow process. We tried to end each intro session before Stockey started getting stressed (panting was the main sign because he's a quiet dog). We tried to make the experience positive by giving him treats and praise when he was calm in the presence of the cat. It took Stockey another couple of weeks to get used to Lusa moving around and he did a fair bit of bottom-sniffing
. He learned that she's not a toy and off-limits as such. He also learned that having the kitty around meant good things for him (treats and praise).
 
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tagsmom899301

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Update time! I did not use the muzzle and in the end didn't need it. I had to learn to better read my dog! Big shocker eh?! So what we did was continue with Bobbi in leash with the cat free. If either showed signs of stress free time was over. We were eventually able to get to the point where Bobbi was used to Jelly and was no longer lunging etc. We went back to doggie traning basics just to reinforce them and reinforce Alpha status and also to tire Bobbi out. Once we did that we noticed Bobbi was less excitable. Very good news for us and for Jelly
! We gave treats (had to watch that though as Miss Bobbi is a bit on the waddling side of things). We are actually now off leash for both animals and have been able to leave them alone for short periods of time! Yeah!!! There is still A LOT of butt sniffing going on. I make sure I calmly correct Bobbi if she gets too mouthy or too rambunctious. Tha panting thing was a great tip (again I wasn'[t paying attention to my dogs signals, Bad doggie owner!)! I can not believe how well these two are getting along. Bobbi even groom Jelly (sometimes a bit too much in certain areas if you get my drift!). So I am happy to say that so far all is going well and I am hoping it continues to do so. However I am prepared for the possibility of set backs etc.
 
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