Hi there. We’ve had our lab puppy home for almost 2 weeks now, she’s just coming up to 10 weeks. We also have 4 adult cats - all good tempered with no behavioural issues. Aside from the usual bursts of excitability puppy is fitting in well, already has some basic commands down, toileting and sleep (crate in our bedroom - cats not in room) going well etc. Cats are curious and will sit in same room, if puppy tries to play and gets too close they will hiss and if needs be leave the room - we have the house divided into sections with baby gates that the cats can slide through the side but puppy can’t. Question - Do we let them all sort things out over time - supervised of course - until they find a natural balance by themselves? Or do we actively discourage puppy from trying to engage them in play? She is a rock/leaf eater so have already taught her to ‘leave’ - should we use this when she’s doing the bowing and barking behaviour trying to play with the cats? Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
Hi Sal, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new puppy! It sounds like you're managing the situation really well Making sure the cats have their own sanctuary to escape to is really important. I think it is also generally a good idea to distract the puppy from the cats with toys and and simple games whenever you can - just to minimise the risk of chasing them out of the room turning into a fun game and developing into regular habit. Once your puppy is a bit older and less boisterous, there's a pretty good chance of them getting on peacefully, it just takes time
Hi, I have always had some kind of dog/cat combo. As @sarah@forumHQ says, let them have some safe places, escape routes and give them time. In my experience the cats usually end up bossing the dogs about, and being great pals. Current cat turfs dog out of her bed and dog ends up sleeping on the floor next to her !!!
