We bought an 11 week old yorkshire terrier yesterday and already have 2 house cats that are 1.5yrs old.

We kept the puppy in the bedroom last night with us to allow her to settle in and the cats to get a sniff of her. This morning we let the cats in who were very inquisitive but made sure they were a step or 2 back at all times. The puppy wanted to approach them but they always kept their distance until one of the cats hissed at her. Our cats are anything but aggresive but as they are only in the house, they are not used to other animals.

Its definitely too early to trust them with the puppy, we will need to keep a close eye on them for the time being, but does anyone have any advice where it may speed the process up and how long a process like this may take.

Also, before i attend the dog school, i would like to start some basic training of my own. I thought i would teach the sit, lie down, and stay commands in that order, any other commands that you would recommend i teach from the start or should i concentrate on the 3 important ones first then move on.

Thanks

I think that if you slice them thinly enough, your dog should have no problem.

As far as the cats are concerned they are hissing because they don't know what/who this new puppy is. I don't think you need to worry, cats are not known to kill dogs, it's the other way round.

Let the puppy discover the cats and let the cats teach it who's the boss. The sooner the puppy gets the swipe across the face/nose out the way the better. It might not even happen at all.

The cats are probably a little put out by the fact that all the attention is not available for them. Gush over the cats from time to time, even if they pretend not to care

Cats should have some places where they can escape and where the dog is not allowed, that should help. As for timeline, took a whole month in our case before the cats were comfortable.

usually no, but OP has this:


and if it meets this?

I've been reading around the net and it looks like the best option is to put the puppy in a pen where the cats can get a sniff and feel safe while the puppy is confined to one space. Dont think i will buy a pen but will be able to fence a part of the room off for her where the cats can easily jump the fence. Will give it a try tonight, the last thing i want is for the cats to get depressed

[QUOTE=ullainga;1453659]usually no, but OP has this:


[QUOTE]

Funny thing is, thats a carbon copy of ours

What is that amazing thing? I thought you were not allowed to have a lynx as a pet?

That is one amazing cat!

Either a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest Cat. I have two NFC and at eight months old the male is already bigger than most normal house cats. His fully grown "uncles" are exactly like the guy in the photo.

As for the puppy thing, TB, you have it AAAALL wrong, you are introducing the puppy to the cats, not the other way round.

Do they, like, need as much space as a doberman or something? They look so amazing I would be tempted, but don't know if they would survive on a "big apartment Zürich style" (also known as <100m2).

I could get lost on that fuuuuuuuuuuur.

I was going to say I could do an EF event for people with cat withdrawal who want play with and stroke my kittens but then realised that the scope for naughty innuendo is just far too big.

They are very fluffy but don't need to be brushed. They are also very friendly and intelligent. My apartment is 107 but they only get to use three of the four rooms and are fine.

In other news, anyone else keen to see pictures / videos of the Yorkie versus Cats situation? I reckon it would be very cute.

Keep your eye on this thread, i will see what i can do with regards to getting a video of an encounter.

OP dont worry. We went through the same process two years ago. The day we brought the puppy home, the cat had just given birth. You can imagine. Puppy being curious going close to the kittens, mummy and daddy cat not very happy, puppy easily found out who is the boss.

We didnt do anything special. We just left them alone to deal with it. We must have done a good job since now they all sleep together