How much harder is it to introduce a puppy than a kitten to adult cats?

[ArtNJ]

I really want a golden or lab retriever puppy. We have two cats, Clyde that is 6 or 7, a fit muscular cat that still plays some and isn't afraid of much, and Pippy, a 3 year old that is still a bit skittish when their is a noise. Three years ago, Clyde adapted to Pippy quickly with minimal separation and 2 days of hissing. Somewhere in Clyde's distant past, we tried to adopt a puppy, but it licked my daughter and her face swelled up. Clyde seemed only curious. She is a college junior, so I'm less worried about this issue now. We can keep the dog out of her room, and when she comes home for a bit, she can take some allergy meds and not play with the dog.

I have a good sense of what the odds/outcome spread would be with a kitten, but have no experience adding a puppy unless you count the 45 minutes we owned the dog that licked my daughter. How much harder is it?

 

[Alldara]

Have they been around dogs before?

Harder if they haven't.

I do think harder but not impossible. Especially if you start training the puppy right away.

More bonus if puppy has had access to cats before.

Extra extra bonus if you have friends with a cat-calm dog that can be introduced a couple of times to your cats beforehand to judge their behaviours. (Magnus and Calcifer have met neighbors dog through the window -much hissing. Then through the screen - puffy tails. And Magnus has socially distance met dogs and did sniff his god friend for the first time this week - puffy tail, no hiss). The social distancing for Magnus was all outside on leashes though.

Nobel only ever bonded with two dogs that he lived with - one puppy and one dog. 5 others were tolerated and he was raised with dogs. Lily loved dogs and used to play with my neighbors dog outside and she was also raised with dogs. So temperament of your cats plays a huge impact too.

 

[fionasmom]

Both of those breed, especially if acquired as a puppy, are high on the scale of adapting to other animals, do not have high prey drive, and are trainable. I have always had dogs with cats and it is sometimes easier to get a cat to accept a dog as opposed to another cat.

Of course you would use an appropriate introduction period for the puppy and the cats. The cats will be "concerned" at first, but the puppy will be very adaptable to having cats around and will probably consider them to be playmates. One big point is not to set up a situation where the cat runs and the dog chases him even if no harm is intended.

Cat Owners Wanting to Get a Dog Should Take a Look at These Breeds
Both of your breeds are mentioned in the article.

How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog - TheCatSite
There are a lot of videos and information that you can find additionally online.

 

[neely]

I do think harder but not impossible. Especially if you start training the puppy right away.

I'm guessing you will take the puppy to obedience training when it's old enough and that would help too. Is anyone home in your house during the daytime? It's important to start crate training when the puppy needs a time out or when you're not home.

I have always had dogs with cats and it is sometimes easier to get a cat to accept a dog as opposed to another cat.

I agree! Neely was the perfect example of this since she took to our dog right away but when we brought an innocent docile kitten into the house she never accepted him.

I've always had a safe room and an escape route for the cat or cats which helped too.

Even though Clyde is playful and not afraid of much and Pippy is skittish they might surprise you. Sometimes it was the cat who I most expected to not make a fuss did exactly that. But both goldens and labs are very lovable dogs so I'd say go for it!

 

[amethyst]

I had a dog before cats here, so all the cats I have now grew up with dogs (all large breed), but that did include puppies over the years. I'm not sure introducing a puppy is harder, it may actually in some ways be easier since you can more easily contain a pup then a kitten and the cat can more easily get away from a puppy. The introduction process is also different too. One of the big things to keep in mind is make sure it's your cats not the puppy that make the first move to interact. Make sure your cats have high places they can go to observe the puppy without the puppy being able to access them, as well as at least one room the cats can freely get into when ever they need or want to that the puppy can't. I normally have the pup in a confined area for awhile after coming home anyway, either in a room with me with a baby gate across the door or fenced into an area, so the cats can come and go as they please but the pup can't follow. Another thing that works well is have the pup in a crate and allow the cats to come up to the crate on their own terms, the crate physically prevents them from getting to each other unlike just a pen/fence so you can even do that when you are asleep or not home too without worry. Both the confining the puppy and crate training are things most people to do when first getting a puppy anyway, it helps with house training and keeping them out of trouble.

