Cats and New Dog - Guess what? Need Help!

They don't like each other. (PS - I'm new! Hi!!!)

Well the dog, likes them, but likes them too much - he just wants to play, or meet them rather.

I adopted a 3 year old Labrador from the SPCA, and brought him into my home 2 weeks ago. I have 3 Cats, and they prefer the dog not be here.

I took the dog to my Mom's house the first night, because her cats are USED to dogs, so I thought it would be a good idea - to see how the dog was, around cats before I brought them here.

He was perfectly fine, ignores them, after the first "smell".

My cats run like heck the first site they see of him, and of course that turns into a chasing frenzy - it excites the dog. So the dog now has had a leash on in the house everytime the cats are loose. And I don't really want to keep that up. The cats have the entire finished basement to themselves, I keep the dog upstairs. (The cats are used to free roam)

I'm just worried they'll never grow to accept the dog.

I am in desperate need of Success Stories - Horror Stories that turned into Success. My cats are NOT used to dogs, theyve never seen one before. They're older (4, 3, and 1 year) and it's been 2 Weeks. They're typical flighty cats, they dont like "strangers". But they're great with us "family".

Also any ADVICE is greatly appreciated - I spend several hours with the cats throughout the day - I give them lots of cuddle time and eye contact and they like that, but don't want the dog around.

Thanks sooooo much!

We got our puppy first, and then brought in a kitten after 2 months once he had basic training.

Training really helps, having the puppy sit/stay while the kitten came in and explored, everytime Nunuk went to chase he was corrected and placed back in sit/stay.
It didn't take long for him to learn not to chase the kitten. Now those 2 are best of friends and we had no trouble bringing in other cats. They all rule over him, despite him being 112lbs

We brought Sean home as a one yr. old young adult dog when our former kitty, Neeko, was 8 yrs. old. Needless to say Neeko was definitely not happy. He had the whole house to himself before and now this big creature was invading his space. We separated them at first just like you did and always made sure Neeko had an escape route. Since we had a crate for Sean sometimes I would put him in the crate when I was in the room and let our cat come in too. That way kitty could feel safe and explore without Sean coming up to him. They were never the best of friends but they did learn to tolerate one another and co-exist. It didn't happen overnight though. Our present cat, Neely, is entirely different. She thinks she is a dog and they get along famously.

I've known dogs(like one of mine) who take over a month to figure out "leave it". That was the first command I taught my dog(an adult rescue). She learned "leave it" applied to the cats as well. Now I have somewhat purr-fect harmony!

It's early yet. Use some of the suggestions given and things will be fine given some more time and training. If you can devise a way for them to see each other without having access, that will also help. At one house, I had French doors I could close and let them watch each other, smell under the door, etc. Perhaps a baby gate would work, with supervision?

Good luck--try not to get discouraged because these things take time.

Cally

The dog and cats WILL get along. You just need to change your approach to things. We have a lab too and she does like to play chase the kittys at times.

Work on getting the dog totally trained in ALL commands and add the "leave it" command. Once the dog listens to you when you tell him to sit, stay, no, etc., then you won't need the leash.

Crate the dog; let the cats loose and let them make the advances. Ling was raised by Keno. Charlie took a few days to get used to him - but Keno was NOT allowed to be in the room alone with Charlie - it was Charlie's idea of when to make friends.

Even now, if we feel Keno's getting to rough she is told to stop, or leave it, and she goes and lays down. One thing she hates is any kind of arguing and she's allowed to "break it up" with the cats.

So work on the dog's manners and commands; the cats will come around in time.

Hi there everyone,

Thank you for the replies back on how to help this situation and not make it worse!

Cooper the dog is not fond of crates, so this probably isnt an option. He sort of gets scared locked in there or anyplace really. I tried this for about 20 minutes when we first got him, and soon realized he'd just not ever be content with it.

His commands are pretty solid, except when the cats are high tailing it. I'll have to work on that better, and get that taken care of.

I like the idea of letting the dog behind our french doors (we do have a room w/ glass french doors) and then the cats can sniff around through the door, and feel safe possibly.

Bandit one of the Cats, was standing at a basement window today, while I had Cooper out on the leash, and I walked Cooper up to the window, and Bandit sat there like he was hot stuff and "not afraid" - but I know if he werent behind glass.....

lol - Anyway - Thank you all for your advice, I just like the extra advice, and success stories, because I worry so that they'll never come out of hiding.