My puppy keeps chasing my cat :/

Hi everyone,

I've had Bowie just over a week now and she's doing pretty good. However I have an indoor cat that has only recently begun to feel comfortable being in the same room as puppy and has stopped growling/hissing at her. But now he keeps getting harassed and Bowie keeps chasing him around the house. It's not aggressive and I think she just wants to play but she doesn't know when enough is enough. Paul (my cat) has swatted at her a few times and she kind of gets the hint but then keeps trying to play. It's all right now but I'm afraid that when Bowie gets bigger she might seriously hurt my cat.

When I see it happening I'll try and give her a firm 'LEAVE IT' and try to give her a toy instead and she usually listens, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to leave them alone together!

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated, thanks!

I'm in the same situation. We have a make and female cat, he wont bother the female as she has swiped him a few times but the male cat sits there an let him nip his neck. My pup has recently started putting his arse to the cat first. Soon as he goes we give him a firm no when moving him but hoping it clicks in not to do it

How old is your puppy Tony?

Yeah it's very stressful and the lady I bought her off specifically said that she had been brought up with cats and kittens so I thought they wouldn't bother her. It's just because he runs and she wants to chase.

He is 9 weeks old. The cat just lies there which is encouraging the pup even more. He is a really soft cat but obviously want to get it stopped before he gets bigger. How old is yours and what does he do to the cat when he catches him?

We have the same problem on thing I have noticed is when the cat swipes it does not have its claws out there has been some good contact but never any marks left on the dog so its just a warning shot.

One way we got it to settle down was when the dog fired up get between the cat and the dog stand your ground and use the NO word in a big voice stay there until the dog turns and moves away, make sure its a submissive move away and not getting a better position for the next attack. The other thing is now the cat seems to instigate the issue maybe it likes seeing the dog in trouble.

Cheers

Tonyx89 wrote:He is 9 weeks old. The cat just lies there which is encouraging the pup even more. He is a really soft cat but obviously want to get it stopped before he gets bigger. How old is yours and what does he do to the cat when he catches him?

Oh ok still tiny! Yeah Bowie is about 14 weeks old now and she'll chase the cat and just keeps sticking her nose in his face as well as trying to nip him on the face/neck. He's a big cat and he was super aggressive/defensive at the start and now he is just letting her get away with it and would rather just remove himself from the situation than 'defend' himself, aside from the occasional swat.

RiV wrote:We have the same problem on thing I have noticed is when the cat swipes it does not have its claws out there has been some good contact but never any marks left on the dog so its just a warning shot.

One way we got it to settle down was when the dog fired up get between the cat and the dog stand your ground and use the NO word in a big voice stay there until the dog turns and moves away, make sure its a submissive move away and not getting a better position for the next attack. The other thing is now the cat seems to instigate the issue maybe it likes seeing the dog in trouble.

Cheers

Yeah I think that's what my cat does as well. He swatted her right in the face and she just sort of flinched and was a bit shocked but it definitely didn't hurt her.

I think I'll definitely try that and just teach her to leave the cat alone. I thought if he had a proper go at her she might give him a bit more respect but she just keeps wanting to play. So your cat almost wants to play as well then? Or is just trying to get your dog in trouble, sneaky!

Thanks

jettys wrote:

Yeah I think that's what my cat does as well. He swatted her right in the face and she just sort of flinched and was a bit shocked but it definitely didn't hurt her.

I think I'll definitely try that and just teach her to leave the cat alone. I thought if he had a proper go at her she might give him a bit more respect but she just keeps wanting to play. So your cat almost wants to play as well then? Or is just trying to get your dog in trouble, sneaky!

Thanks

Yeh the cat seems a lot more at easy now and the dog does not chase him that much anymore, they will eat together and will even pass in the hallway without a problem just sometimes one of them must get board and decides to fire up lately its been the cat being sneaky we think.

Cheers

RiV wrote:

jettys wrote:

Yeah I think that's what my cat does as well. He swatted her right in the face and she just sort of flinched and was a bit shocked but it definitely didn't hurt her.

I think I'll definitely try that and just teach her to leave the cat alone. I thought if he had a proper go at her she might give him a bit more respect but she just keeps wanting to play. So your cat almost wants to play as well then? Or is just trying to get your dog in trouble, sneaky!

Thanks

Yeh the cat seems a lot more at easy now and the dog does not chase him that much anymore, they will eat together and will even pass in the hallway without a problem just sometimes one of them must get board and decides to fire up lately its been the cat being sneaky we think.

Cheers

Yeah well that sounds better at least, that makes me hopeful. It must just be a novelty thing for mine at the moment, as long as she settles down a bit and has her toys to keep her occupied.

Thanks

This was our main problem with Pru, I say 'was' but we've only just gotten over it and she's almost 6 months old. She chased the cat from day one and as she got bigger it became more of a problem. I'd advise trying to get something done about it now before it gets too ingrained in Bowie that chasing cats is ok.

We had a professional dog trainer come in to help us with Pru's cat hating ways and she taught us that Pru should not even be able to stare at our cat and we should distract her with a firm "AH AH" noise and when she looks away and focuses back on us we reward her with a treat. Its taken a lot of time and patience but I think it is starting to sink in. Good luck!

Thanks Fay. That's sort of similar to what we have been trying but she is relentless! Sounds like we may have to get someone in... Thanks again! Will let you know how I go.