Hi everyone! I’ve got a 9-month-old female Akita Inu who, for the time being, is very well-socialised (she plays with and accepts other dogs, cats and even ferrets). She’s very calm and a total sweetheart.
Two months ago, we found a litter of four kittens that had been dumped (they were asking for cuddles even though they didn't know us, didn't try to run away, ate dry food and were litter trained without us even showing them what to do... Plus, there had been a storm the night before but the kittens were bone dry...) they were well hidden behind a huge bush. If it hadn't been for their meowing, we would never have seen them.
We took them in and had them treated and vaccinated (as they were covered in fleas and worms, with scabs and red bumps everywhere). We managed to rehome two of them but not the third, and we'd already decided we wanted to keep one ourselves.
So, we’ve now got two kittens and an Akita Inu! Both kittens are males. We got so attached to them both that when someone offered to take the third one, we said no and kept him by choice. We introduced the kittens gradually (they were shut in a separate room when we weren’t in, just for safety, even though my dog is brilliant with them).
My dog has been much more relaxed when we’re out since the kittens arrived (before, she wouldn’t touch her food bowl if we weren’t there, but now she eats without any trouble). They sleep together, groom each other, and there’s always a cuddle session in the evening before bed with the two kittens and my dog. They share toys, treats and the water bowl.
However, when they’re playing, it happens quite regularly that my dog—after running around the flat with the kittens—ends up putting their heads in her mouth. At first, the kittens don't mind, but then they eventually start meowing quite loudly and will end up hissing if we don’t step in.
How should I interpret my dog's behaviour? I intervene because they aren't the same size at all (my dog is 30kg—about 4 stone 10lbs—while the kittens are barely 3kg—around 6.5 lbs) but is that actually a good idea? We’ve taught her 'Drop it', so she does let go, but having to tell her to drop it every single day is getting a bit wearing...
What do you suggest? Thanks for your replies! 😉
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
[quote=] Hello! That’s a brilliant thing! And a fantastic idea to teach her how to play with the kittens without putting their heads in her mouth. I’m going to try and teach her to play with a bit of string or the kittens' toys! It’s true they look quite big for four and a half months, but we don’t know their exact date of birth and the vet just gave us a rough estimate. Usually, when people say 'kitten' they think of tiny ones under 2 months old, but mine are actually quite large for kittens. That said, I can see them growing day by day, so I know they aren't adults yet. They weigh 3 kg (about 6.6 lbs), so I expect them to grow a fair bit more. But despite their size I’m still careful; my girl is ten times their weight and Akitas are powerful dogs. Luckily she knows how to control her own strength. Thanks for the messages and the constructive advice, I hope I’ll manage to teach her to control herself better and find other ways to play :)
Hi, I completely understand! My girl is 30 kg (about 4 stone 10 lbs) and pure muscle :). I think your dog is simply developing her maternal instinct with them. At that age, kittens run all over the place and climb the curtains etc.; mine used to throw himself at my dog's face... he’d nibble her ears, her cheeks, everything he could get hold of. Gradually the chasing turned into 'shadowing' ^^', much, much gentler chases on their tiptoes. In any case, maturity will do its job; there probably isn't much more to do other than keep an eye out for any over-excitement. As for teaching her the string trick, I didn't really do anything, I just gave her loads of praise when I saw her doing it. Maybe she was inspired by watching me play with the cat, or by seeing the cat take an interest in something.
Hi!
Yes, she’s definitely developing her maternal instinct with them.
By putting the kittens' toys in her mouth, she’s realised that it attracts them, but as soon as they come over, she drops the toy. It’s a great lead to follow, anyway!
And now that she knows she can attract them and play with them in other ways, she doesn’t do it anymore.
Thanks again for all the messages, they’ve really helped 😌
Hi! That's a great thing! And a brilliant idea for teaching her how to play with the kittens without putting their heads in her mouth. I’m going to try and teach her to play with a bit of string or with the kittens' toys! It’s true they look big for four and a half months, but we don’t know their actual birth date and the vet just gave us a rough estimate. It’s true that when people say 'kitten', they usually think of tiny things around 2 months old max, but mine are already quite large for kittens. That said, I see them growing day by day, so I know they’re not adults. They weigh about 6 and a half pounds, so I expect them to grow a lot more. But despite their size, I’m being careful; my dog is still ten times their size and Akitas are powerful dogs. Luckily, she knows her own strength. Thanks for the messages and constructive advice, I hope I’ll manage to teach her to control herself better and play in a different way :)
Hi there, I totally understand. My dog weighs about 4 stone 10 and is pure muscle :) I think your girl is simply developing her maternal instinct with them. At that age, kittens are tearing around everywhere, climbing the curtains and so on; mine used to throw himself at my dog’s face... he’d nibble her ears, her cheeks, anything he could find. Gradually, the chasing turned into just shadowing them ^^', much, much gentler games of chase on tip-toe. In any case, maturity will take its course; there’s probably not much else you can do other than keeping an eye on her when she gets over-excited. As for learning the string trick, I hardly did a thing, I just praised her when I saw her doing it. Maybe she was inspired by seeing me play with the cat, or just by seeing the cat take an interest in something.
