Hi there, New to the site! We have just got a 7 month old male black lab from a family that didn't have time for him. He came from a home with young children. We have a 3 year old and five year old. We also have two house cats, the dog didn't live with cats but I thought as he's so young we would be able to manage and old owners said he's never shown aggression to other animals but obviously they couldn;t say for definite that he'd be alright with them. Only had the dog for three days! So Im basically just looking for tips and any advice people have. So far hes been generally great. My kids are wary and staying away as he's big (25kg) and bouncy, jumpy. Advice on stopping jumping and biting would be good. I put a stairgate on and moved my cats and all their stuff upstairs for now. The dog has a crate (sleeps great overnight so far - doesnt always want to go in so have been throwing in treats and put a bone thing in there to try to make it a good place! He was crated a lot as the old owner had started full time work). He'll be going in overnight here and when Im getting kids ready for school and bedtime/bathtime - have been doing this. But anyways...I'm planning to move the cats things back down tomorrow. Is that too soon? I have him on a lead harness in the house. He's been going on three /four short walks with me. He does have some training and so far he seems a really lovely dog and think he'll be a great family dog. I just want to try to make the cats and him get along or tolerate each other as smoothly as poss. Sorry if that's really long but wanted to give as much info as poss!
Forgot to say that the dog and cats have seen each other . The first time he seen them he lunged and barked but was on the lead. Since then he has seen them sat on the stairs and he has looked, barked, had a waggy tail or hasn't done anything but is definitly curious about them.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I'd say, let your cats dictate the pace of introductions. Make sure they can get away and watch him from a distance if they want. Some cats will take it a lot better than others, so it's hard to say. Some advise to let the cat "sort the dog out", but I don't agree with that advice because it involves putting your cat in a stressful situation where he feels he has to defend himself against the dog which isn't fair, and also puts your dog at risk of getting scratched - and a scratch to the eyeball isn't what anyone wants. Give the dog lots of praise and treats for calm behaviours around the cats (and any calm behaviour in general). It sounds like you're doing really well so far, but remember to give him times. dogs can take several weeks to a couple of months to settle properly into a new home.
Hi there and welcome! Sounds like your pup is settling in well, which is great. It’s early days yet, though, you might find things changing as time passes and he gets more used to your place. I don’t have any suggestions about the cats as I’ve only ever had one dog at a time. I’m sure there will be others who will chime in to give you some ideas! But in general I would say to take it slowly and make sure their interactions are managed very carefully for the first little while. Same goes with the children. There is lots of advice about jumping/biting both here on the forum and also on the main site. Here’s a couple links to get you started: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/no-more-jumping-up/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/
Hi and welcome from me, Poppy (six years old) and Merlin (11 months old) in Germany. We don't have cats - but my mother in the UK has a cat. The first few times we visited, the cat just disappeared for several days. Slowly but surely they have started to feel more comfortable with each other, so much so that the cat will come in to the kitchen and be with us all together... She even bumps noses with my dogs! But each time we arrive, Mimi needs to be able to escape and then make her own decisions about when to approach the dogs. So I would second snowbunny's suggestion - let the cats decide. Good luck with it all! What is your boy's name?? He sounds lovely!
Thank you. I've looked at the jumping one which was helpful. I've been given a clicker so am trying g to get used to that and dishing out the treats fast enough! We've named him blackie (five year old named him) so hea also having to get used to that. He was called Bruce. I know its going to take quite a while. Will try putting the cats things back downstairs as I don't want the cats thinking they have been banished up there. The kids have been great and calm mainly because he's big and they are wary but ita helped alot as he's been reasonably calm with them too. Glad to have found the forum!
Hi @lea, yes this forum is a place. It's been invaluable to me with Cassie, who is now 21 months. Although not my first dog I'd never had a Lab before and she sure has put me through it from time to time . It's great to hear that your kids are being calm around Blackie, giving him the chance to settle in and become a much loved family member.
Hi from me, my lab Penny (8months) and Oscar my 5yr old cat. Baby gates are the answer. When we introduced them Oscar was not happy and ran a mile and basically only wanted fed and then out again. Its definately the cat that dictates as Penny could not care less. She wants to play and jump all over him..she is determined to lick his face and get as close as possible every time he appears. Dont get me wrong, Oscar tolerates her and they are downstairs together at night but Oscar can jump the gate and remove himself when he wants to as he has the freedom of the whole house ( this is only since Penny arrived as he needs some peace lol). Its so funny at times to watch as i know Oscar looks at me as if to say "i take it crazy is staying for good then".
