Cats and Dogs can generally coexist peacefully with some planning and patience on your part.  Many times they become best friends and lifelong companions!

First & foremost - know your pets!  You know your dog more than anyone else, use common sense...if you have an aggressive dog that chases stray cats and squirrels...its probably best that you not get a kitten.  Be able to read your dogs body language and moods.  Is your dog well-trained?  Does he respond to the basics such as sit, come & stay??

Start Slow!!  Do not rush either pet.  When you take your kitten home, have a room set up just for her, put her in the room, but take the towel or the empty carrier and let your dog sniff it.  Also, give your kitten a toy of the dogs so that their scents start to intermingle.  Let the kitten out of his room to explore when the dog is outside.

Use your judgment, if your dog is relatively calm or has been around cats before with no bad experiences, it is probably safe to introduce them.  If your dog is friendly but high strung & hyper...you may want to wait a few days, let the kitty explore the house as often as possible, this will help her learn the layout of the house without the interference of a dog sniffing after her.

The Introduction

Have treats on hand - for reinforcing any positive behavior.

If your dog is high strung, exercise him first, let him calm down.  Put him in a crate or on a short leash.  By keeping your dog on a leash, you prevent him from chasing the kitty - this is a natural instinct for dogs, to chase small animals.  He may not intend to hurt the kitty, but playing chase is very fun for most dogs.  Never allow  him to chase the cat!!

Let the kitten approach the dog.  Talk to both in a comforting voice - praise, praise, praise both for any good behavior!  Expect the kitten to hiss and arch its back.  (Try not to laugh at her attempt to make herself appear big and bad!)  By allowing kitty to approach your dog when you are in control, it gives kitty time to gain trust in you and the dog, that nothing bad will happen.

If your dog tries to lunge at the kitten, correct him with the leash.  If he is overly excited and you can not calm him, cut the visit short and try again later...make sure you exercise him very well first the next time.

Use your best judgment, if the dog appears uninterested, it is probably safe to let both venture about - supervised!  If your dog is overly excited, it is best to keep him on the leash.  Some dogs, even though their intention is just to make friends with this new furry arrival, sometimes an over rambunctious pup can scare a kitten or unintentionally hurt the kitten in his excitement.  This type of dog needs to have more short visits on a leash until the kitten is "old news" for the dog.  Don't worry, soon they will be romping together, playing, sleeping, washing and grooming one another.

Do not leave them alone until you are sure that they are comfortable enough with each other and make sure they both have their own space.  Baby gates work well to give your kitten her own space as well as keeping the dog out of the litter box and cat food.

Our kittens here at Artistry Cats are raised with Bear, our Lab/Chow mix and Scout, our English Setter.  They get a variety as far as what is acceptable with them and what they can get away with, with each dog.  Bear, for example, is older and calm and basically does not tolerate the kittens biting him in play...but under no circumstances will he hurt a kitten, he will get up and walk away.  With each new litter, Bear firmly puts them in their place and that's the end of it, the kittens learn very quickly that Bear will not tolerate any "kitten play".  On the other end, Scout, our English Setter is very high strung and active and does his best to make sure that every kitten is his best friend before they go home.  He plays with them and sleeps with them and is very excited to meet every new kitten!!  Scout is our kitten socializer...if a kitten is wary of him, Scout will lay down and let the kitten come to him...they learn very quickly that neither dog will hurt them and that they can play with Scout and climb all over him, but to walk a wide path around Bear, but that Bear will not hurt them either. 

We hope that this helps you to be able to help your pets adjust to each other!!