HOW TO INTRODUCE DOGS AND CATS
By Eleanor Scheidemann, The Dog Lady
Cats are from Venus – Dogs are from Mars
Dogs and cats do not speak the same language. Where a dog may raise a paw to signal play, a cat may interpret this as a threat. Dogs are pack animals and will actively attempt to make friends with a new member of the household. Cats, on the other hand, are not necessarily pack animals, and may have no innate desire to make friends with strange animals. Cats are all about territory and dog are all about social standing.
Always remember that dogs are predators and they look on a small 
animal as prey.
They are very much attuned to quick movement, and nothing is as irresistible to them as a small running animal. When introduced to a dog, an experienced cat may sit still; however, an inexperienced one may run which will trigger the dog’s predatory instinct. If you have more that one dog you could be dealing with a “pack mentality” and one may cause the other to join in the chase. A group of dogs will do things that no one of them alone might ever do. Every dog you add to the numbers increases the risk to the cat. When the number of dogs increases to three or more they may even fight over the cat when they catch it. It’s common for dogs to calmly accept cats inside the house but treat them as fair game outdoors. Some dogs seem to be okay with the family cats but go after other cats that enter the yard. This is an unstable situation that can easily progress to going after the family cats or indoor cats, too. If you need a dog that is gentle with cats, don’t let that dog chase any cats. With multiple dogs or cats, be sure to train each one individually before trying them as a group. If, for example, you have two dogs and two cats, it will be wise to work each dog with each cat before trying them all together. Multiple cats can increase the level of stimulation in a dog.
You may be able to predict a dog’s response to a fleeing cat.
But,it is very difficult to predict how cats will behave in any situation. Cats living entirely inside a house have different social rules than cats that spend time outdoors; cats living with other cats have different social rules than cats living without other cats. There are cats that will attack dogs. A huge factor in predicting behavior is whether or not cats and dogs were socialized well together when they were very young. Cats that grew up around dogs will tend to be less fearful, and dogs that grew up with cats will be less likely to show predatory behavior.
Regardless of which animal was in the home first, when adding a new pet to the mix; you must take responsibility for everyone’s safety when living in a multi-species household. Be aware of the stress levels in both the cat and the dog. Being under constant stress is bad for either’s health. Do not force them to interact. Always let the cat approach the dog at his own pace and always have safe areas for the cat to retreat to. In the end; do not be surprised if your dog and cat never become friends.
Introduction Techniques
Start by letting the dog and cat smell and hear each other through a door that blocks the view. After at least one day, preferably several days but definitely as long as it takes for cat and dog to be relaxed, try reversing their locations so the dog is where the cat was and the cat is where the dog was. You can take a towel or blanket and rub the dog with it. Then let the cat smell the towel and perhaps use it as a blanket for the cat to sleep on. This will familiarize the cat with the dogs smell and ease the transition. Use the same technique in reverse-rub the cat with a towel and let the dog get used to the smell of the cat.
If both animals remain calm, the next step would be to put two barriers between cat and dog, with a distance of several feet or more so both animals will feel comfortable that actual contact between the two can’t happen. Then you let them see each other. One or both of the barriers might be a see-through door, window, or crate confining the cat. If it’s a baby gate it must be one the cat can’t get over, under or through. The dog needs to be confined away from the barrier the cat is behind. You could use another crate or enclosure, or perhaps have the dog on leash. Even if both animals are completely calm at this point, that’s enough for the first day, maybe the first several days. Don’t rush to the next stage. If either animal is nervous when viewing the other, go back to the setup of hearing and scent without sight. Be careful to maintain their trust by not allowing accidental contact. The dog may forgive you a mistake because you are human, but the cat won’t.
Cats can take a long time to get used to things, sometimes months.
Taking things too quickly can set the process back so badly that it’s far better to go painstakingly slowly. If the dog is the agitated one, consider the dog’s age, training, and the nature of the dog’s reaction to the cat. A puppy or adolescent dog has a long way to go before you’ll see the mature reaction to cats. This dog isn’t ready to be loose unsupervised in the house anyway. Plan for a long probation and training period, and reserve judgment on whether you’ll be able to leave the dog unsupervised with cats at some point in the future.
