Please help !

My dog hates my sons cat ! And is getting quite aggressive with him bites his neck, pins him to the floor etc... I can see that the cat is really stressed, thought he would learn to love him as he got older but he's getting worse and more aggressive

Can you seperate in house? Does the cat have places to escape/sleep in high places?

I'm guessing it's play because, even at just a few months, I would expect a dog to do more than just pin a cat if it wanted to. What's Reggie now - 7 or 8 months old? Old enough to kill a cat if he wanted. Sadly, it may too old to have lost the opportunity to teach him to leave the cat alone without using significant aversives, especially if this has been going on for a while, so you may be stuck with managing the situation. It's still worth trying, though. If there are times that you'd like both in the room at the same time, have Reggie on a lead so he can see the cat but not reach it. Praise him for ignoring it, and tell him 'no' if he moves towards it.

As Rachel says, the important thing is to give the cat plenty of escape places and somewhere safe and calm to sleep. Play or not, it must be distressing for the cat.

"No' works when the cat is up high but when the cat is on the floor trying to go to safety hes after him and wont listen to a word I say. Separation is not impossible and I do, do that but its so uncomfortable hes constantly on the look out for the cat stalking him. Yes he's nearly 8 months now I've tried food,praise etc..he doesn't care he wants the cat.

Also since he started on the cat I have tried to teach him but he's like a dog possessed.

To be honest, I think the best way would be to call in a professional behaviourist. If it is just obsessive play, they may be able to help you train him to leave the cat alone. If it is real aggression and you can't separate them in the house, you may be faced with a horrible choice.

What a dilemma

Behaviourists are out of my price range round here. The cat is my sons and he wont let me rehome him. Dont know what I'm going to do

Is the cat outdoors? Perhaps u could leave him in the garden give him a break

He never used to be a outdoors cat but since we have had this monster hes out most of time. Reggie cries if left on his own so I dont tend to leave him out to long. Not keen on crates but may have to invest in one. Do you think its got anything to do with they are both male ??

I don't think it will be a gender thing between species.

One question - how much play time does Reggie get, and how much play with other dogs? I'm wondering if more of that might reduce his need to play with the cat. It may not change anything but worth a thought, maybe?

I would say between me and the kids he gets 5 hours play a day walks can be between hour to two all depends where we go and he doesn't play with dogs...people avoid him.

End of the month he has dog training classes so hoping for some staff friendly people there.

Maybe he needs a playmate and the grumpy cat is not the one to fill the role.

Never had a dog and cat together so not much help,I wouldnt be getting another dog though just to take attention away from the cat

No, I wouldn't suggest getting another dog as a playmate but it might be worth seeing if you could find another staffie (or other robust but friendly dog) that he could play with. As you say, hopefully training classes might help. Any more flashes of inspiration and I'll let you know!

Hmm awkward one. The only thing I can think of is to give the cat plenty of places to escape to and keep out the way, not very helpful I know