At my wits end with my puppy bulling my cat!!!

[Amanda & Riley]

I need advice!! My puppy (who will be 4 months next week) has always played really hard with my cat George. When Riley was little, george was able to play with her at an equal level but now Riley is starting to really tower over him and play WAY too rough. George has put up with a lot, but I am starting to really feel horrible for him as he wants to be downstairs with everyone but is starting to become afraid/annoyed of Riley.

 

I have been using the "shake the can" method and that and clapping will startle Riley for a second but then she will just continue bullying him.

 

I do not know what else to do.. it is becoming exhausting constantly yelling at her and chasing after them!!

 

Any suggestions?

 

PS- This is a picture of her and George from over a month ago.. she is A LOT bigger now!!!

[Lauren & Buddy]

Here is a post that I made about a little while ago about my puppy playing with my kitty:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness/forum/topics/cat-play

Buddy is now almost 5 months old and things have gotten a little bit better between him and my cat. Mostly I think he's just more used to her and therefore she seems much less exciting to him. I think for me what has helped is just finding other toys and things for him to play with that he likes MORE than chasing around my kitty. This doesn't mean he doesn't chase her anymore (he does) but it just means that I've noticed that the intense level of play has toned down. I've only seen this happen over the past few weeks or so. The other difference I have made is that I put him in the crate if he starts acting up too much with my cat...he seems to get that message loud and clear as well.

Hopefully some other people have some good ideas as well...but that's what I got!!

[Amanda & Riley]

Thanks Lauren!!

I have thought about putting her in the crate when she gets too rough, but, I am nervous about doing that because I dont want that to be a "negative" place.. IDK.

[Lauren & Buddy]

Yeah, I was worried about the same thing but sometimes it seems to be the only thing that helps! Even though I have played crate games with him, tried feeding in his crate, etc. Buddy isn't crazy about his crate anyway. So I figured it probably wouldn't make it worse and from what I can tell it hasn't. But that's just my experience...

[Rhonda, Marabelle & Jeriki]

Awwwww such a cute pic of her and George lol, I can see the look on your cats face like" Please get this dog of my back"

Rhonda

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Have you taught Riley the "Leave It" command? If not, do so now. It is the only way I've managed. Now I only need to repeat myself once or twice before Sophie leaves Penelope alone :o) ...we are still working on it. You could also get a doggie gate with a special kitty door that can help with seperating them...

 

I agree with Lauren though, Riley will get bored with him after a while and won't bother him as much.

 

 

[Amanda & Riley]

Nope.. we havent got to the "leave it" command yet in class. Although I have a feeling that with Riley she would hear me say, leave it, and keep on doin what she does! hah

[Leslie J]

I think that you should put up a gate or something dividing the downstairs area up so George can have a place to relax with everyone too!  After all, he was there first :).  Once Riley matures more and stops bothering George you can take the gate down.

I have a feeling that eventually Riley will get bored of George... or George will give him a good kitty scare!  Cats can be pretty tough sometimes- we have a cat who hates dogs down the street and sometimes he attacks dogs who walk near his home or family.  Once he went after Cocoa, and even though she's at least twice his size she was pretty intimidated.

 

[Amanda & Riley]

I hope she gets bored of him soon. We do have a few gates up, one so that she can not go upstairs on her own and one separating the family room and kitchen. Funny enough, George still chooses to come into the family room because he wants to be by us. I may have to just start putting her in time outs..

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Gate, "leave it" command, all good. The most important thing is to give Adorable, tolerant  George a safe haven and an escape route...be it a perch where he can be up high, a gate, whatever. George needs to feel safe.

Lucca (3) and Izzy (1) chase Tally but he always has a way to escape. Most of the time he loves being chased. They never touch him anymore. George will also get to the point that he may lash out to protect himself. That was always my biggest fear (for the dog:)) but one flick on his nose and Riley may learn.

Stay consistent and Riley will eventually outgrow it and George will just be another member of the family,not a "toy"!!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Firstly, very cute picture! I dealt with bringing Lucy home to our 23 yr old cat by gating off almost half of the house. I knew, given her advanced years, she wouldn't be a permanent fixture in Lucy's life, and besides that she was much too decrepit to tolerate ANY kind of rough housing. The two did meet face to face, and Lucy always gave Lisette (the cat) an immense amount of space and respect. She seemed to sense Lisette's vulnerability and never once played with her. Sadly, we lost Lisette just months after bringing Lucy home, but the gates remained up just to protect certain rooms, and to keep Lucy safe. Personally, I think gates are the best bet for a cat that feels bullied. I've even seen ones that have small 'doorways' just to allow cats in and out. Good luck!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We had that problem.  Now all is well.  It does need your intervention.  Our cats are OLD.  15 years old.

First, get that kitty a box to hide.  We have many boxes around the house for the cats.  We get them at Sam's club.  The wholesale Reese's candy box is a favorite.  I then use a curtain shear to cover the entrance.  We place most of the boxes higher up but easy access for a quick escape.

Gate  We use a gate that the cats can easily escape under but the dogs can't go beyond.  Gates are great for leaving the dogs confined to one room.  Now that our dogs are no longer crated when we leave, it keeps them in the living room all safe too.   The gate helped that the dogs and cats can see each other, when we feed the cats the dogs can't eat all the food, and many other advantages.  But originally we got it for just this reason

 

Down/Stay command

As the puppies got older they mastered the down/stay command.  When the cats came by we put them in this command.  This was the best thing we have done.  It worked wonders.  This was a chase can not ensue and the cats and dogs are down on the same level.  The dog is  not towering over.   It was calming to the dogs and cats. 

I noticed others said leave it too.  That is a good one   :)

 

It does get better.  Your puppy is still a baby.

My husband's dog used to drag one of our cats around. HORRIFYING when you first see it.  This cat and dog played like two puppies!!!   The cat slept with this dog and followed the dog around!   Strange relationships but they do work it out.  To me, it sounds like play. 

 

[Amanda & Riley]

I like the idea of the boxes! Thats cute!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I need to continue to work with her on the stay command and begin leave it...