Why a Strong Management Plan is Vital in Multi-Species Homes - with Tori Ganino

If you have a busy household full of cats, dogs, and other animals, keeping everyone safe and happy can feel a little stressful if you’re not prepared.

The trick is to come up with a solid management plan, something that this It’s Training Cats and Dogs guest knows all too well.

Tori Ganino, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, joins the show to share her tips for success on integrating cats and dogs into a multi-species household. Tori works with clients through her company, Calling All Dogs, and shares some of the advice she gives to clients in this episode.

If you'd like to listen to the episode, press play below:

Tori’s current cast of characters

It’s fair to say that Tori’s household is a full one right now. She has two cats and two dogs, plus some fish tanks, which keep everyone entertained.

The current cast of characters:

  • Si – a 9-year-old cat

  • Jeter – a 12-year-old terrier mix

  • Nimbus – a 10-month-old kitten

  • Fisher – a 13-week-old golden retriever

How Si and Jeter got acquainted

When Tori brought Jeter home, she thought everyone would get along. Jeter was pretty good with cats and just wanted to be Si’s friend, but Si was not on board.

While there was no dramatic fight, it was clear that Si wasn’t happy.

Tori’s first step was to address the management side of things by taking these actions:

  • She made the office into Jeter’s special room

  • Baby gates were installed

  • Doors were kept closed to separate them while Tori was out

  • She gave Si special treats whenever he was around Jeter

  • Jeter was brought into the rest of the house on a leash

  • Slowly, Tori gave Jeter more and more freedom as Si became comfortable

The result? Si and Jeter started happily snuggling up together.

Adding Nimbus to the family

Sadly, Jeter had a congenital defect which meant his eyes had to be removed. After his surgery, he became less close to Si, and Si was missing something as a result.

Tori wanted Si to have a friend, but since he also has some serious health issues, she was extra careful in finding him the perfect friend.

Tori chose Nimbus because while he’s still pretty young, he’s not a pushy, over-excited kitten.

Bringing Nimbus home, Tori decided to use some of the same tricks she used to introduce Jeter. The office became Nimbus’ new room, and Tori took things very slowly when acquainting everyone.

The trick was to keep these meetings super short – two minutes maximum with lots of special treats.

While Jeter was pretty relaxed with his new housemate, Si, on the other hand, was very focused on the office door, knowing there was another cat inside.

So, Tori had to switch things up. She made sure that…

  • Si was kept in the lower level of the house while training

  • Nimbus was trained on a leash, so he didn’t overwhelm Si

  • Baby gates and closed doors kept them separate

  • Everyone got special treats whenever they’d meet

  • There were lots of breaks for Nimbus, who was quite nervous around Si

Things progressed pretty quickly, and now Si and Nimbus will happily play together.

Going from regimented, short meetings to play sessions

Something a lot of people struggle with is getting from that strict management stage to the playing stage. Naturally, you want your pets to get along and start playing, but how do you figure out when to make that leap?

For Tori, it wasn’t so much a leap as a series of short steps. Getting everyone together in short sessions meant there was little time for anyone to get overwhelmed.

During these sessions, Tori would:

  • Keep a close eye on everyone and look for signs of stress

  • Split them up if anyone got stressed or overwhelmed

  • Reward alternate behavior e.g., if Nimbus was walking away from Si, he’d get a treat. This reinforced the idea that he didn’t need to be around Si and vice versa to get a treat.

  • Slow down on the treats as she spotted more excited body language

  • Watch out for signs that they were initiating play

Gradually, the meeting sessions were extended but not so long that they became fed up with each other.

Introducing a puppy

While Si, Jeter, and Nimbus were all getting along fine, Tori decided to bring a new puppy into the mix.

Before Fisher arrived, Tori set up some enrichment zones for the cats, which involved building a few shelves high up so they could escape and relax.

Tori decided to set up a few more baby gates, mostly around the kitchen so the puppy wouldn’t go in and steal the cats’ food, and then one upstairs to avoid Fisher going up unsupervised.

Crate training was also key, but Tori went one further and got a that she attached to the crate. This gave the puppy more room to play and interact while the cats could see what was going on.

To keep everyone happy and to meet Fisher’s needs, Tori took him on lots of playdates with other dogs and puppies. This was essential, especially because Jeter, being blind and quite old, was pretty indifferent to the high-energy play sessions Fisher needed.

Fisher’s training was also really important to work on, so Tori spent a lot of time on obedience and cooperative care training.

Tori’s tip overall for introducing new pets is to “catch them being good.” This means spotting good behavior from any of the animals and giving them a little treat.

A couple of examples where Tori would hand out the treats include:

  • Fisher looking at Jeter on the couch and choosing not to jump up

  • A cat jumping over the baby gate away from the dogs

  • When the dogs disengage from the cats and walk away

  • Any pets sitting and relaxing next to each other

Tori’s advice for anyone thinking of adding a new animal to their home

Tori’s number one tip is to focus on a solid management plan. If you don’t have that in place, everyone will get stressed, and someone might even get hurt.

For pets that are new to each other, Tori recommends not leaving them alone together. Two layers of safety between them at all times is a good rule of thumb.

Don’t just leave it at that either. Tori says that the best way to make progress is to be proactive and have a set training plan on top of your management plan. While training, positive reinforcement is super important as well.

Finally, Tori’s last tip is to always watch out for quality of life and signs of stress. A lot of cat and dog owners think everything’s fine as long as their pets aren’t attacking each other. But signs of stress can be much quieter than that. If your cat loved lying on the couch and is now too scared to come downstairs after you brought a new dog home, this is something to work on.

To recap, slow introductions, watching out for stress, building a management and training plan are essential to introducing pets in a safe and happy way.

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