integrating a dog with 4 cats

Question
We have 4 cats ranging in age from 11 yrs to 3 yrs old.  A little over a month ago we adopted a cocker spaniel (he is 14 months old), from our local humane society and he was given the cat test and passed.  He now tries to charge the cats and barks and cries.  The cats are petrified of him.
The cats are living in our bedroom and bathroom and he has the run of the rest of the house during the day. At night he is gated in the living room and our daughters rooms. The cats are also gated in. We do let the cats out at night in the kitchen and basement.  Unfortunately, we did not do our homework on how to integrate our pets.  Since he is living here a month, we don't know where to start with getting the cats and dog together.  We hope we didn't wait too long to start this process.  Can you give us some advice?  Thank you, Liz

Answer
I'd supervise carefully. I'd teach him a really strong "leave it" (which means he gets better stuff for leaving so-so stuff alone, and also that he turns toward you for the better stuff when you ask him to. Get this really solid on items your dog doesn't care a lot about, and then gradually work on more high value items - eventually, starting with the dog on leash, across the room from the cat. Reward as soon as the dog turns away from looking at the cat on cue. Gradually give the dog more leash, until he will come back to you across the room. It helps to have a non-skitty kitty as hissing and running is very exciting. It would also be a good idea to get an expert trainer to look at the situation for you. There's a big difference between a dog who is truly predatory towards cats, and one who is just a little too interested. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com