Cuddles(Inside cat)

Question
Hi we have a 3yr old cat, Cuddles.His front paws are declawed,he is a good cat, but can be a little meany.In a few days we are getting a new Pomeranian puppy. Do you have any hints to get these two acquainted. We have wanted a puppy since we retired, but of course we love Cuddles also and hope we will not have a problem, Thanks Sharon

Answer
Sharon, cats and dogs can live together, sometimes. The best results for a mixed household come when you get both animals as infant, but since that isn't the case here, I can recommend a course of action for you.

First of all, make sure you introduce them in the best way possible. As you already seem to have your puppy picked out,  I will recommend that you don't bring it home right away. Spend some time, each day for a week, playing with your puppy at the pet store or kennel. Give him a blanket to sleep on. Then, on the sixth day of the week, say Saturday, take the blanket home and put it near your cat's food bowl. Give the cat its favorite wet canned food, or other especially loved treat, so that it can associate the smell of the dog with treats!

Then, on Sunday, put your cat in a bedroom or bathroom with full access to a comfortable place to sleep, food, water, and a litter box.

At this point, the cat will have smelled the dog on you for a week, it will have come to associate the smell of the dog with treats and positive attention, and it is time to bring the dog home!

With kitty safely separated from the rest of the house, let the dog explore. When the dog has tired itself out and lain down somewhere to sleep, it is time to let the cat back in! Let kitty out into the rest of the house. She will likely go to smell the dog, and you may see her hiss at the puppy. Most likely, she will back away in displeasure.

Now, call your kitty for another special meal. Bring her some wet food, or other favorite treat food, on a plate and set that plate about 3 or 4 feet away from the dog. Stroke the cat and give him lots of positive attention!

You won't have to shut your cat in its own room anymore, but you should continue to treat the cat next to the sleeping puppy for the next week or so. He can't do any major harm to the pup while it's awake, so let them interact. It might not be too pretty at first, but don't worry.

The next major step you will have to conquer deals with the dog itself. You will have to train the dog to %100 obey the three S's. STOP, SIT, and STAY. I have always used STOP with my dogs, because the cat is already trained with NO, and it helps differentiate between punishing the two.

If the dog goes to chase or bully the cat, you must first reprimand him with STOP. He should stop his advance immediately. A good way to train this is to shake a toy in front of him, let it fall a few feet away, and then hold his backside down, saying firmly STOP. If he stops, give him a treat and lots of positive attention. NEVER yell or hit your puppy during training. He doesn't understand anger! Only positive reinforcement will train a young dog.

Next is SIT. After stopping, your dog should be commanded to SIT. The best way to train a dog to sit, is to hold a treat above the dog's head, making it look up. Then with your other hand, firmly tell the dog to SIT, and point down. Try it a few times without the treat, and pressing the dog's bottom into a sitting position. Then move on to the SIT training.

Lastly, your dog must be told to STAY until the cat is out of sight. STAY training can be done the same way as STOP training, but you must walk away from the dog after it has stopped moving. Have it SIT, and then STAY for 30 seconds at a time.

Training sessions should only last 20 minutes at most! Make sure you use lots of treats and lots of positive reinforcement!

If you have any other questions, or need anymore help, please don't hesitate to ask!