First, a little background: About two weeks ago, my family adopted a 5 month old puppy (Shar-pei German Shepherd-possibly Doberman-) that we named Tasha from a shelter. When we got her, she was very protective towards the other dog that we were sitting, growling fiercely at it whenever she thought it was getting anything our dog wasn't. She would even circle her bowl as she breathed in her food. Tasha and the other dog ended up being best friends, and she has become far less aggressive and protective towards other dogs since we've gotten her (we've been thoroughly socializing her.) The only problem now is that she doesn't seem to be able to control herself when she wants to play with the dogs, and would annoy the dog we had been sitting often. She just LOVES to play with something that can play back, no matter how tired she is.

Now, although this was okay with other dogs (which could set their own limits with her), it is not okay with our cat, who is only 6 1/2 pounds of fluff. Tasha is not aggressive towards her (so I believe, since she wags her tail and does actions of play that she would use with other dogs once she gets near the cat), but she allows the cat no freedom. Whenever Tasha sees her, she tenses and stares without blinking, the only thing stopping her from going over to the cat being that she knows that she is not allowed to (which doesn't stop her for long). If the cat does leave, the dog chases.

Is there any way that I can help my dog associate the cat with good things so that Tasha stops these behaviors? I've tried feeding treats to her whenever I pet the cat, which has helped her whining but not her chasing and obsessive staring.

Hi Leah, there is a very useful article on this website about introducing dogs into homes with cats. This protocol worked well for me with 3 dogs introduced into a 4-cat family.

Our cats were very spoiled by the time the first dog arrived and over time we took away some of their privileges because it was unfair towards the dogs. Everybody seems to be happy now.

I have several dogs and several cats. My dogs are all the high drive type (herding breeds - all of them). I have two rooms baby-gated away from the dogs so the cats can get away for some quiet time away from doggie kisses and play. My dogs are also taught 'Leave It!' pretty early on. When I first get a new dog/puppy, it is never loose in the house without a leash. I want the dog to learn that cats are not prey and I have seen what cat claws can do to puppy eyes. When unsupervised, all my dogs except my 6 yo are crated and the 6 yo is confined to one room.
To be fair to your cat, you really need to get that pup's attention off of her.
Best wishes!

FOUR cats? Poor Danke.

I also taught "leave it" early on. I even teach it to the fosters that come through here.

Tethering will always be the best friend you never thought you had!

Also, I our dogs are not allowed upstairs, so if the cats want to get away, they just head upstairs. We had one foster who LOVED to play with the cats, she was really gentle, never chaotic playing, just nice laying on the ground playing and they both seemed to enjoy themselves so we allowed it. 3 of my current dogs don't play with the cats, but sometimes can be found snuggled with them and my shepherd pup has ignored them since she came home. I do believe the breeder taught the pups to leave the 2 house cats she has alone though.

I also teach mine "gentle" for when they do interact with the cats.

I also have to try train the cats to respect the dogs. I have ended up with harrassment from the cats, or overzealous affection and them blowing off the dogs warning signals.

One of them will walk up to the dog, try to push him/her down and stand ON top of them them to "make biscuits" Sometimes the dog doesn't mind and other times they do LOL.

So I can tell the dog to "be gentle" while removing the cat from the situation.

 Quote: jennifer lee

... "make biscuits" ...

That's a perfect phrase for it...never heard it before

leih

Ripley is definitely more victimized by the cats than vice versa. One of my cats is so sneaky I don't know he's pestering the dog until the dog walks off in a huff.

I probably shouldn't say this, but there are times when I wish Ripley would teach the little beast a lesson.

Thanks so much for the advice everyone, it's been working great!

Most of Tasha's training has gone really smoothly with the markers, but there is one behavioral problem she doesn't seem to want to leave: punishing us by peeing. She especially does this when my brother lets her in from outside and closes the door to his room, and she'll pee right outside the door. This is especially problematic because we just re-carpeted that area after a flood. I'm totally clueless with how to deal with this problem, so any help would be incredibly appreciated!