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richyrich46 · Jul 5, 2008, 10:51 AM

Hi,I have two cats coming up for a year old and have just got a border collie puppy.the problem is that the cats are terrified of him as when he sees them he barks.the cats will not come near at all and hide upstairs.has anyone any idea of what can be done or is it just a matter of time.we have had the pup a week now and nothing has changed between them.we have put a child gate in the lounge in the hope that if they can see the dog but he can't chase them this would help in the integration but no luck as yet.

wildandblue · Jul 5, 2008, 11:32 AM

You could try leaving some of the dog's stuff around, like a toy or a blanket where the cats can investigate it and get used to the new odor without the dog there. Keep the dog on a leash at first when you bring him around the cats, let them see he isn't allowed to hurt them. If he plays too rough, I actually used to tell my cat, OK, daddy will hold the big mean dog down for you while you hit it back, held the dog while I tapped the cat's paw against it. The cat loved this! Later anytime they got into trouble the three cats would run home and hide behind the dog for protection from a mockingbird or groundhog etc.

N0help4u · Jul 5, 2008, 11:36 AM

What I have done before is putting them near each other but with a barrier so that they can sniff but not get at each other. Keep doing that a little everyday for a few minutes until you feel comfortable that they ARE use to each other. Supervised of course.

Funny thing is cats are scared of dogs but the cat shows its claws and the dog is usually the first to back off. The dog ends up being more afraid of the cat and the cat doesn't even realize it.

froggy7 · Jul 5, 2008, 01:50 PM

It's going to take some time to see how they all get along. You have relatively young animals all around, so they may settle down and get along fine. Hiding upstairs is fine for now. Do the cats hiss and spit at the dog when they see him, or do they just run? The potential problem I can see is that the dog may try and herd the cats, and that's probably not going to go over well with them.

This may take some time. As a reference, I brought a calm adult dog into a household with two adult cats. It took 6 months for them to get to a point where they can be friendly towards each other. It would probably take longer if the dog was doing things that actually upset the cats.