Dog/Cat-How to get them to get along?

[Bananarose24]

Alright, we have 3 full grown cats, 1 kitten.
We just adopted a dog (Pit bull) named Beau. Brought him home earlier today.

He has been GREAT so far. He definitely needs some training (how to walk on a leash, not to jump, things like that), and my hubby and I will be working on that for the next few weeks.
He has been Great with the kids.. we have a 4 yr old and a 1 1/2 yr old.

Now with the cats, he wants to play with them, and they want nothing to do with him.
Right now, I have the main floor of the house gated (both stairwells are gated actually). That way the cats can be upstairs or down without him being anywhere near them.
I do not want it to stay like this for long.

So, any tips on how to get them to get along, best ways of introducing them to each other would be much appreciated!
Both times he's seen one of the cats he just gets excited and gets into a play stance.

The last time I had to hold him by the collar because he was about to chase the cat.. and it just made me nervous (even though he has shown NO agression at all).

For anyone who wonders, I've owned 1 pit bull in the past (at my parents house), raised him from a 4 week old pup (he was dumped at a petsmart) and he is now about 7 years old. So, this is my first time getting a dog that is full grown (1 1/2 yrs old roughly) and having to re-train what he already knows.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I would teach him to leave the cats ALONE. Cats are pretty fussy about dogs, getting to know each individual one, not just being "OK with dogs." If the cats react too strongly, playfulness on the part of your new addition could quickly turn ugly. I took back a Tervuren a few years back who had never been around cats and every time she focused on her, I discouraged it. It took a long time, but finally the cat didn't feel threatened and we've lived in relative peace. All interaction is on the cat's terms, no exceptions.

 

[cafarmgirl]

For me personally, introducing a new, adult dog to my cats makes me nervous and I tend to be exceedingly cautious about it. Actually after a couple of attempts that didn't work out to well I've gotten to where I just don't do it! I raise my dogs from pups with my cats.

But in this case I would keep doing what your doing as far as separating them for a while and see if the dog continues to be overly interested. Often if a dog is going to get along with the cats he looses interest with time and training. A high prey drive dog will take a lot longer to learn to live peacefully with cats if he hasn't before. I always kept my new dogs leashed to me in the house so I could catch and correct inappropriate behavior of any kind but especially towards the cats.

A dog may not necessarily show aggression when he's about to go after a cat, he may show a lot of intense interest and excitement and want to get in it's face. The cat runs and the chase is on. Keeping him leashed when he's around the cats for a while will allow you to stop any unwanted behavior until you feel he is ok around your cats.

 

[debilorrah]

Here it is in a nutshell. If the cats want to play with him they will. Period. Cats do what they want, when they want. You do not own cats, they picked you.

My Maltese and my cat play very well together because they are the same size.

 

[SallyF]

We have four cats and adopted two dogs within the last year. The cats are suspicious of the dogs; only one cat is willing to be around them much, especially at the dinner table. Although we do not feed treats from the table, they live in hope! One of the dogs is a yellow lab who has indicated that she would like to chase the cats, but we scold her when she tries it. When the dogs are in the house, the cats get up on the furniture. When we leave the house, the dogs are left in their crates with food and water, and the cats are loose in the house. I don't think I'll ever be able to take one of those cutesy pictures with the dog and cat cuddled up together in front of the fireplace, but I'm resigned to that. The other day I thought it would be cute to take a picture with all of them together for Christmas cards, then I realized that wasn't ever gonna happen. At least they don't fight.

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

If the dog is already wanting to play with the cats then he is too excited!

We recently babysat my friend's dog, a Golden Doodle. At home the dog pretty much chews and chases his two cats at will. At our house we have a 22 pound orange tom cat who puts obnoxious dogs in the corner. It didn't take the Doodle long to understand that when Tom came into the room he needed to look at the floor!

So if you don't have a "Tom" to teach your dog how to behave around cats...then I would teach him that every time he sees a cat he needs to lie down. That position is calming and a dog doesn't get as excited. That will help your cats to trust him. I did the same thing when getting my dogs to behave around my husband's rabbit. If the rabbit is out hopping around, they need to lie down, that's it.

Tom banishes the Doodle to the Porch:

 

[Dar]

I am in the same boat..

I have my moms dog for a while until they decide what to do after a house fire. the problem is my dad has encouraged his dog to chase cats and I have 4 cats so now I have to retrain a chow/husky to leave them alone.

I am kinda lucky because of the layout of my house I can close the doors to the dining room and the living room and the cats can have the upstairs and the dog have the downstairs and so far its been working. He no longer goes out of his mind when he hears them behind the door. Now we are working on the sitting calmly AWAY from the door when a human has to leave the room. Next we will progress to a baby gate

this is him with my 4lb min pin playing

 

[Bananarose24]

Well, day 2 and I took the baby gates down (had them at the stairs heading upstairs and the stairs heading downstairs).
So far, Beau has tried to go up once, I told him to come down, and he stopped. Then he and our cat Hans (orange tabby) had a staring contest for a 1/2 hour.
They both just stared, and Hans actually came down 2 steps.. I was impressed.

I think we're on the right track.
However, I have another issue that needs to be resolved quickly.
How do I get him to stop trying to knock my 2 girls over and hump them?!!!!!!!!

He just got fixed 1 week ago. I think that once the testosterone leaves his system he will stop this. It is also a dominance issue.
And I'm not sure how to show him THE GIRLS are dominant over him (they are 4, and 1 1/2).

Any ideas for that one???

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
That is a dominance thing, not mating. Once their boundaries are established it will stop.

 

[Bananarose24]

I do believe he sees me as the Alpha in the house now.
And each time he does that to the girls I tell him NO in a deep voice, tell him what he did wrong in a deep voice.. and thats about it. A few times I've even put him outside..
Am I doing the right thing? I cannot think of anything else I can do to get him to understand that is a BAD thing..

Is there anything else?
And of course, this scares my girls, especially the little one (now she is a bit scared of him and will cry if he even runs past her).
Its all a little bit overwhelming, but, he is a Great dog! Just a few hurdles to get over..