Hi, new to this! got a Ridgeback puppy last week, and hes gorgeous, been an excellent pup so far but i am having one big problem. I have a cat at a year old, and hes an extremely friendly confident cat who is my shadow, more like a dog, follows me everywhere, comes when his names called and is basically beside me 24/7, hes been like this since a kitten.
when my pup is playing, on his own or with me, the second he sees my cat hes off after him, i cant seem to keep his attention, ive tried toys and treats to keep his attention on me, all the time calling his name in my high pitched puppy voice lol. my cat is as much to blame, he delibrately walks in front of pup, and runs away, but rather than jumping onto couch or leaving room where pup cant follow, he seems to delibrately stay on ground, winding the pup up. when puppy loses interest, my cat then teases him, by flicking his tail and strolling around in front of him until pup is away after him again.
ive also put his collar on and occassionally a lead attached to it so i can have a hold of him to stop him galloping off.
ive tried putting my cat out of the room, but i dont feel this is fair as a long term solution as he hates being seperated from us and miaows loudly and scratches door continously until let back in.
ive seperated their feeding areas so as they cant distract one another at this point.
how do i keep my pups attention on me?  he just seems so fixated by the cat! the breeder has a cat but shes very shy so the pup didnt see much of her.
ive had large dogs all my life, this is my first puppy, moved into my own house 2 years ago. i am crate training my pup and he has taken well to this.any one else have an overly confident cat?  sorry for the long winded question! any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a normal cat meets puppy to me, my Reg(tom) winds up my puppy something rotten, even when Wukee is in his crate, Reg pokes his paws through the bars & wakes him up. both my cats were a bit hissy when I got Jessie(BC) in October aged 15 months & when I got Wukee on 1st Jan, but it lasted only a few hours. The cats(well kittens)have no fear of the dogs & often bait them from the floor or a safe distance above them.If your cat was worried he would stay out of reach

It's good for you to be cautious but if you're cat was really bothered it would jump up somewhere to get out the way of the puppy. My cat does this a little bit. Unfortunately she taunts the dog, but when he goes over to her thinking she wants to play, she gives him a clout. The dog doesn't learn and is so friendly he just wants to play. Cats can be mischievious little things. I wouldn't worry too much!

thanks! my cat also taunts through the crate! wee devil. my family have always had cats and dogs together, but the family cat is quite a timid wee thing so always kept out of the way, my cat however is so confident its unreal!
do you think the novelty will wear off eventually? ive been starting to try basic commands, but hes so distracted by the cat, and his attention leaves me instantly.

My dog is slowly learning that she's not to be messed with!! But young pups do want to play with everything and everything so i think your common sense plus your pup growing up will mean it all turns out alright!

i think you have to think of it as having 2 dogs! training etc seperatley but will need play times etc still together!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYZ2t0iFZ_k this is my cat kipper, bear in mind he lives here with 6 dogs, and has seen 3 litters of pups too, we just recently have a new rescue kitten, she is great, and kipper loves it!

Your cat will give the puppy a clout if he gets to close for comfort that should make him keep his distance I have a gate on the stairs so the cats can jump to a safe place and not be disturbed by the dogs.
My breed are herding dogs so whenever the cats are walking around you can guarantee a dog will be a foot behind , my cats walk across the face of the dogs when they are lying quietly and brush thier tail in thier face I recon its just to wind them up.! :)

what a great video madogz77!! hes very like my boy, similar markings and the same cheeky look, what a gorgeous boy. thats made me feel a bit better lol, not just me with a confident cat. hopefully they will settle down with each other soon enough and become good friends, they seem to be well on their way! thanks.

Whoa....Kipper is King, I want to be his fan club!
Almost as handsome as my dear departed old boy, Rover (yes a cat).

Karen ;-))

Hi My sister has 2 cats that acted as yours prior to the arrival of her pup She found that getting a really high value item (toy or food) and throwing it in the opposite direction (provides something more interesting to chase) worked for her. The cats soon tired of the game and the pup now waits for his reward for not being provoked. No scratched noses or eyes!
Angela

It's very early days, don't worry it will settle down. Try treats or squeaky toy distraction. Make yourself more exciting than the cat! I used to have to take the cat's claws out of Zak's (GSD) bottom lip when I first got him at 6 months old. Tigger was 16 yrs old & definitely the boss, Zak soon learnt to respect him, he did learn the hard way though!

Yes, your cat is letting your pup know who is boss, and it is usually as already said The CAT. :-D

Just pop your cat out of the way for 30 mins at a time whilst training and bonding with your pup, then allow them to sort out the pecking order themsleves, cats always seem to have a way of looking down their noses at a new arrival, and are the ultimate tease, there is nothing more interesting to a pup, so you'll never win his attention unless you seperate them.

It will all sort out and as said they will become complaicent with each other. :-)

madogz - I love your video, it's fabulous.