Cross Breeds

How do you introduce two 6 month old puppies to 3 adult cats?

We adopted two cross-breed puppies from the SPCA yesterday and we have three adult cats who are very important to me. The puppies are staying in my pool area until its safe for my cats ( the cats cant get into the pool rea).The 6month old puppies have never seen cats before so they do react a bit to them. I really need them to get used to the cats and not kill them. I took them on leashes and brought in one cat and they growled quietly and got abit jumpy. Does anyone have any tips on how I can train them? My senior Lab loves the cats and licks them. Please help!

Public Comments

1. I'd introduce them some place where the cats can jump up high to get away from the dogs.
2. completely wrap the puppies in bubble wrap. If you hear one of them POP you know something is going down.
3. ASPCA has an article about how to introduce a dog to a cat. You should have asked them when you adopted the dogs. they could have told you. also the senior lab you have should be able to show them the ropes. I would say get a muzzle that way you know the pup won't bite the cat and bring the cats out. (I would want to make sure the cat doesn't attack the dog too.) Early socialization usually help. My old dog (rest his soul) used to love cats too...he used to let the neighbor's cats eat his food. But he didn't get to teach my pups that skill. Not that I am much of a cat person but I think he would teach them if I would have a cat.
4. I read that when you introduce a new dog to an old dog, you should keep the new ones in their crates for a while when the old one is around. That way they get used to each other. Eventually, when they start ignoring the new dog's presence, it's a sign that you can introduce them without the protection of the crate. It's probably the same thing for introducing the cats to the dogs. Keep the dogs in their crates for a while, let the cats sniff them and eventually when they start to ignore the fact that each other are there, you can move to the next step. Also, never leave them alone together, even though you said you're not doing that. One thing is that they do need exposure to each other, as scary as it is. good luck...always make sure they're on their leashes when you're first introducing them to the cats too, so you can pull them away quickly. Your vet might have more advice..
5. Go to petfinder.com. There is a link to an article about how to introduce cats & dogs on the homepage.
6. Just put them in the same house turn them loose they will get along sooner than later