Today is J-Day!

[Winchester]

Jackie is coming to live with us today. It's going to be interesting having a beagle in the house. Rick and I are both nervous and a little frustrated, too, but we shall deal as best we can. Rick is off work today and Tuesday, so I can walk these two days. I'm taking Wednesday and Thursday off so that she's not completely alone at home right away. Going back to work on Friday, so that will be the first test of her being alone with the cats. (They're moving their mom into assisted living today and then Rick will bring Miss J home.)

She will be crated when we're not home, we're thinking, until the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which is next week. We bought her a really nice orthapedic pillow for inside the crate. Rick put a piece of plywood on the bottom so she doesn't have to deal with the wires from the crate. And the crate is sitting on a large furniture pad in the living room. 

We'll see how things go with everybody. Once she's completely out of the crate, then we'll put a gate up at the hallway, so she can't go back to the bedroom. That will give the cats a little privacy, too; we'll have the gate up off the floor, so they can go underneath to go back the hallway. After a week or so of that, maybe we'll just give her the run of the house, too. 

Gosh, I hope she doesn't decide she likes feline Hershey bars!!! 

 

 

 

[denice]

Best of luck.  At least she is older so she won't be quite the bundle of energy that a puppy or young dog would be.  I think beagles are great dogs but they can make an ear splitting baying sound, hopefully she will settle in quickly.

 

[jcat]

that Jackie settles in well (and doesn't bay).

 

[Columbine]

that Jackie settles in well (and doesn't bay).

You might want to look into D.A.P. - its the canine version of Feliway. It could help ease the transition all round. Good luck with Jackie. Mega for you all.

 

[Winchester]

Thanks, everybody Thanks, Columbine for the D.A.P. idea.

Things went OK yesterday. Muffin, Tabby, and Ms. Pepe wouldn't come out of the bedroom for supper. BooBoo looked at Jackie and said, "Keep away from my food and you shall live." Mollipop looked at me and said, "Mom! Really???" and walked over to eat her supper. And Amber....Amber who's afraid of her own shadow, looked at Jackie and said, "Don't even THINK about touching my food!" and walked over to plate and finished her entire meal. And after she finished, she walked right in front of Jackie, sat down....and gave herself a bath! 

Rick slept on the couch last night to give Jackie some peace of mind, but it wasn't necessary. She flopped down on her pillow, dropped off to sleep, and that was all we heard from her until I got up to give the kids their breakfast. It took him a while to get her outside because she was more interested in what I was doing with the cans of cat food. And I have to say that preparing breakfast with a dog's nose in my butt to move me along is most interesting. 

This morning, I fed the kids while Rick took Jackie out to pee. Ms. Pepe came out with the other three cats. I fed Muffin and Tabby in the bedroom....but that will not continue. They need to come out and face the....beagle.

All in all, not a bad first night.

ETA: I forgot to mention that Jackie does not like electric toothbrushes. We have SonicCare toothbrushes and when I brushed my teeth this morning, she barked like crazy. Scared the crap out of the cats and they all went running. She'll adjust....the cats didn't really like the SonicCare either, but they got used to the noise.

 

[AbbysMom]

I'm glad the first night went well. I hope the transition continues to go well. :cross:

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I hope it all transitions well. It is wonderful that you are willing to try and cope with this.

 

[Kat0121]

 
Jackie is coming to live with us today. It's going to be interesting having a beagle in the house. Rick and I are both nervous and a little frustrated, too, but we shall deal as best we can. Rick is off work today and Tuesday, so I can walk these two days. I'm taking Wednesday and Thursday off so that she's not completely alone at home right away. Going back to work on Friday, so that will be the first test of her being alone with the cats. (They're moving their mom into assisted living today and then Rick will bring Miss J home.)

She will be crated when we're not home, we're thinking, until the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which is next week. We bought her a really nice orthapedic pillow for inside the crate. Rick put a piece of plywood on the bottom so she doesn't have to deal with the wires from the crate. And the crate is sitting on a large furniture pad in the living room. 

We'll see how things go with everybody. Once she's completely out of the crate, then we'll put a gate up at the hallway, so she can't go back to the bedroom. That will give the cats a little privacy, too; we'll have the gate up off the floor, so they can go underneath to go back the hallway. After a week or so of that, maybe we'll just give her the run of the house, too. 

Gosh, I hope she doesn't decide she likes feline Hershey bars!!! 

 

 

I'm glad that things have gone smoothly so far. I got very lucky when I introduced my dog to the cats. it didn't go to plan but it was really smooth. I think the fact that my dog was older (12 at the time) had something to do with it and maybe it did for you, too. My dog is a Border Collie but has never tried to "herd" them. I guess she heard the old saying that you can't herd cats. 

To my knowledge, my dog has never acquired a taste for litter box brownies but  

 she eats cat vomit. Henry has a bit of a sensitive stomach which I found out after giving him a few bites of a plain grilled NY strip steak. They came back up and by the time I got back to the room with the carpet cleaner, a bag and some paper towels, you'd never know it had ever happened. The dog was sitting there grinning like a fool. 

