At this point our 9 week old lab, Sadie, is either in her exercise pen and/or crate or connected to a human on a leash in our house because she plays too rough with our 3.5 month old kittens. The kittens aren’t scared of her at all, but when I let her close to them (held back on the leash) she gets too rough. The kittens will bat at her a little and then back away a little, but then one of them especially creeps back up and rolls over wanting to play. I’m sure Sadie’s not being truly aggressive, just playing puppy style. She does very well with “leave it” for a treat, not so much a real moving target kitten treat. I’m also working on “drop it”, but again at this point it only works for a toy and not a fun kitten. How can I teach her to handle the kittens with care? I would like to be able to trust her off leash in the house a little.
Hi I’m sorry I can’t help but I do understand your predicament as I have a 1 yr old lab and a cat. The cat has been here longer than the dog but the dog does chase the cat sometimes like when they are outside and occasionally indoors. I have been constantly encouraging a sit and stay whilst the cat walks to another room. The dog wouldn’t hurt the cat but scare yes and it’s not nice or fair as cat is smaller than my chocolate lab
My pup learned early on that cats will mess you up when the neighbor cat gave him a nasty swipe on the nose. That was a lesson it took a while to learn, but if they are kittens they may not be ready for that. I would watch your dog closely and try to give LEAVE IT commands when she starts getting too rough. Good luck!
I would get a puppy tag line or house line (2.5m - Clix make one) which you can use to restrain her. The kittens can decide if they want to approach and play or run off, during a play session. I would really make sure you are there holding the tag line for all puppy-kitten interactions and they are separated when you are not around. You can also use the tag line to, for example gently remove her if she is squishing a kitty or the cat wants to escape. A lab puppy is very full on and too rough for many other breeds of dog, let alone cats/kittens, so you will need to supervise play really closely.
Yes, she is restrained on a leash at all times when she’s outside her pen or kennel. And the kittens do approach! One of them is especially brave and climbs the wire walls of the pen occasionally. We are there supervising at all times so we grab her before she goes in. Sadie squishing s kitten is pretty much what happens when we let them try to interact. She pins a kitten and nibbles, the kittens are pretty gentle with her and will scoot if they don’t like what she’s doing, but then turn around and come right back just outside her leash distance to taunt her. Lol.
Hi Emma! My daughter’s name is Emma! How old was your lab when you got it? Everyone keeps telling me they will get along. Some say it may take a couple years, but that it will happen. Crossing my fingers and good luck to you!!
Hi that’s cute I think Emma is a classic name. He was 8 weeks bless him. We introduced very slowly. Cat is getting braver well sort of. He miaows which makes Mason alert. The cat was here before him. The dog has sort of taken over he sits on the cats chair has done for a while. Poor cat spends most of his day upstairs. I hope it doesn’t take that long. Thank you and you too
