# help - cats scared of puppy!



## avons82 (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi,

My cats are terrified of my new 10 wk old pup, Bertie. They spend most of their time upstairs now (where hes not allowed until after house trained) and only come down when hes asleep..

All he want to do is chase them! I know to try preventing the chasing by keeping him on his houseline, but its difficult everytime when the cats suddenly appear in the garden, lounge etc.

Will they eventually get used to him and will he ever not want to chase them? just want eveyone to be happy together, as its quite stressful at the moment! 

Any advice on helping with introductions?

He also just wants to bounce on, chase and playbite with my house rabbits, so theyre kept separate... any ideas on this one either!

Thanks so much....


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## HoneyFern (Aug 27, 2009)

They will get used to him but they don't know it yet! As long as they've got somewhere to get away from him - lots of high places and rooms the pup isn't allowed - then they'll settle down eventually. 

He's just being a typical puppy aand witha bit of training he'll stop wanting to chase your other pets in time.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

It's early days yet so try not to worry too much. I got my first dog about 2 months ago & my 2 cats were terrified of him at first. I felt so guitly that I had disrupted their world but things soon settled down. As my dog is 6 1/2 yrs old (& lived with cats previously) he's not as hyper as a puppy so doesn't bother them too much. Try to make sure that the cats have space away from the dog, we got a baby gate from Argos so Toby (dog) couldn't follow them in to the bedroom & they got some time away from him. 
I was quite lucky that they all seemed to settled down pretty quickly, the cats are still slightly wary of the dog at times but hardly now bat an eyelid when he starts barking at the door.
Make sure that you still spend time with the cats & maybe play with them seperately for a while (in case the puppy starts to join in & scares them). I think other posts have recommended that you can get Feliway spray which helps calm cats down if they are stressed. I've never used one but others recommend them.
It is difficult at first, try to keep the puppy on a lead & don't let him bound up to the cats but if they can sniff each other then fgreat. Do you use a crate for your puppy? Again this is quite good as the cats can walk around to have a loook at the puppy without him scaring them.
Try some basic training with the puppy & reward him when he sits quietly - probably quite difficult at the moment I'll bet! 
As they all get used to each other things will get much better honestly. It just takes time. Mine are still getting used to each other but they all slepp together now, am typing this with the dog on one side & cats on the other.


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