[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by jencar98

We're having success using this "time-out" method and the squirt bottle. If Sophie Kate goes after the cat, she is put in an ex-pen. If the cat walks by and she starts jumping at the side of the pen and barking, I'll squirt at her legs, and say loudly "Uh Huh!". Within the matter of a couple of days, we've gone from not trusting her at all around our cat, to now, she almost totally ignores him and hasn't been penned for cat attacking, in some time now.

I also continue to praise Sophie Kate, when the cat walks by and she ignores him. She loves the praise more than she loved the cat chase.

For the safety of your cat, you don't have time to start with "leave it". You need to make this an absolute "NO" and can't wait on reward methods to work. In this case, the reward can be, not getting time out, or squirted.

Excellent addition.....heaping praise on them is an absolute for this! They love it and they really DO learn quickly. We just have to be very consistent.