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My puppy chases my cats. How can I stop him from hurting them?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Golden Retriever | Male | neutered | 2 months and 9 days old

How do I stop my 9-10 week old puppy from chasing my two cats? They both run away, and one swats back at him but he's getting bigger and is soon going to be able to actually hurt them. We never leave them alone together, as he's crated when we can't watch him, but he's so fast it's hard to stop.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on March 24th, 2018

I would recommend keeping Jasper on-leash in the house for now, so that you can keep him from being able to chase the cats - as long as he is able to continue doing this, the problem will get worse since cat-chasing is a very self-rewarding behavior for most dogs :) Praise and reward him with treats for staying calm when the cats are around. The cats will also start to become braver around him once they realize he can't chase them, which means that they won't run as much - this will also help. Over time, once he's no longer trying to chase the cats when he sees them, you can begin giving him more off-leash time in the house.

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    Answered By Jeffrey Milner

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 26th, 2018

    Until you are absolutely convinced Kenny isn't going to purposefully or accidentally injure your kitties, I would either keep him leashed in the house at all times or completely separate the cats from the dogs. This is not just for the kitties protection but for Kenny's as well; he's liable to get whacked across the face by one of the cats sooner than later if he continues to give chase. In terms of how best to control the situation, positive reinforcement training like you have described is going to be your best option and often takes a ton of repetition and practice before understanding what is being asked. Kenny is still a very young dog with his brain in development. He is being bombarded constantly with new stimuli and exciting things like kitties running around. The best thing you can do for him is to continue to desensitize him in a controlled fashion and reward him for the behaviors of which you approve. While I realize it is tempting, do not punish him or yell at him as it is almost always universally counterproductive. Hope this helps.

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