We have just go a border collie puppy and already have 2 cats,after reading lots of books, none of them tell us what the best way of getting them together is. The puppy is 9wks old and wants to run and ply with them but we prevent this to stop bloodshed. most people that we have spoken to have said just put them together and let them get on with it and they will work things out but we are not happy with this idea. Up until now we have introduced the very slowly but the cats hiss alot and we hold the dog back from running at them. what should we do? Let them fight or keep doing what we are doing ? Help
email me with any advice

john@gammon24.fsnet.co.uk

Your puppy will not fight at that age .thinks the cats would be nice to play with as new friends, they will get used to each other in time and will be better without interference from humans, although difficult i sugest you let the puppy go to the cats -slowly- on a lead perhaps or gently guided by you. The cats will spit and at worst lash out with a paw to scratch, the dog will run one way and the cats the other then things should settle down grdually let the dog know that there are other more interesting things around-good luck

i have four cats and my pup useto chace them ,they do the usual hissing
and the pup has learned eventually to back off
the cats sleep and eat with my pup , but on occasion callie will still chase them if they run.but most of the time the cats ignore her ( they think she is some sort of halfwit ) because she is ignored she will bark at them wanting them to run but they dont and she settles down

i personally wouldnt fuss too much as i ve learnt this makes callie want to chase them more .its not the pup you have to worry about as cats are capable of defending themselves .i am quite lucky as my cats dont use there claws only the pads of there feet when they lash out, as they can cause damage

We have always had cats & dogs together. They tend to ignore each other but will occasionally fight and chase each other. Weggo's right about the damage they can cause with their claws. We had a toy poodle that had a fight with our cat and ended up having to go to the vets with a blood clot in his ear 'cause the cat had caught his ear.