My puppy

[Lala]

I have a five month old lab that is totally awesome apart from a few things. The main one is we have a 2 month old cavalier and a eleven week old kitten and he thinks they are toys. Sol picked my kitten up by it’s fur and ran around with it. I think he was playing, it wasn’t aggression but this is not the behavior I want. I trained him to leave it but with animals it’s different. He has chews and stuff instead to chew but not interested. Please help....

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

In regards, to your pup's interaction with your 2 month old cavalier, can you provide more details on what is happening? Is he playing roughly? How is the 2 month old puppy reacting? Are there signs of fear? Is the younger puppy trying to hide? If there are any concerns over safety or the 2-month-old puppy seems scared, please keep them separated until you can train your lab to be better under control. 

I will provide in the meanwhile some general tips in regards to the behavior around the kitten. With a young pup and a so young kitten it's important to make safety your top priority. Here are some tips:

-Make Your Kitten's Safety Top Priority
Dogs can injure or kill a cat very quickly even if just out of play. All it takes is to shake the cat by the neck once picked up just as they would do with a toy. On top of this, a dog can also be injured by cats. Cats may aim for the eyes and cause corneal injuries and even loss of vision. To keep your kitten safe, you can install a sturdy and tall baby gate that keeps your cat and dog separated. This way they both have their own areas when you cannot actively supervise. Make sure your cat cannot jump over it walk through it. There are pet fences and baby gates made specifically to separated cats and dogs. 

-Prevent Rehearsal of the Behavior
Dogs are very habitual creatures, and therefore, the more they rehearse a problem behavior, the more this behavior puts roots and becomes established over time, making it more and more difficult to extinguish. It's therefore very important to prevent your dog from getting into the habit of chasing and picking up your kitten. This falls under management strategies.

-Train Your Pup to Be Responsive
It goes without saying, the importance of responsiveness. If your dog is predisposed to chasing and picking up your cat, you need a reliable response to your verbal cues.

Train your pup to respond immediately to a smacking sound with your mouth. This can be a bit easier to train than leave it as many dogs respond more quickly to sounds: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

Train him the leave it command: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

Train the drop it command as an emergency (if he ever picks up your kitten): https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/

Train your pup a strong, reliable recall:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/

Train your pup to lie on his mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

This training needs to start in low distractions areas (away from other pets), and then distractions need to be gradually added before trying to use them in the presence of pets. This is the biggest challenge we often face, our dogs responds well in calm settings but not when around strong distractions such as pets. Start with your puppy on leash with the kitten at a distance. Then practice on a longer leash. It's important to make it clear to your puppy that the kitten is delicate and he needs to be gentle. Always supervise and redirect quickly if he starts getting rough using your smacking sound.

Most puppies will prefer to play with a kitten or other puppy compared to toy as most toys (unless stuffed with food like a Kong Wobbler or stuffed Kong) are static, motionless and rather boring in comparison.