Stop eyeing the cat... help please

[Goodgirl]

I've just gotten a kitten from a friend who's baby turns out to be allergic to cats. I'm hoping I can keep her, but my 4 year old boxer seems to have a pretty high prey drive. Is there any way I can get her used to the cat? I already know I will never be able to leave them alone together when i'm not home, I'm just hoping to get Delilah to avert her attention from the Kitten every now and then.
For now, Daphne, (kitten) is locked up in a spare bedroom and there is a gate up so they can see each other when i'm home.
Any advice/links are appreciated. I tried to do a search but it automatically removes the word "cat" because its too short.

 

[hanley]

Establish a pack, you are top dog,regardless of prey drive

Try a crate with both cat & dog,let them see you interact with the other, you are top dog of the pack, let your Boxer know you accept this kitten,talk to your Boxer, let her know this is a baby & she has to help you take care of this baby, take it slow with the intro. crate them in the same room with you there watching & calming your dog. This will be up to you & how you create this pack,it can be done, I have both cats & Boxers, & its easier if the cat is a kitten. Mine are a real pack they accept,love & take care of each other. I love watching my cats groom my Boxers, & my dogs love being groomed by the cats.LOL, Hanley

 

[Super Boo]

I agree with Hanley. My mom brought over her Shihtzu puppy on Thanksgiving and Skye has a reputation of harassing her. We put the puppy in a playpen (crate) so they could see each other without Skye messing with her. Pretty soon they were totally ignoring each other. With my older cats, I just make sure that they can jump out of his way when he gets pushy. I probably wouldn't allow unsupervised interaction until the cat is old enough to defend itself.

 

[Cami]

Make sure to provide an area such as a tree house that is high enough for the kitten to spend time with the family and the dog but out of harms way. A big mistake would be to leave the kitten in a room alone for long periods of time. They are babies too and need lots of time with their family if they are to become socialized with humans as well as the dog. The more time they spend together (supervised) the sooner they will start to accept each other and eventually feel comfortable around each other. Seperating just stalls this process. My boxer and cat are 2 weeks apart in age, the dog was here first then 6 days later came the kitten. Now at 20 months of age (dog) and 19 1/2 months of age (cat) the two love playing and are left alone during the day together with no worries.

The size difference between my two is nearly 50lbs. Cami wouldn't hurt the cat on purpose but still has to be told occasionally not to chase the cat. Silver is a lover not a fighter and has never used her claws on Cami. She will bat at her while they are playing but she would rather clean Cami's face than hurt her big sister.

Just make sure to provide supervision while the kitten is so small but let them interact and before too long you will find that they will be best of friends or at the very least tolerate each others presence.

Good-Luck~

 

[Goodgirl]

Thanks everyone.
My biggest concern is that Delilah is already 4 years old and may never have interacted with a cat before. The only times shes seen them in the 2 years i've had her is when there are cats outside. I'm pretty sure she just wants to play with the kitten but sometimes she gets too excited (I have her on a leash) and tries to nip at kitty, before i pull her back.
I will definatly pull the crate out into the living room and let her watch me with Daphne.

 

[gmacleod]

There is plenty of information on introducing cats and dogs on this site that you can access with a search - try the terms cats or cat* (* is a wildcard that will enable three letter word searches).

PS: Using the "leave it" command, redirection and rewarding your dog for his compliance generally works much better than scolding or correcting your dog for displaying a natural instinct. Successful training (especially if you want it to work when you're not present to administer a "correction" or other punishment) relies on teaching a dog how you want him TO behave, not just how you don't want him to

 

[Goodgirl]

All great ideas, thanks everyone.
She does really well in the crate, and mostly the cat runs off and ignores the dog so Delilah will just fall asleep in the crate.. haha.
I've been putting the cat in the crate and (when delilah is out), so Delilah can actually see more of her. The cat doesn't mind this at all and lays down right in front of her.
On the leash Delilah does well until the cat runs past her and then she nips for the cat.
Delilah really freaks out with a muzzle on, she has a really short snout and the standard ones just cover too much i think. so i've been trying to find a basket muzzle for her.