 

[LokiLamia]

I really want a golden or lab retriever puppy. We have two cats, Clyde that is 6 or 7, a fit muscular cat that still plays some and isn't afraid of much, and Pippy, a 3 year old that is still a bit skittish when their is a noise. Three years ago, Clyde adapted to Pippy quickly with minimal separation and 2 days of hissing. Somewhere in Clyde's distant past, we tried to adopt a puppy, but it licked my daughter and her face swelled up. Clyde seemed only curious. She is a college junior, so I'm less worried about this issue now. We can keep the dog out of her room, and when she comes home for a bit, she can take some allergy meds and not play with the dog.

I have a good sense of what the odds/outcome spread would be with a kitten, but have no experience adding a puppy unless you count the 45 minutes we owned the dog that licked my daughter. How much harder is it?

I [welt mine meet under the door for a couple days and when we there ]was no hissing or hackles on backs we tried opening the doorwith the puppy on a leash so the cats would be in charge. of how close they got.as it turn out all the smelling made them curios as to the owner of the smell. They sniffed all around everyone sniffed everyone.turns out we we good to go. then they all slep as one.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

You will need to think about litter box placement. Most dogs like to eat cat poo.

 

[di and bob]

Knowing dogs as I do, and having quite a few of them, I would go for the Golden Retriever. They are much more laid back and calm. EVERY lab I have had, and knowing all my relative's labs too, they are SO excitable and NEVER sit still. Eventually, they calm down but not until old age. The only cat-killing dog I had was a lab. She was trained to hunt, so I couldn't blame her, I trained her for 6 months on a leash around my cats and eventually, she did accept them. The puppy should be on a leash too until the cats get used to him, for it's own safety, young animals have no sense of fear and he will go right up to the cats and risk getting injured. A puppy would be more quickly accepted, an older dog would scare them more. It will happen, you just have to be patient and give your cats a lot of reassuring.

 

[iPappy]

A well bred Golden Retriever should fit into a home with cats. Their temperaments are amazing.
Keep the puppy tethered to you and redirect with a toy/engagement, and prevent puppy chasing the cats before it becomes a habit.
That said, make sure you find a breeder who follows the code of ethics set by the GRCA. The breed is riddled with health problems. Ask for registered names and check OFA yourself, don't take their word for it. Beware of anyone advertising "English cream", they do not have a lower incidence of cancer.

 

[amethyst]

The only cat-killing dog I had was a lab. She was trained to hunt, so I couldn't blame her, I trained her for 6 months on a leash around my cats and eventually, she did accept them.

I think labs from hunting/working lines are different (both in looks and behavior) then ones bred for show and pets. I had a cousin with a lab as a hunting dog and she was raised with the cat, they would even sleep together, but then one night she for some reason attacked and killed the cat. So it likely depends on the dog's lineage, but still definitely something to keep in mind when choosing which breed of dog.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

It was definitely easier to introduce Flora to my two existing cats than it was to introduce Poppy (one of my dogs, who I got as a puppy) to the three cats. I did make it work though and it did take time. None of my cats had been around dogs (as far as I know). The dogs (my dogs are from the same litter but I adopted them 9 months apart) are not allowed in the basement unless I'm down there, so the cats have the basement all to themselves most of the time and then I keep their food in a spare bedroom that the dogs don't have access to. I think it can work if the cats have options for places to escape.

My dogs are both Staffordshire terrier, rottweiler and lab mixes with HIGH prey drives (they have killed many squirrels) but they haven't hurt any of the cats because I would stop them before they did anything that scared the cats. It also helped that I got Poppy as a puppy. I kept Roo in a kennel when I slept and was out of the house until I could trust he wouldn't hurt the cats.

 

[Alldara]

Oh yes on MonaLyssa33 's note, my grandmother used to leave the basement blocked off so Nobel could go but the dogs couldn't. She also kept Nobel's food on the kitchen table (we ate at the dining room only). We lived there for two yearsish with her.