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We've got a bit of a cat chasing problem in my house, and I kind of blame the cats. Hamilton is nearly 16 wks old, and has been with us for 8 wks tomorrow. He is a doxie mix, and weighed in at 9.9 lbs last night. He was 3.8 when we got him, so much smaller than our smallest cat who is around 12 lbs (fwiw, I have large cats, not fat cats). We have three cats. At first he just ignored the cats, or would go to check them out, and they'd hiss and he'd back off right away. Then my youngest cat started to engage him more, and would chase him a little, and peek around furniture and bat at him, and Hamilton was all over having a play mate but now he chases all of them and pisses them off. The trainer we're taking classes with said NOT to let him chase them, but I'm failing to see how this is practical, so maybe I'm just not thinking of something... which is where you guys come in.
We have an open layout first floor to our home, which is the only floor the dog is allowed on. The cats have all of upstairs, and all of the basement to themselves. Additionally, we got an extra wide gate (not easy to find that isn't slats a small dog could climb through!!) to block off the family room from the rest of the first floor, and that is "Hamilton's Room" where we play with him and let him run around with the least supervision. In this room there are high windowsills he cannot jump up on, furniture he can't jump up on, and cat towers he can't climb. Therefore, the cats absolutely insist on being on the floor in the room with the dog at all times. The youngest cat Matrix jumps OFF THE WALL to get over the 27" high gate to get in. If you put him out he jumps right back in again. If the dog chases him out, you guessed it, right back in. The second oldest cat can also get over it, the oldest cat cannot and generally doesn't care to be in here. The trainer said not to have the cats and dog in the same room but there is NO way to prevent it. They come in, the youngest will walk right up and engage him, then look all upset and offended when he gets chased. I think the puppy thinks its a game, and doesn't see the cat as prey (after all he does stop chasing and turn around and run the other way like "Ok your turn!"), but the cats just want to be left alone. When we're coming and going through the other rooms I keep Hamilton on leash if there's a cat around. It isn't practical to have my hyper and largely accident-free puppy on a leash in his own space at all times. We try to distract him, but even if he's minding his own business they get right up in his face. We reward him when he's calm and the cats are around, but the chases rage on! Is there anything I haven't thought of here considering there is absolutely no way to keep the cats out of the room, and they are choosing to be in here!
We have an open layout first floor to our home, which is the only floor the dog is allowed on. The cats have all of upstairs, and all of the basement to themselves. Additionally, we got an extra wide gate (not easy to find that isn't slats a small dog could climb through!!) to block off the family room from the rest of the first floor, and that is "Hamilton's Room" where we play with him and let him run around with the least supervision. In this room there are high windowsills he cannot jump up on, furniture he can't jump up on, and cat towers he can't climb. Therefore, the cats absolutely insist on being on the floor in the room with the dog at all times. The youngest cat Matrix jumps OFF THE WALL to get over the 27" high gate to get in. If you put him out he jumps right back in again. If the dog chases him out, you guessed it, right back in. The second oldest cat can also get over it, the oldest cat cannot and generally doesn't care to be in here. The trainer said not to have the cats and dog in the same room but there is NO way to prevent it. They come in, the youngest will walk right up and engage him, then look all upset and offended when he gets chased. I think the puppy thinks its a game, and doesn't see the cat as prey (after all he does stop chasing and turn around and run the other way like "Ok your turn!"), but the cats just want to be left alone. When we're coming and going through the other rooms I keep Hamilton on leash if there's a cat around. It isn't practical to have my hyper and largely accident-free puppy on a leash in his own space at all times. We try to distract him, but even if he's minding his own business they get right up in his face. We reward him when he's calm and the cats are around, but the chases rage on! Is there anything I haven't thought of here considering there is absolutely no way to keep the cats out of the room, and they are choosing to be in here!