alright, all of my friends who have a dog AND cat(s)--there are many of you out there.
any tips on keeping the peace? i've read numerous articles online, but i'm sure there are some fun anecdotes or ingenious ideas that you could share.
i have the un-named dog in her own "playpen" with her crate inside. it's plenty of room, tons of toys, and she went to sleep amazingly well last night with no whimpering during the night. she'll whine for about 5 or 10 minutes after going back in following a walk or playtime outside, but otherwise it's not too bad.
the cats are not hiding from her. grace is pretty much ignoring her unless the dog breaks loose during transition and chases after her to play. milo is quite interested and will sit in the kitchen, staring at the dog. occasionally, he'll give a good hiss and yowl. i figure this is milo establishing his dominance and showing the dog who's boss. not to mention that he's got a good eight pounds on this dog. i think it's more of the sheer energy and bounciness that frightens him. i only wish he could remember how he would terrorize grace and any other moving creature when he was a kitten.
she does not run loose in the house and won't until i'm positive the cats aren't traumatized (and that we're keeping her, of course.) some websites even recommend keeping her on a leash in the house until you know the dog will follow directions around the other animals.
but after a good long walk this morning and another run of playtime a minute ago--the cats are lounging around, the dog is quiet and i'm off to work.
(p.s.--the dog is napping and grace is right up by the pen, sniffing and observing...)
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2 hours ago
The cats hated Darby for about a month, but they got used to her being here and quit hissing at her (except for the occassional fur sibling spat). They aren't the best of friends, but Cheddar has been known to initiate play on more than one occassion.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the best thing you can do is make sure you are giving the cats just as much (if not more) attention as you did before the dog. Things will probably calm down when they realize that they aren't being 'replaced'.
Yeah, I just made Sam and Raya deal with it. It helped that they could escape to the upstairs though. Deac was scared to go past the landing for the first three months of his life with us. Sam soon learned to tolerate, although never learned to love. Raya thinks Deac is her best friend. They'll adapt. What about "Juno" for the name? Have you seen the movie? Very funny.
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