New Puppy! :) Kitty being territorial.

[Paul B]

So we just got a 5 month old European Boxer puppy last night. Her name is Holly. She is so wonderful. I knew before we got her that Sorte (F2 Savannah) was going to be unhappy about the new addition and I was right. We introduced them through smell first by putting Holly's blanket and toys inside, letting Sorte smell them. He immediately puffed up just smelling her items. Then we let them see each other through the glass french doors and Sorte started yelling and hissing as expected again.

Now come the fun part... we brought her inside and man the noises that came out of Sorte was UNREAL!!! LOL! I thought I had heard them all already.... I was wrong. Once she was inside, he wasted no time getting a good swat in at her along with screaming and hissing. Holly didn't have much of a reaction. Me on the other hand... I jumped in between them, picked Sorte up and just held him for a bit as he continued to yell at Holly. The rest of the night was just my wife and I being a wall between the two. Sorte has absolutely no "fear" of her at all.

Now to today. Things are much better between the two. They can be in the same room together with out much fuss from Sorte for the most part. Every now and then though, Sorte will walk right up to her, no fluff, then he'll start hissing and yelling at her and I'll jump in between them. For the most part, I wouldn't mind his showing his dominance, I just don't want him to get a claw in her eye. Holly is getting more comfortable and I can tell she just wants to be friends with Sorte (until he starts yelling, then she gets worried). At one point tonight, Sorte slowly walked up to her and the actually touched noses which is great, but Holly decided that meant they were friends and she started to get excited which set Sorte off again.

Sorte will attack her toys and her blanket to take some aggression out. I have noticed that Sorte gets mad when Holly goes to eat her food too. For the most part though, for only being here for a full day, Sorte seems to be progressing fairly well. Anyone have any tips tricks to help the process along a little smoother so that my wife and I don't have to be full time body guards? LOL!

 

[Wyldthingz]

This reaction is pretty normal. Have a lot of high places that Sorte can observe the puppy from a safe distance, even to navigate the room without touching the ground. It doesn't need to be permanent fixtures, just until things are settled. Cats accept dogs more readily than other cats in actuality because they are a different species, there is no territorial conflict as would a cat to cat situation. A long as puppy doesn't chase him and he is in the alpha position- that shouldn't happen.

 

[Paul B]

See, about the high places, he has plenty of them but he would rather be on the ground. He has never backed off from Holly once. He'll just stand his ground hissing and yelling. He'll walk past her and like nothing is wrong while she is laying down, then turn around and hisssssss even if she's asleep. Holly has never tried to chase Sorte yet.

 

[Trish Allearz]

Just let them work it out, Paul We would like pictures though!

 

[Paul B]

Well, it's been about 2 weeks now and Sorte and Holly are doing much better! They more than tolerate eachother. Sorte will allow her to be near him as long as she isn't in a hyper mood. Lol! They can have about 10 seconds of play time before she gets too wild for him still. She tries to playfully chase him if he runs somewhere, he's not too keen on that. Hehe

 

[Paul B]

 

[MK Anderson]

Sounds like things are going well!

 

[Paul B]

I would say so. I actually didn't expect things to happen that quickly. She has a few battle wounds on her face (Sorte doing the battling), but she listens to his yells more often now when hes in a mood. LOL

 

[Patti]

Glad to hear that things are settling down for Sorte and Holly.

 

[Wyldthingz]

Good to hear! Keep S's nails clipped. An errant claw in the puppy's eye can lead to some expensive damage! Most cats are more careful than you would think but still.

I love boxers. They don't live long enough for me but I used to house for some as a kid and have fond memories of my "first dog" which wasn't really mine but he was more bonded to me than he was his owners. I did a lot with him, including obedience school, and he constantly made me laugh with the crazy things he did. His short but amazing life was cut short by a rattlesnake bite to the tongue. Can imagine what the snake was doing in his mouth- no surprise.