[earlyday]

Does anyone have suggestions for me. I have an 5 year old and an 8 month old cat. They had lived with 2 dogs who were older, adjusted to cats, not very active. Sadly, we had to put both dogs down in the same month. We adopted a year old dog and it's a whole new ballgame. The older cat wants the dog to leave her alone and the kitten won't leave the dog alone. How can I teach this dog to treat each one differently? She doesn't want to hurt them and she obeys me when I'm around but I'd like to be able to have them all loose without hovering. I'm not sure she's afraid of getting scratched by my older cat which is worrisome.

[mrs1885]

You have to give it time, first of all. Second, they may never accept each other, so be ready to accept that too.

In the meantime if you're not there and the dog isn't crate trained, confined the cats or the dog to a single room so they can't be near each other.

Work with the dog to be calm around the cats and not get over excited. My fosters come in a lot way over eager to be friends with the cats. Luckily my cats are so used to strange dogs now they just hop on a dresser or counter or whatever and ignore the dogs. When the dogs finally start to chill out the cats dont mind being around them.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Second Mrs1885. Don't ever leave the cats alone with the dog, he is too new to have learned the household's rules and he could hurt one of them in ignorance of how small they really are. Time will take care of most of this!