Puppy and Kitties

    • Gold Top Dog

    Puppy and Kitties

    We've had our 5-month TT for about 6 weeks now. In the beginning we introduced him to our 2 adult cats (1.5 year olds) slowly. He was in his crate, they had time to explore, etc. We never made a big fuss over it...just let them be. They are now at the point where they can walk by eat other (albeit warily) without any hissing or swatting. They occassionally sniff each other a bit.

    However...the puppy doies occasionally chase the cats. They have their claws and if he gets too close they will swat at him. From the looks of it, they don't even have their claws out when they do this. There is a lot of angry sounding growling from the cats and a few hisses when this happens. The puppy does not growl at the cats, but will bark when they growl. He immediately goes down into play pose...I think he thinks this is a grand game.

    My question is -- is this behavior OK? Is this normal? Is it possible that they ever be actual friends?

    TIA,
    • Gold Top Dog
    Don't let him do that! It can transverse into HUGE problems. Joy started out like this, and then started gradually biting harder and harder on his neck, swatting harder at him...etc. I always keep a 6 foot floor cord on her. Everyday I work on her recall. Whenever she bothers the cat, I grab the floor cord and call her, and jackpot her treats. She's slowly learning to back off the cat.