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I've always wanted a dog, jut really craved that companionship you get with a dog. I'd personally always liked the idea of adopting an older dog, skip the puppy part, have no interest in children, so why go through the pain with a puppy.
However, we have two lovely cats, and after looking at an older dog recently and deciding against it for the cats, the shelter asked if we'd be interested in a puppy from a litter they had coming. A puppy, while hard work, would be overall easier with the cats, learning to live with them from a young age.
We got our puppy on Saturday, he's roughly 8 and a half weeks, so still super young, and I know it's extremely early, but also, WTF. The adjustment has been insane, people warn you, but my god, I was not prepared.
I think I could handle the general puppy chaos, but it's the cat side of things that's really making me anxious. We're generally pretty lucky, he naps in his crate, got a 90 minute nap from him today, and he sleeps in his crate overnight, only 2 wakes a night so far. Toilet training is going relatively well for a pup so young, so cannot complain. But we're having to keep him separate from our cats. We've got him in our room and set up a zone in the garden leading out of our room, then he has a puppy pen in our hallway, with a fence thing up into the main living area, so he can see the cats, but can't get to them. Today we had two cat interactions outside, and I cannot help just panicking. He has growled and barked, the interactions were with the little garden fence we put up between them, however both times each cat has managed to sneak into the fence area and give us a bit of a surprise.

Has anyone else successfully introduced a puppy into a house with cats? I need tips, or advice or reassurance, as right now I can't help but think, is this actually going to work? And if it's not, this was a horrible idea. The only reason I thought ok, about going through the puppy madness was for the possible cohabitation of the dog with the cats. I don't need friendship, just coexistence. I know it's super early, but I can't help spiraling.
Breed wise, he is a staffy x, likely with a whippet, but they're not 100%. He's very sweet, like for his age I cannot fault him, he's done nothing but behave like a puppy.

I have an 11 week old terrier pup who I got a few weeks ago while I have been living at my parents home in a rural area with our own yard, so he’s had a yard to explore (no dogs have been in the yard besides my late dog, who had never been sick, vet approved this!), and he’s practically fully potty trained at this point.

I’ve been at my parents for the last year and a half, and finally got a job offer back in the city I had been in for years before, the same week I got my puppy (what bizarre timing?). My puppy is up to date on shots for an 11 weeker, but won’t be fully vaxxed until mid april at 16 weeks, by that point, I’ll be moved back up with him in the city.

how might I handle that switch, to those of you in cities? How do you take your puppy out in a city before they’re fully vaxxed? I’m lucky that the apartment I’m moving to is dog friendly and has a fairly large grass pad on the roof, but I have no idea about the dogs that have been there previously. The city is also pretty dog friendly with a ton of dog parks, as well as massive regular parks that are dog friendly but again, can’t bring him there until fully vaxxed. I know people have those small fake grass pads, but he’s so used to a big yard, I worry he won’t know what to do with it.

I feel bad about confusing him but the goal was always to transition back the city at some point. Beyond the potty training and outside time, has anyone done this and how did your puppy deal with it? He’s so young I hope he’s able to adjust quickly but I want to make it as smooth as possible. I didn’t think moving would be happen this soon.

Any ideas and thoughts are so appreciated!!

We are potentially adopting a 6 month old rescue pup. We’re meeting her later this week, but have been in contact with her foster mom, who has given us some helpful information. The pup is spayed, potty trained, crate trained, walks well on a leash, and knows some basic commands. They don’t know much about her history, but she was found with a broken leg and spent time on crate rest while it healed. If everything goes well at our meet and greet, we’ll bring her home the same day.

We have all the necessary dog/puppy supplies, but I’m wondering what we can do to make the transition into our family go smoothly. We’ll keep her food the same, and try to keep her on a similar schedule. We plan to be home with her the first few days so she can settle in and we can get to know her. (We know about the 3-3-3 rule.) What should we expect from this transition period? Separation anxiety, potty regressions, other difficulties? Would love to know your experience was like if you brought home an “older” puppy.