Hoping to get our lurcher on Sat - need some cat/crate tips

[miacis]

Can hardly believe it but we are due to meet our potential lurcher rescue girl this sat. She sounds lovely - child/dog/cat friendly - a whippy cross. Trying not to get too excited. Apparently she doesn't get excited when out and sees cats so here's hoping...

Would love some tips about cat introductions ie in what order, where etc?
She is already crate trained so will put her crate in front room. We can either shut door or put a dog gate up (but will she jump it?

Bit worried about managing the logistics of keeping them apart.

Should we keep cat in for a while? Keep her upstairs or restrict dog to front room and muzzled elsewhere. Cat is incredibly lazy not sure if she will run away or just sit there.

Also, sounds daft but do you really shut them in a crate all night? or can I just leave the gate open? and when you go out? What do you put in there with them? (I do feel really uncomfortable about this crating business)

All very new to us but willing to learn!

Will the home checker/rescue worker not be there? They'll guide you through it. I'd say dog on lead for first intro and then loose but muzzled just incase, but the rescue worker knows the dog better than me, so listen to them.

And yes, my Whippy is crated overnight. DH puts her in when he goes upto bed at around 12:30am I let her back out again at around 7:30am.

Our 2 lurchers sleep on the sofas their bed on front of the aga... And both could easily jump a childgate although would help with some supervision if you want certain areas of your house dog free zones. Good luck!

Our whippy based lurcher has never chased anything, he is baffled by my friend's two rabbits and is scared of dd's hamster.

I have yet to see him jumping anything - he tries to daintily step over things and when that is not possible he just stands there looking pathetic.

We have never crated him.

He was abandoned from a traveller camp so it took a while to get him happy in the house, in fact he is still not completely house trained (we have had him 6 weeks) At night he sleeps on his bed in our room. When we are out he has the run of the kitchen, hall / landing and master bedroom.

He is a super dog though, we all love him to bits. He is soppy to the point of being a bit of a wimp, but we like him that way

BLNN he sounds like my Whippy. She is horrified of rabbits and can only jump if there is food on the go, the rest of the time she struggles to even hop ontp the sofa and instead must stand and whimper pathetically at your feet until you lift her up .