# Excessive chasing and playing with the cat.



## Rockporters (Jan 14, 2010)

Jasper (15.5 weeks) is normally so calm and well behaved. He knows come, sit, down, off, go pee LOL. He and the cat (Frisbee) are starting to drive us insane though and downtime in the house is becoming a challenge. They wrestle and chew on each other constantly. It's starting to undo what Jas has learned about being sweet and gentle with our 15 year old Toy. (he only wants to eat their food, not play with sharp toothed creatures LOL!) And of course there's always a chance the kitten will get hurt, too, as the wrestling can get rough at times. Not to mention that pulling tufts of fur off of each other is not helping their beauty ritual any.

What we've tried...

Leashing him to me. It does no good since the cat comes and places himself in the dogs mouth and initiates wrestling :fish:. Yeah I can correct him immediately, but they go right back to it.

We're working on leave it, but again, it's nearly impossible at this point since Frisbee is a willing participant.

Distracting each of them with toys and playtime, separate and together.

We've also tried separating them by closing the cat in the basement for a while. (his food, toys and litter are down there) The cat cries and puts his legs under the door trying to get out, so Jas still gets to lick and chew on the cat. If I put Jas in his crate, the cat sleeps in front or lays in front to stick his legs in. Jas then puts his paws against the front so they can touch. They are insane LOL.

Everyone gets plenty of playtime, exercise, and attention. Jasper and I spend 1-3 hours a day at the beach, park, or walking in the woods. We do several training sessions a day. We play with his LARGE collection of toys. Frisbee and I play with his collection of toys, he sleeps on my desk or in my lap. When the teenager gets home from school he tries to keep the cat downstairs with him. 

I keep thinking they'll tire of each other, but it escalates instead. Frisbee stands by the front door and meows until the dogs come back in from their walk. He wants to eat with them, sleep with them, BE them LOL. Every now and then I think a second kitten might be the answer, but God forbid it might want to be a dog too :wacko:.

Other than this... Jas is nearly perfect. Really a dream puppy. Frisbee, too, is just a dream otherwise.


----------



## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

Ahhh but have you leashed the dog to you and gotten a spray bottle and squirted the cat when the dog is attached to you? Cats need discipline too and if he's being disruptive to your training then he needs to know to back off. Cats love to be chased, mine does it with my dogs too but I can use the "ehhh" and they stop. I have turned my master bathroom into the cat sanctuary so if she's getting out of hand or the play is too rough in she goes.


----------



## Rockporters (Jan 14, 2010)

Oooh I haven't tried a squirt bottle. I will have to give that a shot! Thanks for the suggestion. 

The cat has the entire basement as it's refuge. While he does venture down for the litter box, he rarely chooses to hang out down there. I do put him there periodically, and close the door, so everyone can have a break. When home from school the teenager spends much of his time downstairs so the kitten does have someone with him.


----------



## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_Definitely a problem in my house. My favorite cat instigates trouble often. Mostly he wants to be loved and washed. YUK...soaking wet kitty. He has actually been injured once. My spoos are over a year old and were playing with him outside (cat is not allowed outside and I didn't know he was out there) and they must have rolled him in the snow and squashed him!!! I was horrified! In the house, a sharp 'leave it' works. I have not tried the squirt bottle either but I'm going to.
_


----------



## Rockporters (Jan 14, 2010)

Yeah the crusty, slobbered on cat thing is an issue here too. However, the cat also does a fairly decent job of slobbering on the puppy's feet and legs while chewing away :bird:.

Jasper sits on the cat and senior Toy Poodle, and also puts his paw on their backs to initiate play. I watch them all very closely but I do worry about injuries. He doesn't know his own strength and with all that fur I just don't think he realizes someone is under him LOL.


----------

