Introducing Loud Excitable Dog To Two New Kittens

[sabrinalev]

Hi everyone! I'm going to be getting 2 kittens in about a week or so and I've been pouring over articles and forums trying to get advice on how to introduce an excitable dog to kittens. While I have found some useful information, not much discusses what to do if you have a vocal dog.

My dog is very sweet and playful (she acts like a puppy even though she's 12 years old) and isn't really aggressive to other animals (she's frequently around my sister's ferret although they do have to be monitored) however she is VERY VERY vocal when she's excited. I know that loud barking is bound to scare kittens, so I'm not exactly sure what to do here.

She does have a muzzle that we use very very sparingly but she can literally bark with the muzzle on as well (although it is more muted). My only idea so far is to record her barking and get the kittens used to the noise before we introduce them. She is my family dog so my mom and I share her part-time so she isn't always here. Does anyone else have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[susanm9006]

Is she command trained. “Sit”, “stay” and “leave it” are important for her to respond to so that the kittens aren’t overwhelmed or injured.

 

[sabrinalev]

Is she command trained. “Sit”, “stay” and “leave it” are important for her to respond to so that the kittens aren’t overwhelmed or injured.

She does know commands and I’m not too worried about that because I plan to really exhaust her before meeting them as well so she’s not AS excitable. She just basically has no control when it comes to barking so that’s my primary concern as I know kittens can be sensitive to loud noises.

 

[Columbine]

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I don't think I'd stress too much about your dog being vocal - the kittens will have to get used to it after all Just make sure the kittens have a 'safe room' of their own, and be mindful of their first dog interactions. I always make sure my dogs are on leash for the first few meetings, and ideally have one human for each animal (or at least for each species). The first meetings should be after a dog walk - you want your girl to work off some of that exuberant energy before she meets them. Make sure the kittens have safe escape routes, as well as cats trees or suitable furniture so they can get up above your dog's reach and observe if they want to.

Never restrain the kittens in any way - to feel safe, they need to be able to leave the situation if they choose to. Keep your dog on leash or crated until you are sure she has learned the rules of dog-cat etiquette, and never leave them unsupervised together until you are 110% certain that your dog won't hurt them...even by accident. My lab adores cats, and was ecstatic when my boys joined the family. Even though Leah has lived with cats her whole life, we still had to keep a very close watch in the early days. She was simply getting excited and trying to gently play with them (play-bows, little dancing jumps/skitters etc), but being so much bigger, she could easily have injured them by mistake. There was a heartbreaking thread here a couple of years ago, where a kitten was accidentally killed by a cat-adoring dog - it only takes a split second for such a thing to happen, so hypervigilance is essential in the early days and weeks.

I would keep the kittens in their room to start with (something that is a good idea even if you have no other pets), and only gradually introduce them to the rest if the home. The dog shouldn't go into the kitten room until they have met and are comfortable with her elsewhere. These articles give more details
Bringing Home A New Cat - The Complete Guide
How To Help A New Cat Adjust To Your Home
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog
Introducing Cats To Dogs

 

[mightyboosh]

It's easier to train a dog than a cat so correctly done it could maybe done that way. Oliver saunters past our big daft, softy, heedless dog Chase slowly whilst looking into his eyes with a, "don't even think of it look." Chase obeys and won't get too near Oliver. Oliver has had to swipe and hiss at him a few times if Chase started to get a bit cocky.
Betty and Chubchub run away so that's Chase's cue to have a fun and run after them.
So if you can somehow get your cats to be ultra cool and not run away that could work. Big ask though.