adopted a dog, how long till the cat calms down?

[vtgirl]

hi , we just brought home our new dog 2 days ago and the cat still wont come near her.  she hides upstairs and if someone is careless near the door, she bolts and stays out for hours.  she is 2 years old  (born at home!) and lived with a dog her whole life till our sweet old lady died a few weeks ago at the age of 13.  i know they will get along eventually, but i don't want her to run away thinking we love the new dog more or something - maybe she's not capable of that kind of logic, i don't know.....

any advice to make it go more smoothly is appreciated!

also, any ideas on how to get new dog (nomi) to listen better to dd. (age 11)  nomi is smart, seems to know quite a few commands already and we are working on leash training and hand commands but she seems to ignore dd everytime while she will listen to dh and i the first time asked.

also...(sorry!)  any idea if you can teach a dog to fetch?  nomi has no interest in any toys or balls but we loved excersing our last dog by throwing a stick or a ball 50 times - man, she was a good girl, miss her terribly........but new dog, new beginning, if she wont fetch then we will do other stuff with her....

thanks!  trina

[kythe]

We had our 2 cats for a year before getting a dog, but our cats spent their first 3 months living on a farm with multiple animals, including dogs.  I figured they wouldn't have a problem adjusting, but they did.  They were the opposite of yours though - they were very aggressive toward our dog.  He's over 60 lbs, yet would cower when the cats growled and postured (backs arched, fur fluffed).  We've had him for two months now and the cats only occasionally growl, for the most part the dog has learned to ignore them.  I don't think they will ever love each other, but they tolerate each other.

Our dog doesn't fetch either, and I don't know if there is a way to teach him.  He is more interested in playing with people and other dogs than with objects.  I've wondered how much of it is in the breed, what they instinctively tend to do.  Each dog is different.

My dog doesn't listen to my kids either, he only obeys me.  My son can yell sometimes and the dog will stop doing whatever it was he was doing, but my daughter treats him like a baby and he has no respect for her.  I think he sees her as a puppy, not a master to listen to.  I've tried telling her it's in how she talks to him.  Instead of giving commands, she will get down on his level and say in a high pitched, sweet voice, "Now come here, let's do this.  Come on boy..." and of course he has no reason to take her seriously.  If she'd sit or stand straight up, look him in the eye, and say a one word command in a firm voice, he'd be more inclined to obey her instead of just "playing" with her.  She's 11 years old, but doesn't seem to understand this.  She can't walk him on a leash either because he pulls her and she can't control him.