How can we stop our Lab chasing our cat?

[LaBelleSauvage123]

We have an 11 month old Lab who is well trained in every way except this one. Our cat was curious when she was a small puppy and we made the mistake of encouraging their interaction instead of teaching the dog to ignore the cat. And unfortunately the cat isnt the type to give the dog a swipe and assert dominance. He doesnt even do it with other cats! As the dog has got bigger, the cat has become more and more wary ( unsurprisingly) and now really only comes in at night. We feed the cat upstairs and there's a stairgate so he can be completely separate from the dog. The issue is that on the odd occasion when they do meet, the dog gets really excited and runs up to the cat, the cat runs and the dog chases.
I can't see any way of training her out of this as it doesnt happen often enough and is too unpredictable to be able to reward her for ignoring the cat.
The dog is very intelligent and has been easy to train in every other way - I would really like some advice about stopping the chasing.

Is this an impossible problem to solve?

Mine does the same. The gate will remain forever I fear.

We had the same problem, the cat one day turned and swatted our lab on the nose. She now gives a wide berth when walking past the cat. I do think it’s an age thing for labs too.

In 15 years we’ve never achieved it. Downstairs dog, upstairs cat….

Oh how depressing! Our cat will never do the swatting thing. I wish he'd just stand his ground but I guess thats a bit much to ask when 25kg of dog comes hurtling towards you.

we have a cat and have had 2 dogs (both older rescues).
We had the cat for 10 years before the first dog. He and cat eventually got along, as the dog didn't chase. It took a year, and then we went away with dog and left cat in the house and he obviously decided he wanted his house back, so didn't back down when the dog returned. Then that dog died.
Second dog, the dog chased the cat. Upstairs cat, downstairs dog, opening and closing doors to contain dog and let cat through etc etc.
Over 4 years it slowly got better, we always stopped the dog chasing, but often were not quick enough. Cat gave the dog a wide berth, but slowly they got used to each other, and cat was in the house, but never in the same room as the dog.
Dog died a few months ago, and cat has quietly reclaimed the house, much to his delight. He is old now and I am glad he is getting a quite old age.

I've always trained my dogs that chasing cats is unacceptable. I have a Lurcher (greyhound x saluki) and a lab. I have ten cats in the house. They all get along.
To train the dog is kept on a training lead whenever the cat is in the vicinity, preferably attached to you. Every time he attempts to chase the cat he is checked and told no or leave it, then made to sit. Even intently watching they are told no and then rewarded when their attention is back on you.
It takes perseverance and time, but a lab especially should be trainable. Make sure that he is well exercised and not bored or else the cat chasing will be filling a void.

Just tell the dog to not bloody do it. Reprimand him whenever he tries, maybe remove from him firmly from the room for a few minutes (the cat gets to stay, he does not). Re-admit him. Praise him if he sees the cat and ignores it. Tell him off and remove him if he shows too much interest. Rinse and repeat.

I've had four high prey drive dogs with a cat. They were told as puppies to leave the cat alone, and they learned within a fortnight, with very little input from the cat, what was okay and what was not (cleaning the cat's ears, fine if the cat lets you; scaring the cat and making it run, right out). If a slightly older puppy tried an experimental chase, I was right in there with a 'NO' and immediate intervention ('You don't do that. Out you go.'). You have a benign cat and an established behaviour to stop in the dog, so it will take you longer, but it can be done.

We could leave the cat(s) and the dog(s) shut in the same room overnight or when we went out with no concerns at all. They used to sleep in front of the fire together - the cat would pick his way in over the dogs and settle where he fancied.

If your dog loves finding and chasing, do those activities on walks - hide tennis balls in grass for him to find, roll a tennis ball and then let him chase it while it's still moving. Encourage him to bring the ball back, and you have the basis for a lot of entertaining games where you and your dog can have fun together.

As @Pixietop says. Use a training lead and when your lab goes to chase call him
away and make him do something for your or play with him. He will learn that you are more value than the cat. The more he is allowed to chase it will reinforce that behaviour. He should soon get bored of it, but do make sure he is not bored and looking for fun with the cat.

My puppy would chase my cat and bark to get to her when they were separated. Tjeu are now asleep on the sofa together which I never thought would happen

All great advice, thank you. Its more difficult because the cat only rarely appears during the day time so its hard to predict. The dog is exercised 3 times a day and given lots of enrichment activities so I dont think she's bored.