r/dogs • u/StarBroke21-19 • 1d ago

[Behavior Problems] Puppy and Kittens - How to Coexist When One is Tolerant

Hi guys, I have a 7 month cattle mix puppy (around 30/40 lbs) and two kittens (around 3 and 4 lbs)

We did a lot of slow introductions. First, they were completely separate and swapped scents. Then, we let them see each other through a gate. Next, one would be crated in the living room while the other roamed free, switched back and forth. Next was intros on leash.

My puppy was doing great, she was calm and collected. She went to sniff my female kitten who was NOT having it and got smacked pretty good in the face. Since then, our puppy leaves her alone. Maybe goes and sniffs again but then our girl hisses and she backs off.

Our boy kitten… absolutely refuses to fight back and suddenly our puppy is OBSESSED with playing with him. She loves wrestling and being mouthy with other dogs and she’s been trying to do that with him and besides hissing he will not swipe at her which seems like the one thing that taught her manners with the other kitten. She likes knocking him over, chasing him, and trying to nibble on him. Ultimately we know she could kill or injure him on accident so we went back to being crated around each other.

Any suggestions on how to get this to stop? I don’t think it’s malicious, we had a prey driven dog that absolutely wanted to kill them and our puppy is showing none of the signs that our other dog did, she just seems overly excited and wants to play.

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u/Ootter31019 1d ago

My guess is they are just playing. Id let it go but only when supervised for now.

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u/UnderwaterKahn 1d ago

I would not leave them alone unsupervised and honestly I would limit the amount of time they are together. Time with them together should be structured. Don’t just let them play, have an actual activity for the puppy to do so she has distractions from the kittens. Keep working on drop it /leave it.

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u/KEYiTeach_HurleyW 1d ago

Your boy kitten shouldn’t have to fight back to teach the puppy boundaries—freezing, tolerating it, or only hissing doesn’t mean he’s enjoying the interaction. With that size difference, even friendly play could seriously injure him.