my puppy Lottie came home around 2 weeks ago now, she is our first dog by we have a one year old male cat "Alfie" already, we expected a little bit of trouble when we first got her but the fighting seems to be getting worse. The cat will attack the pup ( she is only a chi so is allot smaller) but then when we prize him of her she chases after him as if its a game, this then makes it worse. the problem is is that Alfie doesnt want to play with her but she is desperate to play with him.
no idea how to teach either one of them to calm it all down, i have had to resort to putting one in the kitchen and then swapping them, i would like to have both animals happy in the same room
Any advise would be brilliant!

Language problem, essentially (what means play to a dog means fight to a cat) -I know it only too well. Usually the only thing that works is for the cat to really whack and hurt the pup -but that can be disastrous in one so little. My first Papillon had that happen, the cat punctured his eye and injured him for life, he is now almost blind in that eye. He's also the only one of my Papillons that will leave cats alone.... Are you using stairgates and cat trees and similar so the cat can always jump out of reach and not be followed? Although having said that, I know stairgates are pretty useless with tiny dogs -they get under them or through them easier than the cats.

I wish you well with this!4 of my 5 cats WILL play with my two youngest,really,they roll on the floor together,occasionally the cats get pussed off,yowl and escape,but then you find them curled up asleep together!The fifth cat is your typically aloof moggie,and avoids the dogs.

theres a few things you can do.
first off clip the cats claws short to minimise danger to pup.
next I'd invest in a decent size dog crate and they can take it in turns to spend time in there-able to observe the other but not touch too much.
I would feed them one in cage one out side by side. cats are funny-they don't like eating with enemies so once your cat is happily eating side by side(but divided by cage) it will alter his mind set a fair bit about the pup.
I'd also pop the pup on a long light lead so that you can say No and stop her-she is a baby but shes old enough to learn when enough is enough.
good luck

Some cats will never accept dogs,what age is the cat,if old then it will be set in its ways and not amused at this new addition upsetting things, the important thing is that the cat has an escape route where the pup can't follow. My cats have never injured a pup, they will clout it if cornered but the claws are not out to cause any damage it all depends on the temperament of the cat

The pup will have been used to playing rough with its litter mates and thinks the cat is a substitute for them and the cat is not appreciating this at all.

In time they may learn to tolerate each other but from past experience if the cat has been here first then they it has been less likely to accept a pup where as if a kitten has been introduced to my dogs there has been no problems.

The pup will need to learn not to annoy the cat, try tiring the pup out and then encourage the cat to come and join you and the pup on the sofa when things are calm.

Good Luck

ps when I say start teaching her No I don't mean harsh or jerking at her-just firm and restrain from chasing -and when you gently pull her back in to you away from the cat give her a little tip bit and praise for comming back(een if you had to guide her in!)

cat training is harder but a harsh hiss at bad behaviour can sometimes stop them in their tracks if you see an attack building up

Brilliant advice here I wish you luck. My pomxchi was swiped in the eye by a friends cat at about 16 weeks. It puntured her eyeball but luckily the vet saved her sight. She however is not wary of our cats and although will play with one ( they arrived here within 2 weks of each other so were togther from day one) silly girl still chases our burmese
In my experience some dogs and cats do get along eventually others don tbut as long as each is kept safe particularly the more vunerable pup you should get to a point when they can be ok in the same room but may take some months

>Dog and cat do fight because dogs like having  cats for supper.it is quiet impossible to make them friends .

What utter nonsense! Dogs and cats often live in harmony together. How do you think guide dogs are trained to acept cats?

agree with your wholeheartedly there - utter rubbish.

The cat we lost last year was best of pals with my collie bitch, they would sleep together, rough play together and he would wait at the end of the path for us to come back from shows or walks just so he could be with her. 

how do the guide dogs get taught to behave around them, Lottie although she is young is doing well with her training but im not sure how to train her to leave the cat alone - he is an antisocial cat!

JG agree it is about understanding both parties and bringing them together.

Betty our rescue Lab has such a high prey drive ( if there is a rabbit or hare that is unaware she will help herself to supper)

She did the stare focus thing but we spent time working with her and Dave to make them accept each other.

We did it by positive praise with both of them but if Betty did anything that looked like she was about to go for Dave we stopped her with a sharp no then she was taken out the way. It took a couple of times before she realised that he was going to be here forever so she had to accept him. They are best friends now :-)

Since childhood I have always had cats and dogs. I have usually found a dog will accept a new cat to the house hold no problems. More often a resident cat will not accept a new dog.
Incidentally one of these dogs is a GSP who shared his bed with 3 cats.

> Lottie although she is young is doing well with her training but im not sure how to train her to leave the cat alone - he is an antisocial cat!

Reward her for not pestering the cat.

When I got Buster, my cat HATED him. she spent the first few weeks hiding away and then when she finaly could stand being in the same room as him, she'd run away if he went near, or she'd attack him. Buster found it all great fun - fun to chase if she ran or a brill rough game if she battered him!

I would reward him for improvements in his behaviour. It was a slow process, but bit by bit he learnt to leave the cat alone. Busters highest value reward is food, so he got a food reward for steps in the right direction. Use which ever your pup finds most rewarding (your pup may prefer praise or a toy etc.)

As well as Buster learning how he should behave around the cat, the cat also learnt how to behave around Buster - she has realised that if she ignores him (he will poke her with his nose to try to get her to 'play'), he'll most likely get bored of her and leave her alone. He also has leart that pushing the cats tollerance level too much she'll let him know he's over stepped the mark (he has the scars up his nostrills to testify to this ). However, not all cats will learn to ignore the dog when it's being a pain.

As others have said a cat scratch to the eye can be serious, my sisters boxer pup had to have her eye removed at 10 weeks old due to a cat scratch, just be aware of this.

Lots of time, patience, supervision & training and things can be really good. You just have to remember that pup finds the cat lots of fun, so in order for pup to want to leave the cat alone you need to provide a very nice alternative to 'cat-fun' , ie. high value rewards.

Busters 'cat training' has also been extended to include any cat that enter the garden or that we may happen accross while out & about. Only today we were walking along a pavement, there was a cat sat either side of the pavement facing each other (LOL, they were staring each other out), we walked past, Buster on a slack lead, he did have a happy faceon and was wagging his tail (he loves cats!), but he didn't need reminding to leave them alone :)

When ever I am roasting a chicken, you usually find the teeny, tiny cat sat next to huge Buster, waiting for morsels. Mitsy (cat) will get her little bit first while Buster waits for his bit. :)

have tried feeding them next to each other but through a crate and they do that fine, but sometimes the cat steals her chew bones and growls and swipes if she comes near ( but he does this to me too), my friend saw him attack her and she said that he is mounting her and trying to hump her, i didnt see it before but now its been mentioned it seems obvious!!!! regardless because he is a massive cat and she is a tiny chi, she still ends up getting hurt and squeeling!

thats pretty unusual for a cat- has he been castrated yet?

yup was done as a kitten and he is nearly a year old now :S

So really we have a kitten/adolescent and a puppy.

yup! have to keep them in separate rooms :(