Night/morning routine for new pup (with cat already here)

[Mner]

Our pup arrives in two weeks, and I am trying to plan ahead. He will be 8 weeks. Background: I have bought DPup a crate for night time. He will be used to the crate a little when he arrives. I am trying to make sure any all contact with the cat is supervised (cat is a grumpy arse sometimes). We're going to keep DPup downstairs to give the cat somewhere to escape and set up a stairgate as well to hopefully keep the pup downstairs.

What do people do at night...? Is it best to get up at set intervals or best to leave them through the night from the start? If the former, how do you know when to change when you get up?

And then in the morning... At the moment, we all get up, get showered, then come downstairs for breakfast. Cat also then has his breakfast. Do I get up to take the puppy out first thing, then come back upstairs to have a shower etc leaving the pup downstairs when he has only just seen me again or do everything upstairs leaving the puppy to cross his legs whilst he waits for us to come down?

Guessing the pup will be desperate for his breakfast as well at that point. Will it put the cat's nose out of joint even further to be fed after the pup...? Poor cat is already often last on the list.

Really confused about both these things. It's been a fair while since either of us have had a dog so any advice very much appreciated! Any tips on introducing them would be amazing as well.

[bigbutsrus1]

No help....but watching with interest as we will be in exactly the same boat in two weeks time!

[Mner]

Good luck to us both!

[Mner]

Thank you. It's probably a lot of common sense but it helps to see things written down, and hear that it is possible! I'm going to get some feliway plug ins as well.

I'm not expecting they will ever be friends but it's trying to get them to a place of tolerance. (We got our cat as a pair from a rescue and although we were told they absolutely had to be homed together, they hated each other for months and then tolerated each other eventually. Other cat has since died.)

Both cat and dog are male. The pup is a whippet.

[Mner]

Ew! RE the vom and poo combo! At least the cat hadn't added to it as well. Grim! We normally have bodily organs on the doormat in the morning - that always seems to be where the cat performs his mouse dissections. Maybe the pup will help clean it up!

He is really beautiful, and the only breed we managed to agree on in the end but we'll have a long road to quelling that prey instinct and pacifying grumpy cat. I can just see the cat sitting on the sofa refusing to budge out of HIS house - that's what he normally does when DS friends are round. He gets quite agitated but refuses to see why he should make himself scarce - although he is normally an upstairs cat as well.

We looked at both Vizslas and labs - really lovely dogs - but settled on a whippet in the end.

We moved house a couple of years ago and never quite managed to put the stairgates back up (DS was 2 when we moved, 4 now). DS has been wanting the stairgates up for ages as he sees them in other people's houses. Luckily we still have them!

[fitflopqueen]

we are 2 weeks ahead of you,
Our pup cried a little the first night in the crate - had a teddy with mum's smell on.
Currently doing last wee at about 11pm then settle her in, I left radio on low and very dim lighting, I tend to wake up about 4ish so go and take her outside then, very quick, carry her straight back into crate and she is ok till 7ish.
No small kids here so she gets the attention first thing, outside for 10 mins then some breakfast for her and tea for me, I leave her in kitchen with door shut whilst I shower etc.
We put our stairgate up this morning as she discovered the stairs over the weekend and is very confident. (aldi have some at the moment).
Also have a cat who is starting to get a little calmer after a week but still gives her death stares when she is desperate to be friends with him, he stays out of her way but is getting more interested and will come and observe when we are outside.
Last week was a bit of a haze but I am getting a routine now and it is much better when everyone else is out as pup is then a bit calmer and will sleep for longer during the day.
Good luck, hard work but they are so heart warming.

[Mner]

Mornings are just going to be mental. Sometimes DH has to leave early, and it's already difficult to get DS ready/out of the house to preschool (very easily distracted!).

I'm obviously going to have to get up a little earlier to fit everything in before I take him out. But then you think, if I get up earlier, the dog gets up earlier, the cat gets up earlier, maybe DS gets up earlier. It doesn't necessarily solve the problem of getting out of the house!

We're hoping that it will help DS (only child) be a little bit more independent in terms of having to sort more out for himself and stop us from trying to do everything for him because it's easier. And he'll have to help out with the dog.

