It happened My finace brought his 8 year old labrador as his ex wanted to rehome him. He is very lovely, happy and calm dog....didnt really pay any attention to the cats.

We keep him upstairs at the moment locked behind a child safety gate.

One of my cats (8month old kitty) is very curious and keeps coming to the gate and checking the dog out. Unfortunately the other 2 (2 year olds) temporary moved to the top of the fridge.

Any tips on how we could get them aclimatised??? I dont want to force the cats onto the dog but they are petrified as they never seen a dog in their life.

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Has the dog ever used a crate or is he used to one? If he is as calm as you say and will settle and be happy in a crate. Then you could put him in one with a chew or stuffed frozen kong, and bring the kitties in and introduce them that way, Initially for a minute or two then trying to build the time up.

If the dog is in a crate, then if the kitties run he wont be able to chase after them and scare them further, or be encouraged to chase, as some dogs
are ok until the cats run and then their chase instinct kicks in and they cant help themselves and it can make matters worse.

If you could do this and gradully build up the time, and the cats begin to loose fear, then you could try the next step of him being out the crate with him on lead and sitting and bring them in and slowly build that up, so little by little they hopefully will relax and gain trust in him.

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He has never used a crate.

We see how it goes....he didnt want to chase them as yet but he just wants to play with them...

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Just to update you.

Jack the dog settled really quickly without any problems. Cats.....hmmmmm varies, they are very curious of him and keep checking him out, 2 of them try to come closer. Bolus the 3rd cat is temporary moved on the top of the fridge. I hope he will get used to the dog eventually. Jack doesnt chase the cats just you get an odd grawling sound from him, that's all.

Hopefully soon they will all leave happily ever atfer.

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Hi there,

I had to laugh at your post as I had a similar experience. I had my cat loulou first an indoor cat, very spoilt. Then 1 year later came my labrador puppy Sophie, a puppy was exceptable as loulou was older and wiser and walked on the furniture to avoid the puppy for afew days, then when the puppy was sleeping loulou would sneek a peek and after a few snifs she was ok with her, all was going well and settling down until............. we took on a 2 year old terrier Pip, who needed a new home......
lets just say the dog took a chunk out of the window sil trying to bite the cat, natuarlly we had the dog on a lead... I had never heard my cat loulou growl and hiss before............ no one was happy.. I was beside my self demanding that the dog and my husband leave the house, there was hell to pay.
So up went a baby gate with the cat up stairs and the dogs down. It took every hour on the hour for one month............... honest to god... I took the dog on a strong lead up stairs to the baby gate the cat the other side, at first they would just stare at each other,yes pip would bark and try and bite, loulou would hiss, then it moved on to sniffs through the gate with alot of NO'S! and eventually the dog wasn't that bothered.
3 years on....... loulou rubs against Pip and actually plays tag with her.. they have total respect for each other and I never thought it would happen in a million years.
If I was you, let the cats do their normal thing........... and keep the dog on a lead so the cats know your in control of the dog and slowly they will except your dog.

Good luck I'm sure all will turn out well and they will either ignore each other or become best friends.

Thx for this.....it made me laugh, especially the window sill part

The cats are much better now, keep checking him while he sleeps LOL and the are on the worktops in the kitchen while he is eating. All goes well. Hopefully they will accept them fully.

They do check each other thru the child gate on the stairs.

Will keep you posted.

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