I have a 6 mth ESS called Harley and a 3 yr old Cat called Candy, Help!!!!! As soon as the dog see's the cat all he wants to do is chase it, so my cat runs a mile!! Does it ever get any better? We are having to feed the cat in another room shut away from the dog, or he is even having to eat outside!! I feel guilty as the cat had the run of the house before we got the dog, it dosn't seem fair!!
Has anyone got any good advice of what I can do?

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Unless you actually stop Harley chasing candy, nothing will change, if you always do what you've alway done, you will always get what you always got.

How you stop him really depends on how strong the pups drive to chase your cat is, he needs some sort of pattern interupt. You may need to get someone to come to your house to helpyou with this.

Some suggestions may be a squirt of water, this doesn't work well with gundogs in my experience, they love water, and your house gets very wet.

If he were my dog , I would have him on a lead as he goes to chase grab him by the collar and make him aware I don't find the behaviour acceptable, however I notice in your other post he sometimes bites you, so this may also not work.

I assume you have had him since a young pup, so for approx 4 months he has been chasing the cat, the longer it goes on, the stronger the behaviour, he really isn't aware at the moment it is not acceptable behaviour.

Good look, he looks a lovely lad.

If you are constantly separating your dog from the cat, you will never achieve a good balance.

I would strongly suggest that you put your cat in her carry case on the settee with Harvey placed calmly at your other side. It is imperative that you create a calm atmosphere when doing this, to stop Harvey getting out of control.

You may have to repeat this regularly, before your dog accepts being near Candy and vice versa, but once this is achieved you can bring Candy out of her carry case, restraining her gently and giving her gentle strokes in Harveys presence. With patience, they should both start to tolerate each other, and may even become friends.

Good luck.

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Thank you both for your advice!! Harley is very strong willed and I agree water does nothing, we have tried this as my husband read about it and my pup just loves it lol!!
It's very hard not to try and keep them apart as we are quite protective of our cat as he has been with us so long!! I know it sounds really sad but he's like my little baby, I always think he is not going to like me anymore when I try and put him near my pup!! Your probably all thinking what a sad cow lol!!

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I don't think you are a sad cow for wanting to protect your cat, thats exactly what you should do. The problem with avoiding rather than solving an issue like this, is one day someone leaves the wrong door open, the dog gets to the cat, and you end up with 2 injured animals, because although your cat is obviously scared of the pup, if cornered it will try to protect itself.

If you place your cat in her cat box, she will not be hurt, and the only way you will help them both is by a soft introduction.

I have just rescued two cats from the RSPCA, and we have just chosen a GSD puppy, so will be in exactly your position. We are just about to chose our dog crate, so pup will be in his crate for periods during the day, and the cats will have the chance to get to know him that way.

It is my hope that they will become good friends. Nothing like cats and dogs snuggling up together.

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