[Colz_83]

Two weeks ago my fiance and I brought home a 9 week old Goldendoodle. We are already the owner of an 11 year old cat. The puppy is fairy calm but will sometimes want to play with the cat and bark and him and wave his bum in the air. The cat usually gets annoyed and will give him a swat. My fiance are constantly trying to get the puppy to leave the cat but he usually only listens for a minute then will go back to harass him. On the other hand sometimes the cat will zoom around the house and want the puppy to chase him. We do not let the puppy chase him. Other times they will just mind eachothers business and leave eachother alone. This morning they were both calm and were just staying their distance in the living room. I went up to brush my teeth when I heard a little yip. I came out to see the poor puppy run to me with a squinty eye! This was my worse fear. The poor puppy seemed scared and ran to me and I put a cool cloth over it. All seeems okay now but it scared both me and him to death! This whole situation is stressing me out. Will they ever get used to eachother? I am ready to ducttape the cats paws and put goggles on the puppy.

[DoggyMom]

I have 2 cats and 1 dog myself. They all used to do this (and still do!). You just have to sit back for the most part and let them work it out. You need to be firm with your obedience training with your pup, the "leave it" command works wonders with my Lily when I need her to leave the cat alone. Is there possibly a room where you can put a baby-gate across the doorway? Raise it up about 3 inches, enough for your cat to get into the room, but not the dog. This will give your cat a calm place to relax without your dog bugging him.

[Colz_83]

The cat does have it's safe place. The entire lowest basement is off limits to the puppy and the puppy is crated during most of the day while we are at work. I can tell the cat does not feel threatened by the puppy he is just a grouchy old cat who thinks he rules the house! He will walk right by the puppy all stuck up just to show him who is boss. I have no problem letting them work it out but him hurting the puppies eyes scare me!

[DoggyMom]

Definitely keep an eye on any interactions between them. It does indeed sound like your cat is trying to establish "I'm the boss here!" with your pup. One thing you could try is taking the pup out for a bit of play, really wear him out, then having the interaction between the two of them. If your pup was a bit more calm, the interactions may go more smoothly.