Advice about getting a puppy when you have older dog and cats

[Inastatus]

We (me, DH and 2 older teens) have been talking about getting another dog for a while. We have a 10 year old dog and 2 older cats. I think our dog would take to a puppy as she generally loves other dogs and I often hear how a younger dog can give an older one a new lease of life etc. but I’m worried in case for some reason she doesnt. I’m also worried about the cats . They get on great with DDog but they are all well established and I’m not sure how they’ll react to a puppy. Obviously we would take time to introduce them properly and give them all plenty of space.

I’d love to hear any advice and positive stories.

We introduced a puppy to our cats after we'd lost our old dog, so slightly different scenario. The cats were very attached to our gentle old girl but freaked out at the sight of the puppy, who was an unpredictable little toothy whirlwind. I had weeks of thinking 'What have I done?'

Six months on, pup does occasionally flatten the kitties through excess enthusiasm, but they all mill around quite happily together.

I would still never leave pup alone with access to the cats in case she suddenly mistakes them for a chew toy. But it's going ok.

@GuppytheCat - thanks for replying. I’m glad things are going well for you and it gives me some encouragement.

Your older dog might like others dogs but would be want to share his home with a puppy. He might not want t I jump I g all over him trying to get to play all the time. I feel sorry for older dogs like this.

I cocked up the planned slow introduction from day 2, when the dimmer cat ran into the room under the nose of the loose puppy, and then fled, with pup in eager pursuit. Arghhh. Don't let that happen. It took weeks to come back from that one.

And I did know better, had the house line ready and the crate and the stairgates ... but got caught unawares.

We had an old cat (14 years) and she absolutely hated the puppy, far too bouncy. We didn’t manage it very well and have an open plan space downstairs so was hard to keep them separate. They had a few run ins and it took about 18 months to settle down and they tolerated each other. So in hindsight it’s important to keep the puppy contained and introduce them gradually to existing pets.

@thatstakingalongtimetoboil - yeah, something to consider.
@GuppytheCat - note taken!
@Toomuchleopard - yes, I’d definitely plan to contain the puppy whilst the cats investigate.

Thanks for all your input. So much to consider …

We had two 7 year old Bengals who are mostly house cats and have very little dog experience. We tried a guide dog boarding but very quickly decided that the dog was too big, although exceptionally well trained, gentle and would not be in the house during weekdays. We agonized over getting a puppy for months. Eventually took the plunge as we knew it was either try or wait up to 8 years until our cats sadly passed. We introduced very slowly using pen to contain pup. Cats had run of house and sole access to upstairs for weeks. They also have many high spaces to retreat to. It has been 2 years now. They all live fairly amicably. Dog does chase cats if he gets chance but they are confident in jumping out of his way. Dog very often gets bop on nose if he gets too close. Despite dog being crate trained and then v trusted downstairs sleeping alone, we found the cats woke him at 4am to antagonise him and this woke the whole house. So dog now sleeps with us upstairs. Which may honestly have been his plan all along 😂 I would say the cats were a little stressed at first which caused them to refuse to eat for a couple of days and over groom for a while after. We just really made sure to make time for them alone. No real issues so far! If we leave them alone in house which is rare we have a babygate so they can escape if they need to

@Petrie99 - just saw your reply to my post, thanks. We also have 2 Bengal house cats! They love our dog and they all get on well (though the male cat does boss her around). I’m just worried about upsetting the dynamics. If I do go ahead I’ll certainly take the advice given regarding introductions.