new puppy, resident cat

Question
Greetings!  my boyfriend and i have just completed week 1 with our now 9 wk
old Thai Ridgeback (boy, "Bucket").  we know that he is young and still
learning, but he is a very smart and strong-willed dog, and i want to make
sure i nip certain problems in the bud NOW, before it could develop into a
real problem.  i am concerned about Bucket and my cat (female, "Paloma", 3
yrs old).  they are testing the waters with one another, she is certainly trying
to maintain her dominion over our space.  a puppy, i suspect, is going to bark
at things, moving things, stationary things, all sorts of new sights and
sounds.  however, since he is what they call a "primitive" breed, a hunting dog
by nature and breeding, i am concerned about how to train him not to chase
the cat.  if he gets even one chase under his belt, will he have a taste for it?  if
he barks at the cat, should i be concerned?  i am closely monitoring their
interactions.  would ANY puppy bark at a cat, or is it a sign that he has more
of a hunting instinct in him?  i would just like to know more what to expect,
what to be alarmed about, any and all advice would be most appreciated.

thanks!

Answer
Oh boy, can I relate! I have a 17 month old German shepherd pup that I got at 5 months of age. I've never been able to integrate him into our home with the cats. When he's in the house, the cats must be in the basement. From day one, he was extremely interested in them and would bark, and whine, and try to chase them, which scared them and of course made them run, which made the puppy worse! He would behave like this whether he was in his crate, out of his crate on a leash, or out of his crate loose. I tried everything to stop the behavior, but nothing worked; corrections (either from me or directly from the claws of the cats) only made him more excited. I have now given up and come to the realization that the cats just need to be put up if he's in the house.

I NOW have a new 5 month old German shepherd pup that it seems is going to be much easier to introduce to the cats. With her in her crate, I bring out my more confident cat and hold him, or let him do whatever he wants. She is not as 'exuberant' as my 17 month old was. She just watches silently from the crate. If she barks, she gets a stern "NO" and I squirt her with water through the crate door with a squirt bottle set to stream. This seems to be working with her. I'm not going to try taking her out of the crate (on leash) with the cat in the room until she will let him come up to the crate door without reacting to him. My other cat is skittish, so I'm not bringing him upstairs for this. He would make things more difficult because he acts fearful, crouches, and runs and hides. My other cat is more calm and confident.

When I do bring her out of the crate with the cat around, she will be on leash and will be wearing a corrective collar. I will correct for barking, or ANY signs of aggression towards the cat. I would recommend you do the same. Correct for any behavior that you wouldn't want to see him doing as an adult. You will have to be pretty forceful to get the point across - more forceful than if you were just teaching obedience. Your cats' lives are at stake here.

It goes without saying that no matter how well your cats and dogs get along, you should never leave them alone together; anything can happen. My other dog, an almost 5 year old chow mix, gets along perfectly with both cats. They play together, sleep together, eat together, etc. But I still put the cats in the basement when I leave.

When you cannot be there to correct him for bad behavior, either put him in a room the cats can't get into, or lock the cats up. You don't want him barking at them from his crate while you're away if you're scolding him for doing it while you're home.