Easy does it, or getting cats adjusted to a new dog
Last weekend Fred and I met a wonderful dog named Kooper during an adoption event at a local pet store. We haven’t formally adopted him yet, but this weekend we’re fostering him as a sort of trial run.
Kooper is about three and a half years old, and he appears to be a mix of German shepherd, Dalmatian, and either husky or malamute. According to one of his foster mothers, he had been adopted before by a couple, who apparently did some training (he knows “sit” and “stay” and is very well-behaved). When the couple split up, though, they gave Kooper back to Stray Rescue.
Six a.m. walks notwithstanding, Kooper has done an outstanding job adjusting to us and our home. Our major concern, though, is getting the two cats to warm up to the dog. When Kooper first arrived, both cats started for the back of the house; Kooper’s “chase” instinct kicked in and he pursued, which made the cats run faster, which made Kooper run faster, and so on. Since then we’ve set up a gate dividing the front half of the house from the back half, with Kooper’s stuff in front and the cats’ stuff in back. There has been a very tentative détente as a result.
Every now and then we’ll gently restrain Kooper, open the gate, and let the cats approach him on their own terms. As the cats tire of their relative confinement, they’re becoming more and more willing to do it. Kooper is basically fine with the cats; if anything, he’s eager to meet them and play with them, and sometimes this eagerness makes him jump and whimper, thus spooking the cats. Oddly, though, the normally-social cat (Chip) is still extremely skittish of the dog, and the normally-shy cat (Dale), while still skittish, is making cautious progress towards full acceptance.
We’re still a little uncertain about how this will all work out. Kooper’s pretty large compared to the cats, and combined with his excitability that may keep the cats from fully trusting him. Unfortunately, if the cats and Kooper can’t get along, then Kooper will need to find another home, and we’ll have to find a smaller dog to adopt. Having met Kooper, though, we don’t see him having any trouble finding somebody to love him and care for him. (And if we don’t take him, I am willing to bet that my mother-in-law will be the first one in line to adopt him; we took him to their place today and they got along immediately.)
Tags: Fred, pets
1 comment
I just adopted a cat last month. She’s about a year and a half old. I named her Daisy. She is still taking time to adjust to the dog, but I don’t have to keep her confined anymore, she just kinda hangs near the back of the couch where she can hide.
Little, but little the dog gets closer and the hissing had almost gone away. Babe, the dog, just wants to play with Daisy.
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