How to stop the fascination with the cats

[CatTormentor]

Name changed and going to keep context brief. I have also posted in pets.

So I have a retriever and ended up with a litter of orphaned kittens. At first she was wary of the cats and didn’t like the noises they made so stayed away. The cats have been in their own area of the house and the dog hasn’t been bothered. Now the kittens are getting older and approaching adoption age however I would like to keep them until they have all been neutered.

I have now given the kittens more space but the dog wants to chase them. I keep her on a lead around them and I’m using the leave it command which she’s starting to understand (she’s only 1 so good at leaving objects but we’re still working on training) however the kittens are completely unbothered most of the time and actually appear to intentionally be winding her up by lying as close to her as possible. Then hissing when she moves at all.

Of course we’ve done all the basics. Made sure kittens have an escape route etc but how do we move forward? There is a kitten we’d love to keep if viable but need to know I can trust the dog. We’re currently at the cats having free roam and dog on a lead unless there’s a door between them but is this viable? Until yesterday the cats were in their own section 24/7 and the dog didn’t see them much.

We’ve had them since they were newborn and they’ve been hard work. Loads of love, time and money has gone into them. I’d really love to keep one but it needs to be the right decision

Have a look at click the trigger or engage disengage. I have a working terrier and cat and this is how we trained her to walk away from him. He doesn't run though.

Kittens are hard work with dogs as they are very much like prey and behave and sound like it. You may have to keep them separate until the kitten grows up and behaves more like a cat. I would not have a kitten with a dog. I've always adopted older cats and had no problems.

Thank you @Newpeep I feel like maybe I should have introduced them sooner. I have multiple rodent species and she was brought up around birds and is brilliant around them. The rodent room is obviously out of reach to both cats and the dog but if she comes in when I’m feeding them (they’re in cages) she never bothers.

I worry leaving it too late will make it worse. A neighbours chickens came into our garden once and she ran out to them but didn’t touch them. I don’t want to be too overly cautious and end up with an adult cat that the dog still won’t tolerate and struggle to find a home for them.

when they’re older do you let the cat swipe the dog? Or should she never be this close?

It is my job to stop the dog annoying the cat, not the cat's job. I don't allow this at all.

That said my cat will give a gentle dap (no claws. fairly neutral body language) if my dog spends too long sniffing him and she will walk away. We allow this but ultimately dogs and cats have totally different body language and play styles so they tend not to understand each other too well!