That is absolutely brilliant! Your dog plays with string with the cat? I’m going to try to set up some shared play, to show Maya that my cat likes playing with certain toys. It needs a bit of work, but it must be amazing to see a dog just do that on her own. Maya is more the type to go up to my cat with her chew hoof and taunt him with it. My cat isn't interested in those kinds of antics 🙄 he’s well past that age! (I love the look on his face when she wiggles around in front of him, it's that classic haughty, snobbish feline look.)
Yeah, I couldn't believe my eyes; I thought I’d seen it wrong at first, but she really does. She started by picking up the cat’s toys, like a little stalk (the stem from a bunch of grapes), mini plush mice and things with strings on them. She grabs one end, lets it dangle, and stands over the cat while he rolls onto his back and so on... actually, I think I mentioned it on here once I realised I wasn't imagining things, I’ll see if I can find the post.
Hi everyone,
That’s a great thing! And a brilliant way to teach her how to play with the kittens without putting their heads in her mouth. I’m going to try and teach her to play with string or with the kittens' toys!
It’s true they look big for four-and-a-half months, but we don’t know their exact birth date and the vet only gave us an estimate. It’s true that when people hear the word 'kitten', they usually think of tiny things no more than two months old, but mine are actually quite big for kittens. Mind you, I see them growing every day, so I know they aren’t adults yet. They weigh about 6.6 lbs (3 kg), so I expect them to get even bigger. Despite their size, I’m still careful; my dog is still ten times bigger than they are, and Akitas are powerful dogs after all. Luckily, she knows how to control her strength.
Thanks for all the messages and constructive advice, I hope I can manage to teach her to control herself a bit better and find different ways to play :)
That is absolutely brilliant! Your dog plays with string with the cat? I’m going to try and set up some shared playtime, to show Maya that my cat enjoys playing with certain toys. It needs a bit of work, but it must be amazing to see a dog just do that off their own back. Maya is more the type to go up to my cat with her chew hoof and taunt him with it. My cat isn't having any of that nonsense, though 🙄 he’s well past that! (I love the look on his face when she prances around in front of him, typical haughty and snobby feline.)
Yeah, I couldn't believe my eyes at first, I thought I was seeing things, but she really did start picking up the cat's toys when he's playing – things like those twiggy bits (like a grape stalk without the grapes), or little soft mice with a bit of string. She grabs one end, lets it dangle, and stands over the cat while he rolls onto his back and so on... actually, I think I mentioned it on here once I realised I wasn't imagining it, I'll try and find the post.
Oh, that’s absolutely brilliant! Your dog plays with string with the cat? I’m going to try and set up a game they can play together, and show Maya that my cat likes playing with certain toys. It needs a bit of work, but it must be lovely to see a dog just do that on their own.
Maya is more the type to go up to my cat with her chew hoof and tease him with it.
My cat isn't really one for that kind of silliness 🙄 he’s well past that! (I love the look he gives her when my dog wiggles around in front of him—classic haughty and snooty cat behaviour.)
They look a bit older than four and a half months...
One thing that really helped was when my dog realised that a bit of string grabbed the cat’s attention; she started initiating play in a completely different way. She began picking up toys she’d noticed the cat was interested in and would stand over the cat with the toy in her mouth, giving a few nudges with her nose here and there to look like she was wiggling the toy. The first time she did it, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! I gave her plenty of praise, and now, whenever she wants to play a bit too rough with the cat, I hand her a little cat toy so she can offer it to him. It works a treat.
Oh wow, those kittens look quite big! I actually imagined them being much smaller. Judging by the photos, they’re about the same size as my adult cat.
Your girl is lovely; that scruffy fur on her head makes her look like a big puppy 🤭
Everything should go smoothly then, especially since they're already sleeping together—not all of us are lucky enough to see such a cute sight at home! 😁
Yes, I'm going to keep working on my dog's impulse control, following the advice given above. But I'm not sure if letting the kittens handle things themselves is a good idea, given how young they are. I'm still weighing it up!
The kittens will grow up and gain more confidence, and your dog will mature; they’ll all find their own boundaries in time.
Maya and Dundee (my two, a dog and a cat) know their respective limits. She plays using her mouth but never actually snaps it shut during play, and he plays with his paws without ever putting his claws out (even though the little lad wasn’t properly weaned and usually has them out at the slightest thing). It’s up to you to guide them through it.
There are often misunderstandings between dogs and cats because their body language is completely different. For one, an invitation to play might be seen as aggression, or conversely, a "stop" signal could be mistaken for a play invite.
Maya also used to struggle to wind down once she got too over-excited, but if you keep a close eye on them, it’s quite easy to spot when things are escalating and redirect them to a calmer activity without pulling your hair out. (Scent work, for example, or asking them to lie down for a few minutes just to settle their minds.)
There are also loads of little things you can do day-to-day to help a dog become more "thoughtful". For instance, when we get to the hills before I let her off the lead: she sits and waits for my "go on then!" before she charges off. It’s the same if I’ve got a toy in my hand; she instinctively sits or lies down and waits for a "go on, take it". These are things you have to ask for at first, but over time, they start doing it on their own.
I’m not sure if this approach suits an Akita, as I don’t know the breed very well, but that kind of structure is always helpful..
