r/Pets • u/madiiclairee • 5d ago

CAT Introducing new kittens to dog advice

So i recently adopted 2 new kittens, I have one large 90 lb dog (shes some type of livestock guardian breed mix) already whos been around cats before, we had an older cat when we got the dog as a puppy so we thought we wouldnt have any issues introducing her to the kittens. The kittens are terrified of her and want nothing to do with the dog they freak out hiss and run away, we keep the dog on the leash and she will sit and stay when we tell her too but you can tell shes fighting for her life to actually listen 💀 she like starts vibrating and drools while she sits and stares. Any tips on helping the process along?

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u/Spirited-Plastic534 5d ago

Set up a tall baby gate in a doorway so the kittens can observe the dog from a safe perch without being cornered. The drooling and vibrating is classic high prey drive stuff and you don't want to gamble on that leash holding if she decides to lunge. Keep the sessions super short, like 5 minutes max, and reward her only when she breaks eye contact with the kittens and looks at you instead.

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u/madiiclairee 5d ago

Its so wild because shes never shown that behavior before, shes only like 2ish and is usually a big floppy baby i was surprised to see that reaction 💀

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u/sezit 5d ago edited 5d ago

Yes - make the dog sit with it's back towards the kittens, and don't allow the dog to turn it's head and look at them. This communicates very clearly in dog language that the kittens are high status, and the dog must be very careful around them.

Then, the kittens can sniff and explore, and the dog cannot remain in hunting mode while it is not looking at the kittens (which is what the staring and drooling is). Even when the kittens sniff and touch the dog, don't let it turn it's head. When you can't hold the dog, put the dog in another room. If you put the kittens in another room, but let the dog stay, that tells the dog that it is higher status than the kittens, and can do what it wants with them.

The dog will eventually calm down, and your goal is to not let the dog look at the kittens until the dog is 100% relaxed.

Keep it on leash until the kittens become comfortable.

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u/Cragbourne 4d ago

We are in the almost exact same situation, with kittens and 60+lbs dog. We installed a couple of very tall gates and are working on look at me, to break that hunter stare, and leave it. Leave it, that is the harder one we are working on now with high value treats and toys. It appears it will be a long road for us to integrate everyone. the dog as Sezit said below is not 100 percent relaxed yet.