Training
The objective is for both animals to be calm in the presence of the other. If you have a helper, the cat can be on a leash attached to a cat harness. The helper’s job is to keep the cat from getting close to the dog, and to reward the cat for calm behavior. If you don’t have a helper you can put the cat in a crate and give the cat treats yourself.
The dog needs to be on leash. Maximum control would include a head halter or muzzle to control the mouth. An electronic collar could trigger a defensive reaction in the dog toward cats, so only an expert should attempt the use of this type of tool. A professional trainer might use an e-collar for this training to accomplish it faster, but an untrained person attempting it risks making the dog even worse toward cats and creating new behavior problems. Training that is done gently over a longer period of time tends to be more stable training with a greatly reduced risk of unwanted side effects.
Reward the dog for calm behavior in the presence of the cat.
Your goal is to keep the dog calm. You do not want to let the dog get excited and then punish him. You want to establish a strong habit of calmness, so calmness is what you practice. Use a focused attention eye contact exercise to get the dog’s attention on you and off the cat. Reward this response, over and over and over. Eventually the dog will automatically turn to look at you instead of at the cat.
When you have both animals completely calm in each other’s presence, start releasing the dog’s attention more and more, for longer and longer periods of time, to look at the cat. Watch for any staring or other intensity in the dog’s attitude, and interrupt the behavior by having the dog give you the attention. Doing this training gives you control so that eventually you may be able to control the dog off-leash around the cat. That level of training is feasible with most dogs if you are willing to put in the time. What you can’t control is whether or not the dog will ever be safe alone with the cat. That is something you’ll have to determine by observing both animals over time. Never leave them alone together until you feel sure they would not fight at all.
Management
Cat food is not good for dogs and dog food is not good for cats. Having a cat steal the food or even be around when the dog is eating will lead to food guarding in some dogs that can extend to attacking humans who come into the room with the food dish. A cat should not be allowed near the dog when the dog is eating. You don’t want a dog to feel any need to protect the food dish.
Both the cat food and the cat litter box need to be placed where the dog absolutely cannot get into them. Training is not adequate to keep a dog from raiding a cat litter box for “poop treats.” Dogs like the taste, and raiding the litter box results in a “food reward.”
If the cat is young, you can place the food and possibly also the litter boxes in locations higher than the dog can jump. If the cat can’t jump and is smaller than the dog, you can use a baby gate just high enough off the floor for the cat but not the dog to squeeze under. Another option is to fasten a door so that it opens enough for the cat to get through but not the dog. There are commercial cat litter box enclosures designed to keep dogs out, and homemade options work, too. If a cat feels bothered by a dog or any other obstacle when headed for the litter box, the cat is likely to abandon the litter box and start having accidents. Cat waste smells and stains worse than dog waste. Housetraining is a habit, and eliminating in the wrong places becomes a habit just as easily as eliminating in your preferred places does. If the cat starts having accidents, that scent is likely to cause the dog to eliminate in the same spots. This makes it well worth maintaining the cat’s sense of safety and privacy.
Friend or Foe
Some cats and dogs only manage to be civil to one another after painstaking training and with your close supervision. Some learn to live calmly in the same home paying little attention to one another. For the dog and cat to play together without it escalating into dangerous interaction is tricky. The best thing for you to train, encourage, and reward is calm behavior in each other’s presence. If they find their way to sharing games as time passes, that may be okay. You do not want to do anything to escalate the excitement of any games between them, or reward or try to teach them to play together. If they both enjoy it, it will be its own reward. If it starts to get too wild, you’ll 
want to go back to rewarding them for ignoring each other.
On occasion a cat can provide company for a dog. It depends on the dog and the cat, their histories and their genetics. We can’t force them to become friends, but we can give them the chance. In the end; patience and management are your best tools. A cat and dog will not like each other simply because you want them to. They will make that decision for themselves. They may become great friends, they may tolerate each other, or they may never relax in each other’s presence. But whichever way it goes, we must keep them safe.
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