Introducing kitten to my dog With a twist

doubleucee

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Okay im Sure a thread has been written for almost this exact same situation but i have a couple of twists to the scenario that i really need help with. For background. I have a 5 year old dog named romeo. He is the nicest dog he has never bitten anyone or harmed anyone before hes a medium sized pup and hes really playful I know many people say that about there dog and it is the case with romeo. We have a ranch style home with a large upstairs and a fairly large basement. We had a cat when we got the dog and they lived together

We had a cat he was big and tough and he was the best we got the cat about 5 years before we got the dog. the cat pretty much hated the dog even though the dog was very nice to the cat. They lived together for about 3 years before the cat died.

We are getting a kitten by the end of the month around halloween and i need ways to help introduce it to the dog carefully so they will be good together

Now for the first twist the dog has never gone into the basement EVER. He wont for some reason the cat we had lived down there and we think that is the reason.

Okay once we had a baby bird in our backyard and it couldnt fly Romeo was playing with it curious and was pawing at it. the next day the baby bird was dead now i am almost confident Romeo didnt do it but it just adds more to the equation.

Also i have a very close friend who had a very nice social dog but they came home one day and the dog had eaten and vomitted up the kitten they had just gotten. Im sorry for the disgusting visual but i just want to be thorough. I want to prevent romeo from ever doing something like that

Romeo is a very nice dog and i have never seen him be mean to anyone or anything it is the truth. He is very nice but he can play rough hes never injured anyone but hes used to playing with bigger stronger humans.

Okay after ALL of that, my question is how should i introduce my dog to the new kitten i am going to get?? I really need some advice from some people who know what theyre talking about. And thats why i chose this forum it seems there are some intelligent pet lovers on here lol. As i said the dog will not go in the basement and he used to live with an older cat and i would never want the dog to hurt the kitten trying to play with it.

Thank you first off for reading all of that and if you reply thank you also i really want to know what i am doing before i get my kitten so it interacts with Romeo well. Thank you again for reading because i know you dont have to read it and dont have to share your knowledge with me.
Thanks again,
Wes
 

krispie

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I am by no means an expert but here are some things that worked well for us in introducing kittens to dogs. First, make sure you put the kitten in a large cage or crate when you bring it in to meet your dog. set the cage down and let the dog sniff the kitten. Give your dog treats as long as he stays calm( doesn't bark or growl). Remember to give soothing words to to the kitten as well since he may well be scared of the dog. Once you get a sense of how the dog reacts to the kitten, the next step step would be to put you dog on a lease( so you have control) and let the kitten out in a safe area inside and see how they interact. any signs of aggression on the dogs part, remove him from the room and try again another time. Since he tolerated a cat well before, hopefully he will learn that the new furbaby is here to stay and that it is part of his family. Obviously, you would never leave them unattended until the kitten is full grown and you are sure of their relationship.

The biggest problem is sometimes that the dog wants to play, the cat gets scared and runs so of course the dog chases! So for now, just keep them both calm. Make sure Romeo gets lots of attention so he doesn't feel threatened by the new addition( just like kids!)

Hope this helps.
 

nekochan

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About the bird-- dogs and cats carry a bacteria in their saliva which is toxic (lethal) to birds, so if your dog was playing with the bird there's a very good chance he transmitted the bacteria to it... The bacteria is harmless to dogs/cats/people but deadly to birds.

If you are concerned about your dog's behavior when left alone with the kitten, you should keep them separated when you cannot supervise them.
 

tagsmom899301

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I am a little further along in your situation. I have a 5 year old mutt named Bobbi (girl). Bobbi had only been exposed to cats on a few occasions (so slightly different from your case). September we brought in a 9 week old male kitten we named Jelly Belly Bean. We first introduced them with Jelly in his crate and Bobbi on her leash. There was much hissing, spitting, and barking. Jelly then spent two weeks isolated in my bedroom. Jelly and Bobbi were able to smell each other under the door. I also took two dryer sheets (unscented and used), rubbed one over Jelly and one over Bobbi. I then took the dryer sheet with Jelly's smell to Bobbi. First I let her smell the sheet and then I rubbed the sheet over her. I then did the same to Jelly. I did this a few times a week, interchangine scents. My next step was to kennel Bobbi and allow Jelly full access to the house. I would let him out for about two hours and then once he went back upstairs to our room I would let the dog out. She would run around and sniff etc. I did this for two more weeks. I did one week of Bobbi on leash at all times and Jelly free the week after that. The one thing to remember when you do this is to remain calm and not yell no matter what. Bobbi has a training collar that I use and if she paid too much attention to Jelly I pulled the collar or said "hey" in a quiet voice to break her concentration on the cat (I watched A LOT of Dog Whisperer to learn what to do right!!). I also made sure that after each session both the dog and cat received treats (not too much cause I have a chunky doggie). This past week both Jelly and Bobbi are off leash and have been left alone for short periods of time. We have quiet moments but for the most part if Bobbi isn't chasing Jelly (Jelly likes to entice her to get her chase and won't leave her alone until she chases him, weirdo!). Bobbi is a bit mouthy and when she gets mouthy with him I correct her each time. Not only do they play well together now (we've had Jelly 6 weeks now!) but Bobbi even likes to groom him now! I hope that helps you some. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about what we did.
 
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