How To Introduce a Dog to a Cat | Chewtorials

So you’re a dog parent hoping to adopt a cat, or vice versa. But will your dog and cat get along? In most cases, if you know how to introduce a dog to a cat, you can teach your pets to live together happily. Follow these steps to learn how to introduce cats and dogs.

Understanding Your Pets’ Body Language

Before allowing dog and cat interactions, familiarize yourself with canine and feline body language. Understanding your pets’ body language will help you spot signs of over-excitement or fear early, so you can step in with a distraction or separate the pets when necessary.

A few signs that your cat is feeling threatened:

Crouching
Arched back
Tucked tail
Ears flattened down
Facing sideways (ready to escape)
Hiding
Hissing

A few signs that your dog is feeling threatened:

Lip licking
Looking away from the cat
One paw raised
Yawning
Tucked tail
Ears back (tight against head)
Growling

IMPORTANT: If either of your pets is stiff and staring directly at the other, they may be about to attack.


What You’ll Need to Introduce a Dog to a Cat

Things you’ll need for your dog-cat introduction:

Towels
A pet gate
Dog treats
Cat treats
Engaging dog toys, like a rope for tug of war
Engaging cat toys, like a teaser wand
A friend or family member to help—this is a two-person job!

How to Introduce a Dog to a Cat: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Begin by Keeping Your Cat and Dog Separate

It might seem counterintuitive, but at the beginning of this process, keep your pets apart. Divide your home into a “cat area” and a “dog area,” so each pet has their own space. This will help them both establish a sense of security in your home, which will help get introductions off on the right foot.

Give your pets a day or two to get used to their new space before moving on to the next step. (This is especially important for cats.)

2. Start a Scent Exchange

Place towels in your pets’ beds or other areas where the dog and cat sleep. Each day, switch the towels so the cat sleeps on the towel the dog used the previous day, and vice versa. Do this for at least a week. This will help both pets get used to each other’s smells.

3. Play With the Door Closed

Now that the cat and dog are familiar with each other’s smells, it’s time to get them used to hearing each other. You’ll need an extra helper for the next few steps.

Have one person with the cat on one side of the closed door, and the other with the dog on the other side. Each person should do something fun with their pet. For example, you could do treat training with the dog, or play with a tug toy or a flirt pole. For the cat, try a teaser toy or do treat training (if the cat likes treats). The idea is to get both pets enjoying themselves, while also hearing the other pet beyond the door. Keep the playtime session to no more than five minutes.

4. Let Them See Each Other

Cover the pet gate with a towel, open the solid door and repeat step three, this time with the towel-covered pet gate as the barrier. Once your pets are comfortable with that, move the towel a little to the side so both pets get glimpses of each other as they train or play.

As long as both the cat and dog continue to stay calm and focused on the fun, you can open the towel a half-inch further at the next practice session. Don’t rush, though! It may take weeks before both pets can stay calm with the towel gone.

If either pet reacts with fear or aggression when they see the other, end the session immediately. In the next session, set up the towel so they can’t see each other as clearly.

5. Remove the Barrier

Once the cat and dog happily play or get treats on either side of the uncovered pet gate, try doing the same routine with no gate between them. Use a leash to keep the dog from getting too close to the cat (imagine there’s a line separating the area into halves, and use that as a guideline). If the cat chooses to get close to the dog, though, that’s fine!

Continue these sessions until your cat and dog remain reliably calm in each others’ presence.

If your pets are still not getting along, consult a Certified Behavior Consultant-Canine or Certified Dog Behavior Consultant. These professionals can help you figure out if your pets need additional training, or are simply not a good fit.

#chewy #chewtorials #howto #howtointroducecatsanddogs #catsanddogs

[RedEyeKingX]

I literally grew up with the same exact cat and dog in this video. A Grey tabby cat and a Sheltie dog, Rip Misty and Jesse I'll never forget them both

[piewhackitme]

I reformed two cat hating dogs by putting the cat in a kennel and put a leash on a let them sniff through the kennel door.Every-time I noticed the dogs body language i and I corrective tugs on the leash if I felt the dogs getting too interested.Didn’t take long until both dogs and the cat accepted each other and one dog would even curl up with the cat and they’d sleep together.The dogs never harmed the cat once

[gaydingus]

I’m a volunteer at an animal shelter. I will be referring adopters to this video! I wish more people learned how to introduce their new pets with each other, it’s honestly frightening how many get returned from a bad first encounter, or sometimes worse harmed. Thank you for spreading this wonderful info! Pet the doggy and the kitty for me 🤗❤️🐕🐈

[joshrealms]

Picking up our new baby Kitten on Sunday, so I’m rewatching these videos and taking notes. Our boy is a smaller older dog with lots of patience and is very kind to other animals. Still going to take it slow so both babies are comfortable. This guide is very helpful, Thank you!

[TheBehm]

I love the scent exchange idea. They’re not even seeing or hearing each other. Just smelling

[garthdavis]

Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria.

[thelinedrive]

One way I’ve found that works. At least as far as introducing cats to dogs, is to let the cat have the indoor space during the day and leave the dog outside during that time when you are away. This works if you let your dogs in at night. So it allows the cat to know their scent and observe through the back door safely. Then at night you introduce them to each other when you let the dog in. The cat will hide at first, but the more he sees the dog and realizes they aren’t going to hurt it, the more comfortable they become with each other.

[kuhlecreativestudio]

I’m getting a kitten in about 5 months and there’s going to be two dogs in the house so I’ll be introducing a kitten to two dogs I’m super excited and I know all these videos will help

[kimberlymedley]

I enjoyed the video. It was fun to watch. Clio and Luna are adorable and cute as they can be. I hope they continue to live happily together for the rest of their lives.

[mshafer]

My wife and I used to babysit a friends cat whenever they would go out of town. Well, we had a cat too and so we were dumb enough to just let them be in the same house with each other. All I can say is, you would not believe how much like a cougar two little house cats can sound when facing off against each other! 😂😂😂

[shealaghoshea]

I LIKE THIS VIDEO IT IS PURPOSEFUL AND PREPLANNED VERY EASY TO FOLLOW!
THANX A BUNCH!

[lumenmom]

I really enjoyed the video. Back when I had my pets, I did not have such knowledge. Fortunately for me, they would be enemies only for 1 day. Second day cautiously curious. 3rd day best buddies.

[Siddiebop]

I don’t have any pets, but this video was really informational, so thank you, chewy

[cgbnke]

Looked like a beautiful day, hope you both enjoyed it, I know I did lol thanks…

[Daddy]

CHEWY is a very cool company that ACTUALLY loves and cares about them!
CHEWY rocks!!!🥰

[billmalone]

This is good information to have when introducing dogs and cats to each other.

[juliekatsion]

Good tutorial! Thank you. I’m eager to follow the steps as I stay with my sister and her two cats with my dog. I’ll be here a while so this slow introduction sounds like a good plan.

[bikinibaetay]

Omg I love Brenda!!! My fav survivor contestant everrrr🥰

[gaylapawloski]

My dog and my cat decided that they like each other from the moment I introduced them to each other. My cat was 4 years old, my dog was a 6 months old English Pointer puppy. They’ve been best friends for 8 years now!

[qmaiin]

ngl this is the only ad I would actually click and watch, which I did good job 👍