We are adopting a 1 year old Coon Hound/Aussie Sheppard mix, female and have a cat...which has gone into hiding because the dog has hunted him non stop. Looking for ways to teach the dog that the cat is part of the pack, and not a play thing. The dog has not hurt the cat, but does bark a lot at him.

I just got a new puppy and have a 4 year old cat. I am socializing them by giving them each a treat when they see each other. My cat mainly stays in my room, and as of now, he beats the crap out of my poor puppy. Haha. BUT...im worried about when my puppy grows up and realizes the cat is the side of her leg.

I hold my dog while my brother has my cat...and we slowly bring them into the same room...the whole time praising my dog for being good whenever she quiets down, etc. I do it before I go to work and several times after. My dog is slooowly understanding that she gets a treat when the cat comes out. Its still a working progress and I'm sure it'll take a while...but theres what i do. =) good luck!

I could use advice about this too...we have a ten year old cat, a two year old boxer we raised from a puppy who couldn't care less about the cat, and a new-ish (we've had her since March) one year old mix from the shelter (guessing Lab/Pit/Rhodesian Ridgeback) who gets INTENSELY OBSESSED as soon as she even thinks about the cat and stares at him with her whole body tense for hours on end. She's nearly impossible to distract when she gets in cat mode. She will play dead if you make her lie down to try to break her focus but you can tell she's still thinking about the cat and will leap up as soon as you let her and get right back to staring. Toys and treats mean nothing to her when she gets focused. I've done a lot of calling her away when she's staring and praising her up and down when she responds, but it hasn't done much in terms of overall cat obsession. She has chased him a couple of times and once cornered him in a closet and got him in her mouth (which resulted in the copious cat-bite scars I now sport on my hand from rescuing him). So the poor cat mostly lives in the office behind a baby gate now, which isn't fair to him or to us--we need our office back, and he needs to be a part of the household again!

Any thoughts? I'd like to try making the dog lie or sit in a controlled environment and bringing the cat over to her for smelling, as I've heard about from some sources, but the cat FREAKS OUT if you carry him anywhere near her, which does not help the tension level in the least.

Otherwise the dog is a delight, to our other dog, us, guests, and even small children. Please help!

Oh that's bad for the cat though the cat wasn't hurt by the dog...I think you should give them a time to build their bonding and be at ease to each other...Start to give them a treat and keep them always see each other...eventually they will be at ease...