# Jan



## Jeannette (Sep 12, 2015)

Help - always had dogs (58 years) all have got on with the cat they lived with but not Ben our first Cockerpoo. Our seven year old cat loved our last dog - they played, slept and ate together (a Jackadoodle) ...what a shock for her and sad for me that Ben just wants to chase and grab. Ben in eight months and full of himself. We swopped blankets introduced them slowly to each other and I lavish 'treats' on Ben when the cat is around but I keep Ben on a lead. The couple of times he wasn't he nearly caught her tail....she never had to run away before - so was a bit slow off the mark !They do sit in same room together with me in the evening ...warily.
Benjie is bouncy all round. He understands sit, stay, leave, drop - and obeys when cool, calm and collected but when in full bounce all training skills go out of his head. (He has looked as if he was going to chase bikes (cross country) and runners but I am pretty confident (not 100%) he has understood that he must not do this - his recall is good apart from our cat. 
Leads on in the house and rooms with shut doors to protect cat is getting me down - I feel I have lost the plot. Can anyone cheer me up


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

When they are together in the evenings as well as him being on leads reward him for calm not focused on the cat behaviour. Clicker training would work well if you have been doing that but otherwise just notice and reward all of his good calm behaviour. If necessary you could use his tea for this so he earns his food over the evening by being calm and relaxed in the presence of your cat.


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## Biscuit (Feb 21, 2015)

Biscuit loves our huge, hairy, dopey ginger cat but the complement isn't returned because our curly girlie is just too rough with him so he has to spring up onto high places to avoid being squished. They will share a sofa of an evening but Ziggy is always on guard in cas bis wants an impromptu game of chase. It reminds me of the over confident little girl in a Bugs bunny cartoon who wraps her arms around an unamused bunny declaring that she is going to keep him and love him and hug him and pat him - The look on Bugs Bunny's face is priceless and only matched by that of my hairy, ginger "grandson". Not much help I'm afraid but I do empathise


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## arlo (Mar 11, 2013)

I can understand it getting you down and unfortunately I've no more advice to offer as it sounds like you are doing your best, keep it up and hopefully the time will come that Ben will get better. My two will chase the cats, but when they finally corner them, thankfully they would do nothing to them. My cats goad them at times and enjoy the chase. They were used to an old retriever, who they used to try and suckle on when they were kittens, so were shocked by the puppies, time has helped. Hopefully someone on here will have some good ideas for you. But take heart you are doing a great job, try and relax as much as you can and hopefully it will come good.


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## Jeannette (Sep 12, 2015)

Thank you so much to all - it is reassuring to know help/support is at hand. Reading between lines I think it is me who should calm down. I ought to know by now that things don't happen over night. We are older and things that we once dealt with - easy peasy gives us more anxiety. Our past dogs and cats had to fit in with kids, work, this and that but we, now long retired are inclined to focus on Benjie and Twinkle almost one hundred percent poor things ! (At least Benjie gets good walks and plenty of grand children action.) Twinkle is happy lying up side down by the fire. We need another cup of tea....thanks again.


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