[Pandashane]

Ok, so I've been wanting a dog for a while (used to have a rottie...now going the opposite extreme). I have 2 cats (one male age 3, one female, age 2) who have not grown up around dogs. They are indoor/outdoor kitties and quite happy. There is a baby chi that I am going to visit this week that is 6 weeks old and is up for adoption from a dog rescue group. I know, I know...I've read everywhere that 6 weeks is too young to leave the nest and to undergo the stress of moving to a new home. The thing is that she has no siblings now (the other 2 were adopted), and no mother to take care of her. I need some advice on how to try to socialize her myself as much as possible (I have a friend that has a chihuahua and might be able to have some playtime with her), and also how to integrate this puppy into a cat environment. My oldest cat, Durian, was upset for about 3 weeks when I brought in my other cat Jezebel as a kitten. And Jezebel was also upset for about 3 weeks when a friend of mine stayed with his kitten for a couple months. BUT that said, they all loved each other afterwards. And with the 2nd kitten, Durian was very mellow and accepting. My whole reasoning for getting a puppy is because I think it would be less of a threat to the cats, and it would have the little chi grow up around the cats so she would be more used to them. Any advice would be appreciated to help this transition go well.
I have a feeling that when I see the little tike it will be very hard to walk away.

 

[Pangos_Mum]

It's always hard to walk away from any animal that is in need of a loving home. I admire the fact that you are rescuing this little one and going to take the responsiblity of raising it at 6 weeks. That is not an easy stunt to pull off to be honest. As far as socializing this little pup after all his shots and that my advice would to be enroll into a class. I'm sure there are many different kind of doggie classes that you can enroll into in your area. Another thing is when the pup is ready to venture out in the world, walks are also a great way to socialize this little pup. I haven't meet a person yet that doesn't want to pet Pango as we walk by. He loves the attention and I love the fact that he is so social. He also goes to the off leash park every other day and plays with every sort of dog breed you could think of and has a grand old time. Sometimes we just sit out front a cafe of Starbucks and he socializes with everyone and everything that walks by.

When it comes to getting the cats and pup adjusting to live in a happy home enviornment well of course that will take some time. The cats know that the home is now their terrority and they don't want to give that up to a new pup, but if you gradually introduce them to the pup they will get used to having a pup in the house and end up loving him. If and when you bring this little Tyke home make sure to give him a little room all to himself so that the cats can't get to him the first few days or weeks. Cats of course are curious as you know and they will try to find out what's in the room. I would suggest maybe holding the pup and showing each cat the little baby. Since he is 6 weeks and a baby they may be more accepting to him. I hope any of this helps you. Good luck!!!! :wave:

 

[KB]

Just like Pango's mum said.
I wish you luck and please we are picture addicts. :toothy1: I love these chi's here. Let us know, keep us posted ok? and WELCOME TOO!

 

[~Ri]

WELCOME!!!

This is a great group
Please post pics of your baby when you get the little one. :wave:

 

[Pandashane]

Thanks so much for the advice and the warm welcomes! I'm really excited about this and I'm glad that everything that you are advising to me sounds like everything I loved about being a dog owner so whew! I don't know what I was expecting. I will definitely post pictures when and if it happens. I have to keep reminding myself that it isn't for sure yet.
I'm really hoping that since the kitties have already been through the whole sharing the territory with another creature routine, they'll be more open to this. Thanks again and I LOOOOVE the pictures. I wish I had one to share with you...all I know is she's a chocolate brown little girl.
Soon!

 

[Ms_P]

Welcome to the group! :wave:

I got my chi baby a little over 2 weeks ago and we have 4 cats, 2 boys and 2 girls.

So far everything is going pretty good.

The only thing I can say for advice is to WATCH them. Don't let be alone unsupervised.
In the beginning all our cats would run from Sandy (my chi) and she would chase them. I think now they have learned that she doesn't mean them any harm and just wants to play. But cats being cats only want to play when they want to play and don't hesitate to let her know when they don't want to play. So far they have only batted her on the back of the head without extending their claws. Sandy gets her feelings hurt when the cats do this cause she doesn't understand about cats.
The 2 girl cats having been playing with her a little at night. They do this by jumping off of something near where Sandy is, then running into another room and jumping on something out of Sandy's reach. The cats know she will chase them if they run. They do this for a little while so it gets Sandy some exercise LOL.
They have to get to know each other and figure what the boundries are.

Our vet said to watch them in case the cats would try to scratch Sandy's eyes. That could lead to serious problems. So far everything is ok. But if it should start then they will have to be seperated. (or have claws removed)
If you have to go out, definatly make sure the cats have no access to your puppy at all.
So I guess the theme here is just to watch them, watch them and then watch them some more. LOL

Good Luck! :thumbup: