Yeah, hooligan! Ain't that the truth? It's been 16 years since we've had a puppy, but I well remember how it was like letting the devil in to play!
Good point about the cat hooks.
He already gets trims every 9 to 14 days--I can step that up to maybe once a week. With luck, that'll be enough!
I don't think JD is going to be laying down any law. I do think he's going to see puppy as a play toy from the get go. He has absolutely no fear of dogs...and from the way he tried to play with ours when he arrived, I suspect he's had puppy experience. (We think he might have been dumped by a puppy mill/cattery-type outfit when he didn't sell by 6 mos.) He seemed extremely surprised that none of the dogs wanted to wrassle with him. They mostly just walked away in disgust... And when he finally got Cass or Grace to play, or at least let him snuggle, he just purred and purred....
So I suspect we won't need the 'behind closed door' step. Meetings will be in the family room, where JD comes for afternoon and evening 'people time'. Unfortunately, we've never been able to give JD the run of the house because Brier is a loose cannon and can be reactive--especially since Brier is showing some signs of sundowner syndrome (doggy dementia). So we have a cat/puppy-proof room that the two youngsters (JD and Lily) can play. Lots of high places for JD to run to, so that's good, plus he'll have his maze to hide in... And when pup is house trained and has learned a few manners, she might be able to visit JD down in his Kitty Palace in the exposed basement.
Course, this all may be a pipe dream. What if they hate each other?!
Oy...