Introducing our new cat to our puppy?

[Millys Mum]

Iv never had to introduce dogs to my lot but i pity any dog that tries seeing how they react to the husky 

Let Mr Tinks guide you, if hes happy then go with it

[blackcat]

suggest you have him collar a leash-trained by the time the cat arrives, or he will choke himself with excitement. Bassets do have a short attention span, but short, to the point training sessions backed up by consistent approaches between times, do work eventually. No more than 3 repeats of each lesson at a time and you will get there a lot faster than letting him do as he wills now, and then try to train him later. As Den has already pointed out, it is a lot easier to teach them the right thing, than to unteach them the wrong thing. It is amazing how tenacious their memories can be for doing the wrong thing ...

[rachael1981]

Thank you all so much for your advice - it is much appreciated :-)

We havent clicker trained George as Bassets are so stubborn and lose interest really quickly  We crate trained him and have enrolled him in puppy classes but they dont start until August!

When he sees a cat in the street his tail goes ten to the dozen and he just wants to lick them!! If anything, the only thing i'm particularly concerned about is his excitedness as he does go over the top with it all!

Am just about to upload some photos for you all

[Den]

Oooooooooooooooooo will be needing pictures 

I've always broken the rules to with my lot. If you want you can have George on his lead so you can restrict his following of Mr Tinks. I wouldn't have thought you would have any problems to be honest. Mr Tinks will end up being boss as they always do  Just have somewhere he can escape to, baby Gates that BC mentioned are perfect. If George starts barking at Mr Tinks distract him - either with a toy to earn food or do a few training exercises then reward with food (do you clicker train? If so the clicker would help). If distracting him won't work then gently bring him into another room, (with you and without saying a single word) until he settles. When he's settled take him back, the first sign of any naughtiness/over the top excitement he goes back. Just keep doing it and it will suddenly click that his behaviour is the reason he gets taken out. Also you want to nip any chasing in the bud as it can be a pain to fix. You know puppies, they take 2 seconds to learn something an 2 months to unlearn it 

[em1209]

When we got our cats when I was living at my parents, we too broke all the rules and let them out the cage. Our black labrador who was only 1 at the time just sat looking a bit bemused, especially when the 2 black bundles of kitten fluff went to sleep in her basket 

You'll have so much fun Rachel, let us know how you get on and .... piccies please!!!

Emma x

[Kittybabe (Ruth)]

We had a gorgeous German Shepherd about 25 years ago and we had a lovely black cat who was about 2. WHen the puppy arrived, cat decided that he was ok, if just a little boisterous.

She clobbered him on the nose, made him bleed. They were best mates for life 

[Kirst]

I also , like PB broke all the rules when we introduced Beavis as Oscar to Jamie the Westie 10 years ago...................the cats assumed top position right from the word go , and until the day he died all it took was nopne hard stare and Jamie would be putty in their paws!

[blackcat]

Hi Rachel, I broke all the rules and just let the cat out of the box and strangely enough both of them got on famously with Shadow. But a puppy is a lot different to an adult dog who was brought up by assertive cats, so you may want to take things slowly. If you have a baby gate you can use to allow the cat to escape from the puppy that will be good. Also try them together under supervision and see how the puppy behaves. Puppies have a bad habit of rushing up to new things that a lot of cats hate. If you can hold the puppy so the cat can investigate that would be good. Otherwise, if none of these low-impact options work you may have to keep them in separate rooms until they get used to each others' smells. But if Mr Tink is used to dogs, he will soon sort out the puppy's brashness

Here is Shadow meeting Esther (who had just stepped out of her box)...



YOu can't see, but Esther is actually up on her hind legs rubbing against Shadow's nose - very sweet ...

[rachael1981]

We've had our Basset Hound now for 4 months and as you'd expect he's a mixture of laziness and a bundle of fun!! He is very gentile but does get very excited - at anything! lol!

We are picking up our rescue cat, Mr Tinks tonight (he's 4 yrs old, grown up with puppies and dogs and is very very laid back!) but i'm very nervous about introducing George to Mr Tinks 

Please can anyone give me some advice how to do this best?

Thank you so much 

Rachel x