How to introduce kittens into a home with dogs?

I am thinking of getting a pair of kittens later on in the year and was curious the beat way to introduce them to the dogs so that they are safe?

Also do your cats get on with your dogs?

I see you have a Jack Russell mix. The first question is how much prey drive your pup has. When you walk do you notice great excitement over squirrels or just average observation? Have you noted any stalking behavior over other small creatures?

We got Sophie as an adult with six grown cats already in residence. For a few weeks I spritzed he with water if she tried to chase anyone. After the water and getting her face sliced and diced a few times she learned to give the cats a respectful space.

Unfortunately that changed as she got older. She went from being timid and just watching squirrels and stray cats to killing them. Then I made the mistake of bringing home kittens. It turned into a very bad situation and I realize now no more feline additions till Sophie buys the farm.

But Sophie is also around ten years old and set in her ways. If your dog is young and easygoing you might do fine. Callie our boy is about three years old perhaps and he does very well with the cats, even playing and sleeping with them. So every dog is quite different.

My boys love their cats, other than Dallas that just tolerates them. I catch them sleeping together on the couch, the cats rub up against them affectionately, and Tynan likes to show them his toys (this is his way of saying they are part of the family). Even when the cats are ripping around and jumping like mad they don't bat an eye at them. Then again, none of them have prey drive so I didn't worry all that much, even though they have never ever been around cats or kittens.

It was very easy to introduce Cheddar since he was only 10 days old then. He didn't move very quickly so the boys had a chance to get to know him easily enough. They know "gentle" so that helped a lot. Not sure if your dog knows it, I found it awesome that they already knew it so made introductions that much easier too. As for Dallas, I kept a loose leash on him and redirected if he felt uncomfortable.

When Devon came, I bought him one of those huge cat enclosures with the different levels since he was a bit feral and very untrusting. This gave my dogs the opportunity to meet him and everybody felt safe this way until Devon's trust started to grow. I found that having 2 kittens helped a lot since they kept each other busy playing like crazy and didn't bug the dogs all that much as their play style is much different than dog's.

With Karitsa, it was the same thing. I did rotations between them until they felt somewhat comfortable with her and I made sure that they had a safe place to run to in case she was getting to be too much. I also kept a loose leash on her until everyone settled and got used to each other's presence.

Thanks both!

I will be completely honest, I do have a jack Russell mix and I also have a rescue greyhound! I know these two breeds aren't ideal for getting kittens but neither of them have much prey drive at all, I mean Alfie himself is small and fluffy, and yet my greyhound couldn't honestly care less.

Even when out and about she isn't bothered by cats at all, she sees them, then looks away and carries on walking.... Same goes when we met miniature yotkies, long haired chihuahuas and a 12 week old jack Russell puppy... The little one has more of an interest in cats but he has been nose to nose with the dog savvy cat living next door for years and has no issues with her.

I'm not saying I would automatically expect either of them to get on with the kittens to start with, but I feel confident enough in my dogs that with time, patience and careful introductions that we will be there!

ETA: when I say rescue, its true I got her at 2 years old from the kennels, because she is a failed racer as she didn't have enough interest in chasing so only did the one race lol also when she met alfie at the kennels she didn't even look at him, let alone fix on him as some of the others did!