I've put a baby gate at the bottom of stairs, one of my cats doesn't really jump. I know he can but only rarely and never over the gate (from when we had it up while kids were smaller). But I'm hoping he will do if he needs to. They haven't really come down yet. I've fed them upstairs again...small steps I guess!Glad to hear Penny's story!
Welcome to the forum - you'll love it in here. We have a elusive introvert cat that is 9 years old, Paper(yep that's her name) - and she's like REALLY...what is this thing! When I first tired to adopt over a year ago I gave her a safe haven upstairs, even put a chain-lock on the outside of the door - Kept the dog out and she could come and go as she pleased. Sadly she NEVER DID...just became a very fat lazy cat. Mind you she's never been very social but neither is she skiddish- she's just a cat. With Rosie we are masters of baby gates and furniture blocks here. Rosie came with one 'modified' baby gate as her previous owners had two LITTLE dogs & 5 cats...so that was their escape from a high energy puppy. We purchased one with a cat door in it however when we first got Rosie she was still small enough to wiggle herself through so it became the 'door' to the laundry room/litter box as it was a out of site out of mind location. So we have set up an environment where the cat can move freely about and is forced to: food on a landing, litterbox down stairs and lots of room for cat naps and run space upstairs where Rosie is only allowed when she accompanies us and bedtime. Like everyone says - let the cats set the pace and work on having Blackie not be interested in them. Paper has interacted with Rosie a couple times but Rosie is still so young and playful and Paper is still like NOPE and wanders away with a hiss or two. I changed my avatar to the both of them - Need to get a new picture of Rosie anyway. Good luck and I look forward to your additions to the forum.
I used a stairgate which was propped slightly open so my cats could escape up the stairs without trying to jump over the top. Their food, water and litter tray was also placed upstairs so they could decide if/when they can downstairs. As others have said it us up to your cat when he is ready to really meet the dog. I used a Feliway plug-in to help reduce stress as well. One of the most important aspects of the introduction is that the dog is never allowed to chase the cat, that's how problems can start, so dog always on a house lead to prevent that situation and preferably distract the dog if he goes to bark at the cat. Dogs and cats can happily live in a household given time but they won't necessarily be best buddies
How did you manage to prop it open Jojo86? Rosevett, might use that idea of food on landing and have looked at this cat gates...must try to modify ours! Also he started trying to hump me tonight. He's not yet neutered , is this something I should get done straight away? I did ask at the vets and they said it was personal preference as to when.
And is a house lead different to a normal lead?! He's got a harness on and I attached a lead but have just got a halti training lead .Sorry so many questions!
It's unlikely the humping behaviour had anything to do with sex, so I wouldn't be thinking about neutering at this stage. Let him settle in, work out his personality and see if it's necessary after that. Dogs hump for a variety of reasons, even neutered dogs, and it's often just to do with over-excitement than sexual arousal.
Rosie is fixed and SHE even humps. I looked into it as well and we are using her teddy bear as a calm-down. Anytime she starts to show signs I make sure she gets her bear and she's free to cuddle it as she sees fit. Modify gate by taking out one of the rungs - takes some cutting tools and sand/cover the rough edges.
@lea we've installed our baby gate so that it sits off the floor - the cats can slink under it, which they don't because they're incredibly nervous cats :/ But the option's there when they're ready.
The house lead is usually a short lead or leash but without the handle loop that a leash usually has. I found one very helpful with my pooch whom I adopted when he was around 8 months. It was something we could grab quickly to stop behaviours that we couldn’t manage any other way. He was also collar reactive so we had the lead attached to his harness and it worked great. There are a variety of opinions about neutering/not neutering. I live in Canada, and the procedure is very much encouraged here, but I’ve learned that in the UK, where many of our members are, it is not the same and there are many more entire dogs than here. So it’s something to research and discuss with your vet and decide for yourself.
We just propped a shoe between the gate and the wall and we left the other shoe in front of the gate to stop it swinging open - created just enough space for our cats to go through.
