Dog chasing cat - help!

[SoapAndFury]

I have recently moved in with my boyfriend, and need some help to introduce his dog and my cat harmoniously! I am waiting for a local behaviourist appointment, but they are booked up for the time being, so would appreciate some advice in the meanwhile please.

Dog is a 9 year old cocker spaniel, and cat is a sprightly 12. Cat is used to dogs, but dog is not used to cats, and his instinct is to chase my cat (when we very first moved in together the cat got out of his secure space and tried to say hello to the dog who pinned him down).

Have tried keeping the cat at a safe distance so the dog can see him but not get over stimulated, and give high value treats for ignoring the cat, but the (usually food obsessed) dog is not at all interested in anything if he can see the cat at all (even if I am holding cat at the end of the garden, and dog is inside the house). Also introducing cat smells without cat present.
I have heard about keeping the cat contained in a carrier for introductions, but my cat gets very distressed in his basket so would like to avoid that.

Can anyone suggest anything that we could try? Thank you.

when we very first moved in together the cat got out of his secure space and tried to say hello to the dog who pinned him down
I don’t like to say this, but I personally would never, ever trust that dog anywhere near a cat tbh.

Most dogs will chase cats, but I don’t know any who would go further and actually injure a cat, nor do I know any who would lunge and pin down a cat that approached them.

If he pinned him it sounds to me like he is one of those dogs who would go further if he could.

Unless he was trying to play with him possibly?
But from that short paragraph, it doesn’t sound at all positive to me.

This might not end well. Cats have previously been killed by dogs that live within the same household.

No way would I trust my own dog around cats, and for that reason I would always avoid starting a relationship with a cat owner, for fear of this situation arising.

So sorry OP.

I’d keep them completely separate if he’s so highly aroused by the cat.

A 9-year-old cocker who isn’t used to cats/hasn’t been trained to ignore cats/will chase cats is quite a challenge, to be honest. Different if it’s a young dog.

How well trained is the dog in general?

For context - my dog was introduced as an adult (rescue) to our 2-cat household. She ignored them totally (they took a bit longer to ignore her!)

If you’ve moved a cat into the dog’s environment (rather than the other way round) then I think this will be very hard. Keeping them strictly separate until you have in-person advice sounds sensible.

Otherwise the dog needs to be on a house line whilst the cat needs plenty of high-up escape routes. And a house line for a 9-year-old cocker sounds miserable for dog and humans!

Can you partition off part of the house with a baby gate across a doorway, and have the dog on one side, cat on the other? They can then see and smell each other, but not get close enough to cause injury (well, the dog can't get close to the cat, and although the cat could jump the gate, it seems unlikely if the dog has previously pinned him down). I'm assuming that at 9 years old, the dog wouldn't to jump over the gate.

In theory, as the dog got more used to the presence of the cat, he should become less reactive, but I would expect it to take weeks.

You could try a correction spray every time the dog goes for the cat. You just spray away from the dog and the noise makes them check their behaviour.

It can only be used rarely though- either it won't work or the dog will be too freaked out.

If it does work though it's a great deterrent and you can just show the spray without using it after the first time.

@OytheBumbler

You could try a correction spray every time the dog goes for the cat. You just spray away from the dog and the noise makes them check their behaviour.

It can only be used rarely though- either it won't work or the dog will be too freaked out.

If it does work though it's a great deterrent and you can just show the spray without using it after the first time.

So your proposal is to scare the dog into compliance. This won't work - not in the medium term, not when the owners aren't in the same room, and not reliably enough to be safe for the cat.

No reputable trainer or behaviourist would recommend this btw.

@OytheBumbler

You could try a correction spray every time the dog goes for the cat. You just spray away from the dog and the noise makes them check their behaviour.

It can only be used rarely though- either it won't work or the dog will be too freaked out.

If it does work though it's a great deterrent and you can just show the spray without using it after the first time.

Please don't do this!

Just spotted this OP - it would be worth you and DP doing it. It's an online webinar on this very topic with a well regarded clinical animal behaviourist (APBC qualified)
fb.me/e/2PjbTzFjk

Thanks all. The cat is currently living in the summerhouse, so I am with him all day at work and he spends the evenings outside now its warmer. He is perfectly content, but is used to living in the house with me so I dont want this to be a permanent solution.

The dog has recently got much better on walks as in if we see a cat he doesn't react, whereas even a few weeks ago he would chase. That gives me hope, but I agree with above posters that I would find it hard to trust him with my cats, even if he seems to be making progress.
Have bookmarked that seminar too. Thanks again!

My dog did eventually stop chasing my cat but this took months 🥴 and I still completely separate them and never leave them alone together because it’s not fair on the cat. The cat chooses to come into the dog space sometimes she has lots of high up perches the dog can’t reach her and I spent some time giving them treats together when calm (in each hand) and this helped but it could be dangerous, so do not do that yet, I waited until mine were much more calm around each other
My dog doesn’t want to kill her he is aroused by her sudden movements when she jumps or runs it seems to surprise him.
He will always get over excited when she visits him (aloof on her perch) and pulls a load of toys out and she just sits and looks at him with this face

I have dogs also 4 cats. They still chase them but not attack them its instinct. They sleep with each other on sofa at night. When I introduced my rescue to my cats I used distraction method in other words reward for ignoring. You can Google it. If you find you can't do this yourself then get a behaviourist but please make sure the behaviourist had qualifications and google them. There are far too many unqualified behaviourists out there.