How do I get a "stray" dog we have taken in to interact with my 2 cats?

We found a "stray" dog in mid-September.(I say stray like that because I believe she was deliberately dropped here) Well, I have 2 cats, only 1 week before Lucy came here we were able to get the cats together finally. We had to keep them separated as Chi, being the playful kitten he,is would go up to our other cat and start trouble. They are now the best of friends, thank goodness, they have to be put together because of this dog. i have fallen in love with Lucy the dog. I just don't know how to keep her from wanting to eat my cats. I have tried letting them sniff each other(cats are scared to death), keeping the dog on leash around the leg of the diningroom table(while I support her and tell her she is a good-girl ,but mommy's cats are OFF_LIMITS!, letting them be on one side of the door they can see each other from under. I don't want to have to get rid of her(Lucy). I feel she has been thru enough in her life already. All she really wants is a home, food, love, me, and to get my cats. I really don't think she wants to eat them as much as to interact with them. I don't know, I am only human. By the way, she is possibly a Shepherd Mix and about 2 years old. Thanks all, anything will be better than nothing. MommyandTrix

I think you are just going to have to be a bit patient. Usually, after a period of time, they grow more used to each other. For now, have you considered isolating the dog with a baby gate, perhaps in your kitchen. They they could check each other out through the gate without actually being in the same room. When I found a stray recently and had him in my home for about a week, I thought he would eat Mimi. I kept him in the utility room for a couple of days, blocked by the gate and that way my dogs and cat could go and check him out without fear of being eaten! Good luck. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

I hate to bring this up but be very very careful with Lucy and the kitties. The first dog in my life was a beautiful, brilliant Shepherd mix who had been a stray. She was convinced that anything that wasn't a dog deserved to be killed, and was quite serious about it http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif. Cats (squirrels, etc.) were either fast enough to escape to a tree to climb, or dead. My older sister was allergic to cats, so my parents had given theirs away, and Sheba was wonderful with children, people, etc., just not other animals. So I would be extraordinarily cautious in your situation, just in case they can never be happy together.
The neighbors, by the way, loved Sheba. There were no woodchucks or raccoons raiding their gardens until years and years after her death - that is how thoroughly she rid the "neighborhood" of "vermin." http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

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Originally posted by lhg0962:
I think you are just going to have to be a bit patient. Usually, after a period of time, they grow more used to each other. For now, have you considered isolating the dog with a baby gate, perhaps in your kitchen. They they could check each other out through the gate without actually being in the same room. When I found a stray recently and had him in my home for about a week, I thought he would eat Mimi. I kept him in the utility room for a couple of days, blocked by the gate and that way my dogs and cat could go and check him out without fear of being eaten! Good luck. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

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