Introducing Your Dog to Small Animals: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introducing dogs to small animals can be scary. Especially for the small animal. It doesn't take much for an adult dog to severely injure a chicken or rabbit. The goal of this blog entry will be to explain why a dog might be a danger to small animals, how to prevent issues from arising, and to discuss if it's possible for dogs who are really driven to accept small animals.

We'll begin with what makes dogs want to chase or hurt small animals. It's prey drive. Prey drive is a dog's natural instinct to chase and catch prey. Prey drive is often confused with aggression, but they're only similar at face value. Aggression is driven by fear or social frustration to set the boundaries of relationships and territory. I note this difference to point out that controlling prey drive is a lot easier than trying to work with a dog who is afraid and aggressive out of negative feelings.

There are 3 main ways that the majority of trainers will tell you how to introduce a dog to a smaller animal.

1: Use kennels and child gates so they can smell and get used to each other, slowly introducing them more and more. All while reading their body language, of course.

2: Just letting them meet face to face with the dog on a leash and training collar just in case.

3: Holding the smaller animal close to your body or in your hands so you can quickly use your body to block the dog if they get too excitable.

All three options have pros and cons. Some are a bit riskier than others at the beginning, but in the end, there will be a situation where not much is keeping something bad from happening except a leash or your body. So yes, it is a risk either route you choose take. And personally, I find it advantageous to use a little of all 3 methods.

Start with the dog in the kennel and the small animal in view with you holding it or in its own enclosure. This will help lower the dog's curiosity about this other creature it shares a home with.

Imagine if you had never seen a parrot, rabbit, or whatever the animal, in this case, may be. And the first time you saw one, it was placed in your lap without your consent. It would be overwhelming. You wouldn't know what it was, if it were dangerous or not, or safe to be around, etc.

Don't put your dog in that position. A safe, slow first introduction is the best way to convey to your dog that this exotic new friend is harmless and normal to have around and nothing to get excitable over.

Next, if at all possible, have a second person leash your dog. A loose leash. Adding tension to the line will do the exact opposite of what you want, which is your dog in a calm, relaxed state of mind. The leash is a form of insurance. Your next form of insurance is to have the small animal in your lap or arms. This is a bit risky if it's a cat. You might get scratched if they panic. But with most other animals, everything should be fine.

The leash, plus being able to use your body to body block the animals off from each other if the need should arise, gives you two forms of insurance. Dogs understand the concept of ownership very well. They understand when a female doesn't want them around her puppies, they understand when another dog doesn't want them to touch their food, or toys, or violate their space or territory. Having the small animal close to you and using your body language to communicate that this living creature is yours and isn't to be harassed is a language that does translate.

I've been asked if corrections should be used if a dog gets overly excited. The answer is "it depends." A soft, or low drive, or well-trained dog might respond well to "No." A lot of dogs may get corrected and lower their current drive level, which is pretty much the point of most corrections. But some dogs kick into higher drive when corrected. Or they get defensive, which is worse. So the final verdict on using corrections is: it's your dog, you know it best.

Going back to prey drive, some dogs have so much prey drive they may never be trustworthy around small animals. Or the lengths that one would have to go to are simply too far outside of the average trainer's ability that the average person doesn't have a chance at all. The only thing to do in that scenario is to keep them separated for their own safety indefinitely.

To reduce the risk of that happening, when choosing a puppy, choose one that doesn’t have as much drive and socialize them young. A tactic that owners of livestock guardian breeds know all too well. Also, if corrections are to be used, it's much easier to use mild ones on a young dog than have to give bigger corrections to a 2 or 3-year-old who is already dead set in the mindset that it has to chase and hunt whichever animals you're trying to get them to get along with.

There are so many variables and trains of thought on the subject that a person could spend a year trying different tactics in different ways, and that is a good thing. The more options one familiarizes themselves with, the more likely they are to find one that works for their situation. The most important things are ensuring the safety of both animals and remaining calm and not adding excitement to the mix. So many people will go straight to excited baby talk mode and then wonder why their dog got too excited during a training session. The goal is to be cool, calm, and clearly in charge of what's going on. If the interaction is boring, you did it right.

Continue to aspire to boring, calm interactions and make sure to read the body language of both animals involved. It also helps if you already have a firm grasp on an adult dog's obedience training before attempting to socialize them with other species. If a dog is well trained, a down, out, and recall could make all of the difference in a dicey situation.

We hope that this one can help somebody out there who is concerned about introducing their dog to smaller farm animals, cats, pet birds, etc. The goal here was to give ideas on methods that exist and can be tried more so than a blueprint that will work for everyone and every dog. And in that endeavor, I hope we succeeded. Thank you, and please leave a like and share.

You may also like: 29 Essential Training Commands To Teach Your German Shepherd