New Puppy Introduction Failure - Page 2

I am sorry and this is not meant to sound rude but.... If she HAS NO reason and still declaws IMHO she should NOT have a cat... there are LOTS of animals that do not have claws that she could have without Mutilating another Living being...

If the puppy is old enough to be in heat , WHY was it not Spayed Prior to bringing home? By having a intact male in the house of a larger breed you are actually putting the new pups life in danger .... Panties are great as is keeping separate but all to often the worst happens

So, she doesn't have a reason at all to amputate the kittens toes, but will do it just so they are equal? That is some sense of equality
She returned the puppy so easily, because of a little, tiny incident, really... I wonder what is going to happen if one of these cats have a problem after the declaw - problems are very common, both health and behavior problems... Is she just going to dump them in a shelter?
I am sorry... Good luck with your introduction and all.
I hope you stand up at least for YOUR cat.
I can no longer support your efforts... Sorry...

If you google, you can find videos of actual declawing, have her watch them and see if she still wants to declaw the cats

please.don't let her mutilate any more cats.

Oh that's lovely, well done! It's really not difficult to train cats to claw where you want them to.

They need their OWN furniture to claw is all.

Show them how to claw on their own furniture, by clawing on it yourself. Cats are the original copy cats, after all.

Do it during Games times, and anytime you catch a kitty clawing something she isn't supposed to, simply gently take her over to her OWN furniture and show her how it's done!

there are many online step by step most making directions...

basics

wood
sisal
carpet

Time and patience. Puppy is being trained that kittens are friends, not something to be barked at or attacked (was it attack or play?) Patience and consistency will teach her this is so.

Are you familiar with puppy training techniques already? Whatever method you are using in other areas (sit stay no drop it down, etc) can be employed to train her behavior toward the kittens too.

It's lovely Midnight is bonding with puppy already (what is puppy's name?) Supervised visits, praise when Puppy behaves toward kittens the way you want, corrections when she does not.

You especially want to work on recall. You want puppy to stop and turn to you immediately regardless of what else is happening.

I had a puppy that was "supposed" to be a lab (got it at a rescue), and turned out to be a border collie mix. He started trying to herd the cats and the very first thing I taught him was instant "down". So that way the cats were safe, and we got some control over him.

Patience.....I believe you can make it....but PATIENCE!....

I recommend Dogster forums if you want to ask about your dog's behavior. There are several really good trainers/behaviorists who post there.

That is super scary! In the middle of the afternoon? Whereabouts do you live?

Are you sure it was a coyote? At that size and that time of day it's more likely it was a dog. I saw a dog run though my neighborhood the other day, and I could have sworn it was a coyote....but it was wearing a collar. But of course whether it was a dog or a coyote she could get pregnant (which is very dangerous on her first heat) so keep an eye out. They can mate through chainlink.

I would definitely NOT recommend leaving a dog in heat outside in the yard when you are not there to watch her! Male dogs will do almost anything to reach a female in heat, and climbing a fence is not a big obstacle to them if there is a female in heat on the other side.

It may help to work with a reward system with your puppy.

Right now I really would advise against removing your dog from the room completely when she behaves improperly towards the kitties, you can actually create more of an issue by doing this.

Since you have her on leash, you're at a huge advantage. Try rewarding your dog when the kitties are around. when the cat comes up to the dog, pet her and give her a treat when the kitty rubs on the dog, pet and treat, keep the dogs focus on you, and off of what the cat is doing.

if you pet and treat, it makes it much easier to transition to just petting and praise and that way you don't have a dog expecting food constantly and getting frustrated when she isn't treated.

Watch the dogs body language its very rare for a dog to snap without showing some sign first. watch the ears tail etc, and as soon as you see it, bring her attention immediately to you.

I have to watch my dog with our new cat, and had to do the same with out other cat, she typically puts her ears up, her little stub gets stiff and she'll focus in all stiffened up for a seccond before darting after the cat, I command No, Sit, and Stay. Which allows the cat to walk into the room and the dog goes back to what she's doing.

Recall is important to, I could yell at my dog all I wanted, if she wasn't trained better, it would do nothing. Luckily you have a puppy, puppies are blank slates, and you'll definately get there