Thankfully, I work from home so can get on top of things again when I get back from DS's drop off. I just need to get everyone sorted and out of the house, and then some sort of calmness can resume (as calm as it will be with a puppy!)

[bigbutsrus1]

How funny we are getting a whippet pup in two weeks time too! So we really will be in exactly the same boat! Mner if you don't mind me asking where in country are you getting your pup from? Could be from the same litter!! We have a bossy little Burmese cat who is 11 years old. Think things could be interesting!!

[Mner]

Lovely whippets! I have PM'd you bigbut

[ATailofTwoKitties]

Our routine was :

First night, get up once to pup. Announce proudly to rest of family in morning how amazing it is that I only had to get up once. Discover that every other member of family has also got up once.
Second night, set alarm for 2 a.m., come downstairs to discover woozy pup just about awake enough for a wee.
Third night, forget to set alarm, find pup still asleep at 7 in the morning.

I strongly suspect this is pure beginner's luck. We've never had a dog before and I think she's going gently on us!

[ATailofTwoKitties]

Oh, and our elderly cat does a splendid line in puppy training. One look and the pup sits down submissively.

[Mner]

Wow! I can only dream that that could be us!

Have you guys got cat flaps? How do you manage with it? The cat would LOVE it if we were to block the cat flap and become his personal door slaves. Not sure I could take it as he'd probably keep changing his mind on whether he wants in or out!

[ATailofTwoKitties]

We don't have cat flaps. One cat is too doddery to push through them and the other tries to open them towards herself (being more than a bit dim). Besides, the pup is currently smaller than the cats!

What currently happens is the cat stands outside the door doing the Silent Reproachful Mew, and the puppy rushes earnestly to the doormat and yelps to tell me that the cat needs my attention.

[bigbutsrus1]

Didn't think about the cat flap! Do you think an 8 week whippet will fit out of it?

[Mner]

I hope not but maybe. We have got a lock type thing on it but the cat had been known to hurl himself at it if he can't get through.

He hates the thing, uses the doors and windows at every opportunity but that doesn't mean we're allowed to close it.

I guess those microchip cat flaps would work but trying really hard not to spend too much money especially as the cat isn't microchipped!

[Mner]

And the collar recognition ones would be useless as he loses his collars on all the time!

[Lancelottie]

It's really cheap to microchip a cat, and if he leaves home temporarily in a huff when the puppy arrives, you might find it useful.

[Mner]

DH has always been dead set against microchipping him even though he can't keep a collar on for more than a week!

He seems more amenable this morning after watching some videos on YouTube of youngish whippets squeezing through cat flaps!

[Lancelottie]

The chips are tiny (our kitten was chipped by CPL before we got her, for instance, and you couldn't tell where it had been done even though she was a minute little scrap of a thing). Having once lost a cat and never found out what happened to him, I'd get him done.

(The cat, that is, not your DH.)

[Lancelottie]

Our neighbour's springer spaniel pups could definitely get through a catflap at 2 to 3 months old.

[Mner]

I've found a drop in thing that'll do it for free. Maybe they'll do DH as well

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

Our 5 month old lurcher pup gets locked in the dining room at night, she has a cosy bed in there and sleeps through the night (has done since we got her to be fair) but she never liked her crate. The cat mostly lives upstairs but technically has the run of the house at night, we actually feed her up there as well - hopefully in time this will stop but the dog nicks her food and she is still a bit nervous of her (huge deerhound/lurcher) so this works best for now. We don't have a cat flap so have to let her in and out - sometimes takes a bit of juggling with the dog but works okay. She and the dog will meet face to face and greet each other nose to nose, all friendly, but if the cat is moving at speed the dog thinks it is an invitation to chase (we are trying hard to train her not to).

In the morning I set the alarm, get up and shower and dress, then go down to the dog. Just seems easier that way. She is never desperate for a wee but will go out and have one when I open the door. Now she is a bit older I can leave her alone downstairs for short periods anyway if I need to go back up, she is quite happy to snooze on the sofa or play with her toys.

To be honest I did find it all quite stressful at first but it gets easier all the time and you will find your own way of doing things.

I do have a friend with a whippet and they are quite needy velcro dogs so do seem to need quite a lot of attention - very lovely and cuddly though (mine isn't so much, although she likes a fuss she doesn't like to sit on our knees or anything - probably a good job as she already weighs 13kg!)