She won't leave our cat alone. Help!
 

Ok, Morgan is now 2 yrs. old. She is a morkie.
She will not leave our cat alone and it is getting REAL old. My husband gets upset because she chases her constantly. She has always done it ever since she was a pup and I just figured she would grow out of it. Well, she hasn't yet. Bailey (our cat) sits on top of an ottoman and bats Morgan in the head like a boxer (no claws). She still doesn't get the point. I know it has to stress out Bailey but I don't know what else to do. We yell at Morgan to stop which of course doesn't help.
Anyone have any suggestions for us?
Thank you!

Yelling at a dog re-enforces behaviors. They think you're barking back. Can you put your baby in time out? You can use a water bottle and everytime she goes toward the cat spray her! Good luck!:)

that was exactly what I was going to suggest....just Squirt her each time she starts to take off after the cat...she'll learn real quick that the Kitty is off limits!! lol make sure its on Stream...and not Spray...lol

good luck to you and that poor kitty kat...teehee

If the squirting doesn't work, I still wouldn't worry about it too much as long as the dog isn't being vicious, drawing blood, and the cat hasn't gone beyond playful taps. How I see it for my own is that it gives some excitement to my indoor cat's monotonous life. Staring out the window daily can only take her so far.

At first, once the cat accepted the new pup's presence, all my yorkie did was pounce on her, gave kisses, nudges with her face, and then paw at her like she does her toys and people. She wasn't sure how to play with the cat. At the breeder's home, she wasn't the last to leave and always had at least one littermate to play with in addition to romping with her biological mom. Her hyperness prompted the cat to nibble on the dog's ear to stop the hopping and pouncing and when she's had enough of the wrestling too. So now I attribute our dog's nibbling of the cat's ear as a lesson in play she had learned from the cat herself. Neither of them chews enough to puncture.

The times when our little girl is sitting in time-out on her pillow, the cat would try to instigate a chase. She'd run by her repeatedly, loudly, throwing her weight on the hard floors galloping. When that fails to get the chase going, the cat would walk up to the dog to see if she really won't come after her. Of course, our gentle soul of a kitty enjoys most a simple grooming back and forth or a bum licking service, but she's not beyond a good chase even with her weight gain.

The interaction between cats and dogs vary. Our cat worshipped our late laid-back old shihtzu while she looks at our yorkie very differently. It's just the way it is. I've been trying to teach her to "kiss kiss, no bite" but when I leave them well enough alone, neither of them ever goes too far. Our yorkie has been taught to stay out of the kitchen and she doesn't do stairs. So even without babygates, the cat can still escape the dog whether it be living on higher ground or running to the stairs or kitchen. Maybe consider keeping a room in the house a "cat" room? Just need to put up a babygate or something only the cat can get over/through and/or put up more kitty condos/trees around the house. :)

- The first picture is one of my favourite photographs and I bet that dog was trying to hump the male cat (my guess of sex from its build). Disclaimer: Photo taken off of a dogs "fail" site :D . None of the animals in photo #1 are mine though the resemblance of the cat is uncanny.

- Pictures 2, 3 and 4 are of my cat and yorkie at play. :)

^ Pics are so cute!

and I agree. At my dad's house, he has 2 cats and while Jackson (and their dog) WILL chase the cats... it's never erupted into anything major. The cats like it because they instigate it. The one cat will slowly walk down the stairs and sneak up near where the dog is sleeping and just stare and wait for the dogs to wake up, then the cats runs and the dogs chase, LOL. I think they enjoy it.

Sometimes it gets a little annoying tho. Where Jackson will sneak upstairs one way or another and just sit there at bark at the cats on their little ledge. I will go and grab him and tell him no bark. I don't mind the playing but when he starts just barking nonstop at them, it's annoying.

Tobie does the same thing with my 2 older dogs! They growl and snap at him and he just doesn't get the point... he thinks they are playing! He'll follow Jasmine and bite at her back legs. I feel so sorry for her! They eventually just jump on the couch to get away from him because he can't get up there. We tried the water bottle method and he likes it so that doesn't work. We are trying time out and hopefully it will eventually work. I know he's just a puppy and wants to play but I feel so bad for them when he just won't stop.

I love your Kitty.

Thank you. :)

Tobie is still young and new to the family. If he doesn't learn pack order soon, maybe you should teach it to him. Between the dogs, I hope they figure out how they want to play with each other but it might be difficult if your older two are acting their age and don't have the energy to bother with a puppy's idea of a good playtime. :p

How about teaching Tobie "leave it". Take him to puppy school if you need to to learn it. Gracie knows "leave it", Holly knows "off", means the same thing. When they go after the cats, I tell Gracie to "leave it" and Holly "off" and they stop. When I can't supervise, Gracie and Holly are gated off in one room, that way the kitties can decide when and if they want to be in the same room with them. It works great for us.

By the way, the "leave it" command is critical for getting Tobie to stop sniffing at something that could be poison or otherwise getting close to something that could be dangerous. For example, you drop a box of raisins on the floor. You see Tobie coming. It takes much less time to say "leave it" than it does to try to scoop up the raisins or catch him to get him away from them. It also works great to keep him away from a diamond ring that you dropped or something else you don't want him to have, or swallow. Our puppy school teacher said this is one of the most important commands to teach your dog. I would have to agree.

I will get off my soap box now!:D Good luck.

He just learned Sit and Down so Leave It is next on the list. Hopefully, he will catch on fast so the other 2 babies can get a rest. lol

TobysOwner, I'm sure yours won't get to be as rough as these guys: but maybe they'll be friends like this one day...