So Selena is now 15 weeks old and we have a 9 year old cat that is declawed. We are having a problem and don't know what to do anymore!! Selena refuses to leave her alone and chases, stalks, bites, you name it...every time she sees the cat! She knocks her over, pins her down and I don't know if it is play and if she wants to eat her and my poor kitty doesn't stand a chance. Everyone tells me a cat will put a dog in its place and swat the dog in the muzzle BUT Lucy doesn't have claws so it doesn't phase Selena and she thinks she is just playing and not saying go away. I have tried the "leave it" command, sit and stay, nothing is working...does anyone have any suggestions? My mom is honestly looking to re-home her cat because she's afraid she is going to get her good when we aren't home.

When one of my cats is threatened by the dog, I just go buck wild... That's the only time I will use negative enforcement. If anybody (even another animal puts one of my furbabies lives or health at risk, they get a VERY stern yell, muzzle closed with my fingers, time-out, and generally get the fear of God scared into them. It's worked very well for my dog.

If you're not comfortable with that, you can also do some training and when they go to get the treat, say "Be Nice" or "Gentle" and not let them use their teeth. I did this a few times with Stark and he won't use his teeth at all now when I give the command. Whether it's with treats or cats or other dogs at the dog park.

Okay so I have posted this elsewhere but thought that given your circumstances it was worth reposting here with a few edits.

A few important things to remember when introducing cats and dogs IMO (regardless of age and regardless of breed):

1. Take it slow and keep your eyes open. (It will take time for everyone to get comfortable so don't rush things. This just sets you up for failure. Watch for signs of trouble and address them immediately!)

2. Make sure the cat can escape easily without running too much. (My cats have full run of both the unfinished basement and the bedrooms. These are blocked from the dog with babygates that sit high enough off the floor the cat can easily slip underneath but the dog can't. My cats also have cat trees to climb to easily get away from the dog. Keep in mind that a running cat can trigger prey drive in a high pre drive dog.)

3. Establish that the cat is higher in the "pack" than the dog. (I don't want to start an argument about typical "pack" training, but the fact remains that dogs are pack animals and within any pack there is a heirarchy. So make sure your pup knows the cat comes first. Feed the cat before the dog. Pet the cat before the dog. Greet the cat before the dog. Etc. Give treats when the dog behaves well and allows you to do this.)

4. Train the dog to ignore the cat. (This requires at least two people to do unless your really good at being in two places at once. I do this by having my daughter play with the cats, carry the cats, and otherwise just generally interact with the cats in the common cat/dog areas. While I give all necessary commands to ensure that Saphire learns she is to ignore the cat and give treats when appropriate. Then we switch. I started this training when Saphire was 10 weeks old and we still practice it to this day!)

5. Train the dog with the "Leave it/Drop it" commands. (Because I have cats, this is one of the first commands we taught. We use this at home and on walks. Husky's have a high prey drive for sure but even on walks Saphire will ignore small animals (as long as I see them first and issue the "Leave it" command). This is really important for your cat's safety. Obviously, you want your pup to know the "Drop it" command in case they ever get ahold of the cat god forbid, but it is also useful in other areas.)

6. Never ever ever leave the cat and dog together unattended. (Some people will disagree with me on this and in fact I grew up with both dogs and cats who were allowed to have free run of the house together even when no one was home. That said, the dogs were not husky's and had litterally no prey drive. Saphire however, has at least some level of prey drive and even though I feel comfortable that it is under control. I don't want to set her up to fail at the risk of my cat's life. Therefore, Saphire is crate trained so when there is no one home to supervise, Saphire is in the crate and cannot get to the cats to hurt them. This is safer for everyone.)

This is just my opinion but has worked well in my home. Hope it helps.

We've got a 5 year old declawed cat and Bandit was/is the same way. He just thinks she a terrific toy lol. We use the Leave It command but when he doesn't and lunges for her anyways he goes to Time Out for 10 min. We also subscribe to the "fear of God" method mentioned above lol! I've chased Bandit into the corner several times and given him a swat on the muzzle. I think if our cat had claws then this wouldn't be a problem, but the bottom line is he has to learn to not touch her. She's tiny at 8lbs and one well-placed paw swat from him could injure her for sure.

My 9mo old puppy wont leave my clawed cat alone, I keep running into the room because the cat is throwing a fit to find him claws in the dogs face throwing a hissing fit while to dog just sits there............its really strange

Selena has gotten a lot better at the "leave it" command now. I also taught her "easy" so she isn't so rough with the cat. I have to raise my voice quite a bit and either put my finger in her face or tap her on the bum and she gets the hint now and knows when I am mad at her for bothering the cat so she will lay down or walk away from the cat. It took a few weeks, LONG days of working with her and honestly if I wasn't home with her all day everyday I don't think she would of stopped trying to kill her lolol. Although, I've come to the conclusion she just wants to play with her...when I first brought her home I thought her prey drive was kicking in but she tries to play the same way as she does with her dog friends!

Our dogs both try and play with the cat which the cat does not appreciate it. The number one rule is not to ever let your dogs chase the cat you have to divert their attention and stop them fixating on the cat - easier said than one I know!