[donnaaron1]

We just introduced a new member to our family two months ago. Romeo is a 75 pound golden retriever now 18 months old. Trained to be a service dog for our autistic son. Best dog ever: joyous, playful, loving - we couldn't be more thrilled with him... almost.

Long-time members of our family are two cats. D.C. is 7 years old and she tolerates the dog, but is afraid of him. The dog wants to play and has a hell of a bark. D.C. hears the bark and starts running, leading to a chase. But that's no problem.

The other cat, Samantha, a declawed 14 year old female is very crotchety. She hisses when our son comes too near, but he could care less. Romeo originally tried to play with her too, but she just sat there and stared at him, growling and hissing. Now, she positions herself at the bottom of the stairs and looks up at Romeo, sitting at the top of the stairs. He WILL NOT come down. He will NOT enter a room if she is there; he will not even pass her in the hallway. He LOVES people, and loves to be around the family esp. at mealtimes (go figure). But he will sit at the top of the stairs, intimidated by the cat and will not join us unless I take him by the collar and lead him down. He usually feels safe with his security escort, but not always; sometimes he has to literally be dragged past her. The final straw was the other day when my wife found Romeo curled up facing the wall, cowering in a corner, actually SHAKING, while Samantha hissed at him and swatted his back with her claw-less paws.

Lately, we seem to have trouble getting Romeo to eat his food. Our guess is that he is depressed or fearful about the cat and that's affecting his appetite.

How do we get our beautiful Romeo over this phobia? He is allowing this cat to run his life, and as a result, the cat is now running the entire household!

Thanks

[sniff-sniff]

that is one tough situation you have there. I have read about pets scared of thunderstorms or cats scared of dog, but few have dogs scared of cat/s.

have you introduced them well?

Do check this article Cats and Dogs, you may find some helpful tips there.

I'll try to see if I can find more helpful articles.

Best of luck!

[donnaaron1]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, we got lots of advice ahead of time on how to gently introduce them, and followed it to the letter. Romeo has been with us for three months -- this is a situation that has developed over time, and it is progressively getting worse.

I'll check out the articles you recommend. I'm really hoping we can find a solution, because it's beginning to become a huge stressor to our household.