We re- homed Polly a 3 year old springer spaniel 10 days ago; she as made her self at home and is good as gold . However my 5 cats now will not come down stairs they are indoor cats litter trays & food have always been upstairs so thats not a problem.
They sit at top of stairs hissing at Polly; they are used to dogs as i've Sam a 9 year old springer which wolud curl up with cats

Anyone got ideas of what i can do

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sorry can be no help with suggestions, but wanted to say congratulations on getting your new springer. Enjoy.

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In the space of a year we have rehomed two dogs & the cats reacted differently each time.

As Toby (first dog) was older & more laid back they adapted to his arrival suprisingly quickly considering they were both indoor cats who had never seen a dog before. Within days they were sleeping on the sofa together & we didn;t have any problems.

It was different with Roxy our second dog. She is bigger & more excitable so the cats are alot more wary of her. To stop her trying to play with them (they really weren't keen depsite her best efforts!) we kept her on a lead until she had learnt to behave more calmly. We also had clicker training sessions where Roxy & the cats would just sit together & gain treats - they all loved this!

Don't worry, it's early days still, don't rush them but ina few days maybe try & encourage them downstairs if your new dog is leashed. Also I'd get a baby gate so they have always got an escape toute & can even juts look at your new dog through the bars.

Despite already living with a dog this is a new arrival so they will act differently. Ours took a few weeks beofre they were really confident round Roxy, even then she got a few claws on her nose if she was too keen on her approach to them.

I'm sure things will be fine if you ensure the introductions are supervised & your new dog isn't allowed to chase them. Good luck

I adopted a cat that had never seen a dog with a dog who hadn't seen a cat.

The cat has only just started to come down stairs after 3 months!

My advice? Let them get on with it. As long as the dog looks away when the cat hisses they should be ok.

Just keep an eye on them - cats will swipe at a dog that comes too close and it hurts!

As long as the cats have their own space they should be ok. Just look out for anxiety behaviours in the cat such as not eating etc.

They day will come when the cat will rule!

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Dog Trainer And Walker in Bolton and Bury

Just give the cats time to adjust and accept the dog won't hurt them and is here to stay. My 2 cats spent 2 weeks upstairs when I brought my pup home a month ago. I just left them to it and slowly they started venturing down the stairs.
Now a month later they will quite happily sit close by to where my dog is sitting. Don't allow the dog to chase the cats. I made a fuss of my cats when they came down so the dog could see they were part of the family.

thanks everyone the cats never batted an eye lid when we rescued our other springers 4 years ago; but they were older dogs.
had to smile this morning as last night i left a peice of pork to cool down & forgot about till i saw it on bathroom floor so 1 of cats been down stairs during the night & jumped back over stair gate with it
i knew it wouldn't be easy, thanks again

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Training program here for smooth cat-dog intros: Living like cats and dogs | Pet Central's Pawsitive Dawgs Blog!

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Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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