Hi all,
My Haunter is doing mildly well with a new cocker spaniel we adopted six days ago. She is six years old, submissive with him and looks away and leaves if he approaches her. But he is just not totally comfortable. He is normally SO relaxed, rolling on his back on the floor and getting into everything, but mostly what he does now is sleep and monitor from a hallway or room where the dog isn't at. He has always been a major foodie and now he will eat about half of the food we give him and then leave it alone, although he will take treats with no problem.
He just seems tense; I knew he would be, but I'm just wondering how long it should reasonably take him to fully adjust? I don't expect them to be best friends but I miss my crazy little buddy who's always trying to make trouble and sprinting around the house. The cocker is not predatory but I think it makes him nervous because she is a major ball player and very exuberant when she plays fetch, although we do make sure that he is up on a cat tree or the couch when we play...
(A lot of my nervousness about this comes from a terrier mix puppy we adopted a year ago that we had to return because Haunter would not eat AT ALL, even though we introduced them properly, redirected the puppy when he got too excitable, etc) I really think this dog is a good fit for us and want it to work out, but Haunter's happiness will always come before a dog. How long has it taken your cats to adjust after you've gotten a new dog?
My Haunter is doing mildly well with a new cocker spaniel we adopted six days ago. She is six years old, submissive with him and looks away and leaves if he approaches her. But he is just not totally comfortable. He is normally SO relaxed, rolling on his back on the floor and getting into everything, but mostly what he does now is sleep and monitor from a hallway or room where the dog isn't at. He has always been a major foodie and now he will eat about half of the food we give him and then leave it alone, although he will take treats with no problem.
He just seems tense; I knew he would be, but I'm just wondering how long it should reasonably take him to fully adjust? I don't expect them to be best friends but I miss my crazy little buddy who's always trying to make trouble and sprinting around the house. The cocker is not predatory but I think it makes him nervous because she is a major ball player and very exuberant when she plays fetch, although we do make sure that he is up on a cat tree or the couch when we play...
(A lot of my nervousness about this comes from a terrier mix puppy we adopted a year ago that we had to return because Haunter would not eat AT ALL, even though we introduced them properly, redirected the puppy when he got too excitable, etc) I really think this dog is a good fit for us and want it to work out, but Haunter's happiness will always come before a dog. How long has it taken your cats to adjust after you've gotten a new dog?