Hopefully, things continue to run smoothly. 

 

[denice]

I wouldn't be surprised if Amber and Jackie become buddies.

 

[jcat]

That sounds like a good start! Muffin and Tabby probably just need a little time to realize Jackie isn't some kind of drooling monster. I shouldn't laugh, but that's funny about the toothbrushes. :lol3:

 

[larussa]

I had a slight fit when I didn't receive an email from you this morning, I was so curious at how Jackie and the cats made out during the night.

I'm glad I came here sooner than I normally would so now I feel better after reading this.

I had J-girl on my mind a lot last night and was wondering how she was doing.  I'm so glad her first night was a peaceful one.  It may take longer for some of the cats to get used to their new big sister but they will eventually.

I'm as happy as a pig in poop

 

 

[betsygee]

 
I'm as happy as a pig in poop

 

I hope the transition keeps going well!  Jackie's a lucky little dog to get to live with you two!  

 

[Winchester]

 
I'm as happy as a pig in poop

 

 Thanks!

Sorry for no email this morning.....it was one of THOSE mornings in here! I've actually been busy! 

 

[Winchester]

Well, we had five of the six cats out in the kitchen for breakfast this morning. Muffin ate in the hallway, even though Rick and Miss J were outside. At least everybody ate, so that's good.

Jackie got a new bed last night. It's a big Kong. I was going to wash her old bed and when we got it home, it was falling apart. I'd have ended up cleaning the washer out, so a new bed was needed. She also got a new Nylabone (she can't have rawhide or anything like that). 

We put her old bed on top of her new bed, just until she gets used to things. I think she approves! We put the bed down, put her old bed on top, she flopped down and was there the rest of last night.

As for the crate? I'm giving it back to my sister. Jackie hasn't been in it at all; there's really no need...and I really didn't want to crate her if we didn't have to. I don't like crates. However, she had been sleeping on the cats' kitty couch, much to Mollipop's dismay...Molli loves that couch. Hopefully since Miss J has her own bed, she'll leave the kitty couch alone.

We have a gate up at the hallway, so Jackie can't get back to the bedrooms. The cats need a place of their own for now, a place where they can feel comfortable. It's only fair. So Jackie has the kitchen and living room....the cats come out for meals and, actually, everybody's coming out as they feel they can. Tabby came out last night and Jackie just kind of looked at her. That was it.

I don't really like having her in the kitchen though. She follows us everywhere and last night, we were trying to put groceries away. She was right behind me the whole time and I tripped over her several times. I need to get used to her being right there. 

She doesn't seem to mind being here at all. We thought she might be homesick or nervous, but she's pretty much taken it all in stride. I think that's because she knows us so well. She'll be fine. And I think that, in time, the cats will be OK, too.

ApprovedByJackie.jpg

• Winchester
• Nov 18, 2015

 

[Columbine]

She looks totally chilled and happy in that pic :9: I'm glad it's all going so well.

You may find that just having the cats around is enough to stop any separation anxiety (I think you mentioned that was an issue a while ago).

If you want her to keep off the kitty sofa you may have to enforce it - our dogs have their own beds (which they love) but the love the sofas too. It'll be much easier to set ground rules now than later On the other hand, she and the cats may end up sharing the sofa happily. I know ours do.

Tripping over a dog in the kitchen sounds very familiar If there's space, a bed in the kitchen could be the answer. That way she can be in there with you, but out of your way.

I'm glad everything is going so well. It's amazing of you to take this on. I know it's not easy

 

[jcat]

She looks very comfy and at home. In a couple of days the cats will be using her bed, and she'll be left with the kitty couch.

 

[Kat0121]

She's a pretty dog 

She looks at home already. @jcat  is right. That's what Henry did. As soon as he decided to come out of his safe room, he started exploring, discovered the dog's bed and now he uses it all the time. He also likes to go into her crate sometimes to relax. I have a memory foam crate pad in there and he likes that a lot. Fortunately the dog doesn't care. Those 2 are pals. She fell in love with him as soon as she met him. It took him a little longer to get used to her "aggressive" affections but he soon figured out that she just wanted to love him and they became fast friends. Those 2 are their own clique and Lilith and Sophie are the mean girls 

 

[MoochNNoodles]

She looks content to me!  I know both our dogs got into following my mother around as they got into their teen years.  Tasha especially could get under foot.  My mother would have to tell her to stay downstairs because she was coming right back down and Tasha was struggling on the stairs.  She'd get "stuck" at the top and have to rest before coming down again.

   After Tasha passed Mom took her bed downstairs so Abby has one upstairs for at night and downstairs for the daytime.  I think that has helped Abby be content downstairs.  She is blind in 1 eye; but she can see the work area in the kitchen from her bed in the living room.  Both dogs were trained to go to a spot just inside the living room doorway on command; where they were nearby but not in danger of getting stepped on.  Tasha had a corner until Abby came.  There wasn't room for 2 there. 

 

[Winchester]

 

[Kat0121]

Correction: that's Boo in THEIR bed 

That kitty couch is really cute. Is that one made for children?