New Puppy

[jenni0082]

I will be bringing home a 9 week old german Shepherd puppy, female, in a few weeks. i have a 4 year old, male, mainecoon cat who is currently the only animal we have. He has lived with dogs before, one full grown and one new puppy, however, neither were mine nor trained to leave the cat alone. So living with a dog is not totally foreign to spencer (the cat), but i'm looking for advice, suggestions, experiences you've had that will help me introduce them. Spencer is rather large (about 20 lbs) as most male mainecoons are, he's sweet to us but typically hissed and swatted at previous dogs he lived with when they messed with him. he is now declawed as well. Any info you have will be greatly appreciated!

[Karen]

I would introduce them on neutral territory first if you can, and supervise any 'together" time for the first week or so. Keep the pup on a leash when they meet, so you have some control. The kitty may hiss and swat, but that's just establishing who is boss, and the pup will likely learn very quickly.

[bckrazy]

This is a good article about how to properly introduce a puppy to a cat. Just be sure to take it SLOW, make sure your cat feels comfortable and unthreatened, and supervise, always.

http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/IntroducingDogs.html
http://www.sspca.org/Dogs/IntroducingDogs2.html