Bring your dog to Shaw PBR before you adopt. We will introduce the two dogs in the outdoor play area. Do this even if your dog already has playmates. Dogs are particular, and one can dislike another for no reason you can see. Opposite-sex pairs usually do better.

A good meeting at the refuge does not guarantee a good meeting at home. Your dog may be territorial on its own ground, so keep the reintroduction slow.

Walk the neighborhood first if you can, one handler per dog. Side by side on leashes, with time to sniff, is easier than the front door. Praise your own dog. Leave both leashes on in the house until you can separate them quickly. Talk normally. A calm voice tells both dogs that nothing is wrong. Give the new dog time. It may be recovering from surgery, from a hard past, or from a string of changes.

Do not leave them alone together. Separate them when you leave, even if they seem fine while you are watching.

Most trouble starts with a few avoidable mistakes. A tight leash reads as tension, and a dog may answer it. Toys and chews left out invite guarding, which can escalate fast — pick them up before you come home. Feed the dogs apart at first, and supervise every meal after that. Do not add visitors or the neighbors’ dogs in the same window. One new dog is enough.

Wait a few days before you introduce an adopted dog to your cat. The dog should know the house first, and you should have basic control: a reliable cue, and a clear line on what is allowed around the cat. An introduction works the same way a dog-to-dog introduction does. Slow, and quiet.

Keep the cat in another room while the dog settles in its own space. Once the dog is comfortable, let it explore the rest of the house for short periods each day, with the cat still shut away. They learn each other’s scent before they meet.

After a few days, introduce them with the dog on a leash. Watch the dog.Snarling, growling, or bared teeth means this dog is unlikely to accept a cat. Separate them with a baby gate or a closed door, and do not push it. If the meeting stays reasonably calm, walk the dog around the room and keep hold of the leash. The cat should be free to approach or to leave. Do not drop the leash. A dog is a predator, and chasing a cat is a natural instinct. Assume it will try, so you are ready. Do not allow barking or chasing.

Correct the bark with a sharp “ah-ah,” then redirect. If the cat bats the dog on the nose as a warning, leave it. That is a boundary, and boundaries are how they start to work out the terms. Keep the first meetings to about 30 minutes. Then put the cat back in its room and the dog in its crate or on its bed, and praise the dog.

Add a little time each visit. Praise calm behavior. Do not force contact either animal is refusing. Rushing slows the adjustment. When they seem used to each other, let the dog move with the leash still clipped and dragging, so you can stop it. The cat will probably hide at first. Use your judgment on when a supervised off-leash session is safe. Until then, the leash stays on.