Socializing kittens with dogs

[Heather Neumann]

How do you go about socializing kittens with other pet in the house (i.e dogs, other cats, even other humans) what has worked and / or not worked for you?

ADVICE?

 

[KrystalMcFly]

We have a Labrador (1 year old) and when we bought home our new kitten we let them interact through the screen door first. We then allowed the kitten to roam the house on her own to sniff and work out her surroundings, litter box etc. We then allowed another interaction through the screen door ( repeated this a few times )

After a few hours we allowed Archie the Labrador to sniff the kitten whilst we were holding her tightly, there were a few hisses at the start but overall it went surprisingly well! We already had a 2 year old sphynx cat whom the Lab has grown up with so I feel that made a big difference. The existing sphynx didn't fancy the kitten at the start so we ensured they wernt left alone together for the first few days.......after that they were the best of friends! Again, I think we just got lucky.

This is a good link on this site about introducing them - ill try find it

 

[Toa and Ross]

Welcome to sphynxlair! I don't have experiencewith introducing a kitten to other pets. But from the look of the pics you sent I think the socializing and introducing is going very well. What a cuties they are!

 

[linathehuman]

I'm also very interested to hear some responses on this topic. Our kitten is coming home in 4 weeks and we have a 2 year old dog who loves other animals but is pretty high energy. Luckily our breeder also breeds bloodhounds so the kitten will have been very used to socializing with dogs...those dogs, at least. Hoping that helps when introduction time comes.

I've read that if it's a new introduction, giving a kitten their own private room in the house anywhere between a day to a week, (depending on how shy/timid they seem upon entering their new home) helps get them acclimated to other animals' scents. You could let them sniff or play with each other underneath the door. Then when everyone seems comfortable, leaving the door open a crack so they can sniff nose to nose.

It's probably also dependent on how confident the kitten seems to be upon entering. I'm sure experiences vary widely so I'm curious to read other responses.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Here are a couple of older threads that you might find helpful/reassuring about having dogs. The one is about introducing a new kitten to existing cats, but the info also has great points that would work with introducing to dogs as well. Slow and steady and give the kitten high areas to escape to.
Sphynx Mommy Soon

Introducing a new adult sphynx cat or sphynx kitten into the home


Good luck,

Patti

 

[GoldHazel]

@Heather Neumann as a dog trainer I can tell you one known fact: IF the dog isn't sweet and mellow, by a person holding a smaller new animal (kitten, puppy, cat, dog), that dog that isn't mellow can see the held animal as food and go to attack. Being that your photos show that your dogs aren't aggressive, holding the kitten is fine.

I always made a big deal out of a new pet to my dogs by talking to them in "motherese" ... a higher pitched voice with excitement as I also told them, "Gentle. Be gentle with the baby!" I never had a problem introducing dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc. because my pets were always obedient and well behaved.

A few of my sphynx kittens did hiss at the dogs when first introduced. I always allowed my dogs to sniff the kittens while I held them towards the dogs (but I was always able to trust their behavior).

When I had larger dogs, a chocolate lab and a golden retriever, my cats did fear for their ribs getting broken by my chocolate lab as they are silly dogs and don't know that they are a large dog. LOL So whenever the chocolate lab came barreling in to a room, my kitties always knew to run or a rib was about to get broken. LOL

In my house, the nakeds landed up "ruling" the dogs even though the dogs were here years prior. The nakeds as kittens either loved the dogs here or went after them chasing them around!

Always supervise and show the dogs your confidence as well as disapproval if you don't like their behavior with the kitten.

Loved the pics you shared and I'd love to see more in the future.

 

[Heather Neumann]

Thanks

We have a Labrador (1 year old) and when we bought home our new kitten we let them interact through the screen door first. We then allowed the kitten to roam the house on her own to sniff and work out her surroundings, litter box etc. We then allowed another interaction through the screen door ( repeated this a few times )

After a few hours we allowed Archie the Labrador to sniff the kitten whilst we were holding her tightly, there were a few hisses at the start but overall it went surprisingly well! We already had a 2 year old sphynx cat whom the Lab has grown up with so I feel that made a big difference. The existing sphynx didn't fancy the kitten at the start so we ensured they wernt left alone together for the first few days.......after that they were the best of friends! Again, I think we just got lucky.

This is a good link on this site about introducing them - ill try find it

!! I love the screen sore idea! My dogs sometime try to run through it though (have replace a couple in the last year) our older lab, he's 8 is the one we introduce first because he is more calm. Our Boerboel (African mastiff) is very large and high energy. Thank you so much for the response!

 

[Heather Neumann]

@Heather Neumann as a dog trainer I can tell you one known fact: IF the dog isn't sweet and mellow, by a person holding a smaller new animal (kitten, puppy, cat, dog), that dog that isn't mellow can see the held animal as food and go to attack. Being that your photos show that your dogs aren't aggressive, holding the kitten is fine.

I always made a big deal out of a new pet to my dogs by talking to them in "motherese" ... a higher pitched voice with excitement as I also told them, "Gentle. Be gentle with the baby!" I never had a problem introducing dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc. because my pets were always obedient and well behaved.

A few of my sphynx kittens did hiss at the dogs when first introduced. I always allowed my dogs to sniff the kittens while I held them towards the dogs (but I was always able to trust their behavior).

When I had larger dogs, a chocolate lab and a golden retriever, my cats did fear for their ribs getting broken by my chocolate lab as they are silly dogs and don't know that they are a large dog. LOL So whenever the chocolate lab came barreling in to a room, my kitties always knew to run or a rib was about to get broken. LOL

In my house, the nakeds landed up "ruling" the dogs even though the dogs were here years prior. The nakeds as kittens either loved the dogs here or went after them chasing them around!

Always supervise and show the dogs your confidence as well as disapproval if you don't like their behavior with the kitten.

Loved the pics you shared and I'd love to see more in the future.

@gold hazel
I love the dog training aspect. The word Gental coul help a lot. I most deffinately have to focuse more on te dogs then the kittens. Momma kitten was not happy I brought the dog aroun but the babies were curious.

 

[GoldHazel]

@gold hazel
I love the dog training aspect. The word Gental coul help a lot. I most deffinately have to focuse more on te dogs then the kittens. Momma kitten was not happy I brought the dog aroun but the babies were curious.

@Heather Neumann, that's exactly right, the focus has to be on the dogs. The cats can show dislike...hiss and swat at the dogs which normally makes a dog back up and walk away, just along the dog isn't a "killer". My dogs are very obedient and know what the word, "gentle" means. I taught them that word while training all my dogs to take food from my lips. If they weren't gentle, they didn't get their treat. I always used that word anyway because I was always bringing a new pet in to the house. They knew the difference between gentle with my lips and food and being gentle with a new baby pet. I always allowed them to sniff. Keeping the dogs completely away isn't a great idea. I just put a stop to nose poking which is a dominant behavior.

 

[BusterTheCat]

We used to have two dogs and had to introduce three kittens to them over the coarse of their lives. For the first week, we would keep the kittens in one room of the house. After a few days or when they seem to be relaxed and well-adjusted, we would put one dog in their crate and bring them to the kitten room. This way, the kitten was in control of the situation and was in an environment they were comfortable in. We would let the kitten approach the crate on their own time and have them sniff each other, etc. Once the kitten has done this enough times and is comfortable, we put the dog on a leash and bring them to the kitten room. This way, we have control of the dog as you never know how they will react to a tiny creature. Again, do this a few times until they both seem comfortable in the situation and then they should be alright off-leash!