I really have some questions (willow)

I guess the question I would ask is whether you think it's worth the damage to your dog to perpetrate this cat upon her.  Clearly, this is a dog who has issues, is predatory with cats, and is practicing obsessive behavior.  It's not unusual in her breed, or in dogs that have not been raised with cats, for them to be intolerant of them.  It's admirable to want to give Tempo a home, but in my opinion, you are shoveling poop against the tide.  Sometimes, it just doesn't work, and if this is one of those cases, probably best to re home the cat so that no one gets damaged, either physically or mentally.

 Yeah *sigh* my house is currently split into dogs and cats b/c of Nikon's unpredictable behavior.  The cats love their digs though.  Before I picked up my dogs from boarding last week I let the cats out and two stayed put, the third went on the porch and then went back to their area.  For me it's diferent than dealing with other "issues" like resource guarding, training this or that, etc b/c if I'm not fast enough, the cat will get hurt.  Since I had cats before I had dogs and my general rule is that an existing animal does not lose privilege in favor of a new one, I'm not subjecting the cats to Nikon right now and everyone is much happier that way.

Yes, thanks guys.  I think we will continue to keep them apart.  I know Tempo is completely fine with his situation and Willow is fine as long as she doesn't have to see him.  And, I've had DH put something across the bottom of the door from now on so he cannot stick his paws thru and aggravate her. 

It's too bad.  But, I guess this will be how we have to do it.  Maybe I can try again in a year or two when Tempo isn't in constant motion too.  That's the other thing, it's worse because he's always moving.  

THANKS!!

Lori

Also, at this point we don't want too but it's not possible to rehome him.  I wouldn't rehome him to a complete stranger and we tried for two months to find him a home--nobody wanted him.  Which is a complete shame because he's a very, very nice cat.  But, at this point, we really love him and he's very much at home here so he will be staying.  We will just have to continue with turns with free run of the house and stuff like that.  

 A year ago, when we brought Piper home at 5 years of age, she had never been around cats. I've had problems with her like you do with Willow. My cat Roo Bear is 14 1/2 years old, and has never liked dogs from the day I brought her home at 2 months old. It took Roo awhile to get used to Jezzy (who we got as a puppy) and then Keela (at almost a year old and had also not been around cats), but they learned to leave her alone. Roo learned that I wasn't going to let them bother her. We keep an area strictly for her with a barrier that the girls learned to respect.

Piper has been fascinated with Roo to the point of fixation. She sits on the couch and just stares into the cat room. Sometimes I can't call her off, other times I can. The longer we've had her, the better she has done. But, I still don't trust her not to chase the cat so she is closely guarded at the times that Roo ventures into the room with us. If Roo wasn't older with health (heart/coughing) problems, I would just let them meet and let Roo put her in her place. I know Piper is just curious and would leave her alone after that, but that isn't an option. Roo was here first, and at 14+, she deserves first consideration for her comfort. To that end, the girls get crated at night so that Roo can sleep with me and have full run of the house. She has her own space and the dogs must respect that. I'm still working on Piper learning that (full) respect, but we are better now than we were when she first came home with us.

 I tried letting Piper meet my parent's cat who could care less about dogs. He'll rub up against them when he wants and ignores them when he doesn't. LOL Piper ran up to Snuss and sniffed all over. When Snuss got tired of it, he let her know and now Piper respects him and gives him space. We still have to watch her every time we go home, but the time span in between visits makes it a 'new' introduction each time. Though she is better each time. She's not as eager to run up and sniff as she was the first few times. I would love to have a dog savvy cat that I could just turn loose with Piper for a little while here at home to teach Piper a little better about cats and put the 'fear of cat' in her. :) hehe 

Maybe, if you know someone that has a bomb proof cat as far as dogs go -  you could use that cat to desensitize Willow to cats. Maybe meeting a cat like that would help with the situation at home. And to keep Tempo 'dog friendly', maybe introduce him to a dog that is cat smart and friendly.

Sometimes I really hate that I have to keep an area gated off for Roo, but it works. I would love for Piper not to be so engrossed with her sometimes as well, but for an older dog that has never been around a cat, she has done surprisingly well in adjusting to her presence. The cat is a new thing for her, still a novelty and something to be investigated. If Roo wasn't sick and didn't hate dogs so much I would let them interact but that won't ever happen here. I have hope for you that Willow will adjust to Tempo's presence and you'll be able to let them be together. It will just take time and some creative training on your part. LOL

Good luck!

Amy