Puppy with 2 full-grown cats

[tlc_1031]

I briefly mentioned this in my introduction post, but it seems to have gotten worse over the last week. We have a 4 month old boxer/border collie mix, Belle, and two 6 year old cats at home. All 3 live inside. At first the cats were terrified of the puppy, but one of them has ventured down close to her, even laying on the floor right beside her. Belle first thought they were her new playmates, batting at them and chasing them through the house. We thought it was all in play, but lately, she has been chasing them and nipping at their tails and legs. We don't want to seperate them since they will always be living inside together, but I also don't want the cats to get hurt or have to live the rest of their lives on the pool table scared of Belle. Anyone have any advice?

 

[gmacleod]

Yep - stop your puppy chasing the cats. That is only likely to escalate and may end in one or more cats getting hurt (and even if it doesn't, it is most unlikely that the cats will ever relax around the dog if they're being chased all the time). Control the pup either by a leash or by a crate.

You need to teach your pup that it cannot chase the cats - ever. Instead, you need to work on desensitising the pup to the cats, the aim of which is that it will just ignore them. Again, that starts by preventing the pup from chasing. Then you can work on distraction and desensitisation - reward your puppy when she pays attention to you and not to the cats. Once the pup is safely ignoring the cats, you can start to work on "leave it". If you apply a "leave it" command whenever a cat starts to look uncomfortable or gives any back-off signals, your pup should start to learn to recognise those signals for itself. And when she does, she should start to self-manage leaving it All of that will help to make the cats comfortable, which is the start of a friendly feline-canine relationship.

Another necessity is a few dog-free zones round the house where the cat can escape from the pup and remain un-harrassed. These zones should NOT be the bedroom or the basement (or at least, not only those places), but rather somewhere where the cats can still safely interact with the rest of the family without fear.

As already mentioned, the key to getting cats and dogs to get along is ensuring that the cats do not feel threatened. So stop the pup from harassing and provide a level of security for the cats, and from there you've got a reasonable chance of ending with friendly relations

There are plenty of previous threads on how to get cats and dogs to get along that you'd find with a forum search on the term "cats"

 

[Dempseysmama]

Gmacleod is absolutely right. My mother has a very old cat. His name is Fluffy and he is about 14 now. He has always been around, puppies, kittens, dogs, and cats so he tolerates Dempsey when I bring him over, however, he is old and doesn't tolerate him for long. As soon as we see Fluffy give the "This little thing better leave me alone, or else" look we immediatley stop Dempsey. More and more Dempsey is understanding that Fluffy is not a toy or his tail and cool chase/chew toy. Give it time and patience, they should eventually learn to live together with you help.

I like Gmacleod's advice about a catsafe, doffree zone.

Good luck!!!