Introducing dog to kitten

[MrsMattWillis]

Our dog is 5 and deaf if that makes a difference ? We're looking to introduce a kitten into the family and I'm hoping to get some tips to make it go as smoothly as possible for both of them .
We've had older cats in the past before the dog but never a kitten so it's exciting but I obviously want to make sure I'm doing the right thing .
So far I'm going to let them each sleep on a towel then switch the towel the next night so they get used to each other's scent , keep the cat upstairs and the dog downstairs for a while (she very rarely goes up anyway) . Any other suggestions would be appreciated

We got 2 kittens when ddog was 3-huge rottweiler, camped the kittens in small study with a coffee table in the doorway!! Ddog could have moved it but didn't, dkittens had an escape route! Took them a week to venture along the hallway to the kitchen.
Where they proceeded to eat ddogs food!!
And she stood and let them!!
We have had other ddogs added to the mix now and all get along.
Maybe a baby gate up as an escape route if you haven't got a little safe space?

Just found this pic - when dkitten dared to share ddogs bed!!

@Santaispolishinghissleigh thank you ! We have a similar sized dog (boxer) so it's good to know that you were successful . Safety gates are an excellent idea , we have one at the top / bottom of stairs but will think about putting one on each room downstairs too .

You can get baby gates with little holes in them that would allow a cat through at floor level but stop a bigger dog? Just saying in case of interest...

Loving the Rotty picture.

I think a lot depends on how predatory your dog is and how biddable/eager to please you they are.

Introductions between my kitten and collie (high prey drive breed) did not go well..

They get on nicely now however but the kitten days were pretty scary at times.
You could tell she was trying hard to behave herself but desperately wanted to chase and shake...

The Blue Cross have some great info about this. Scent swapping etc. Have a good google.

Just be cautious. They probably will get on fine but many years ago my GSD accidentally killed 2 kittens (our litter). The cat had them under the hot water tank and the GSD was so wanting to mother them she stuck a claw in the tiny kitten (trying to pull it out) and it didn't survive. Then the other one, at about 6 weeks, was found dead in her bed. We think she crushed it. . Obviously your kitten will be bigger but there is a huge size differential. So supervise carefully, ensure the kitten can escape, and separate as necessary. Hopefully they will soon be best of friends though.

We also managed to turn a high risk Lurcher who lived outdoors and hunted into a dcat lover!!
Never left unsupervised but still show affection to each other. Its quite lovely to see!
Rotty hates anything that isn't part of our family. Ddogs /and people!!

We've just done this with our 3 year old lab/pointer cross. He has a high "prey" drive so I was a bit worried to start with. Kittens were 8 weeks old when we got them home.

All we've done is make sure that the kittens have their "own space" as it were, which happens to be the lounge as it's the only room we can close off. Initially we kept the dog just at the door, made a fuss of him, fed him treats every time the kittens showed their faces (they hid behind the couch for the first 2 days). He now associates the kittens with good things, like treats, cuddles etc and so, touch wood, has accepted them. In turn they now allow him to sniff them as they go past, and have played with his tail when he's otherwise engaged (i.e. waiting for treats). It's week 3 and we still don't allow them to be together unsupervised, but they all seem pretty relaxed in each other's company and we're hoping it will continue.