A furry situation

[Sirrahsim]

So we thought that Boomer (the cat) and Ginger (5.5 month old golden retriever) were getting along alright but apparently that was only because Boomer likes to spend most of his time in the bedroom when Ginger is forbidden to be. The other night, Boomer must have thought Ginger was in her crate so he came out. Ginger was, in fact, on the couch. As soon as Ginger saw Boomer she perked up and charged. I don't know if she was being playful or aggressive, I wasn't paying close attention to her body language. In the time it took for Ginger to get off of the couch and run at Boomer, Boomer froze, puffed up, hissed, sprayed the nastiest liquid I have ever smelled (neutered cats can spray:confused:) and ran for the hills over the baby gate that Ginger can't get past.....

What can I can start doing to make it so that eventually we MIGHT be able to give Ginger run of the house without worrying about her terrorizing Boomer? Would one supervised run in with Boomer's fury be good for Ginger? I had hoped that we wouldn't have any issues but I guess we weren't so lucky. I would appreciate any input :)

[Shelteez2]

First off the spray was probably Boomer's anal glands. Just like dogs, cats can release them when they are scared.
I'm guessing Ginger just thought potential playmate when she sprang off the couch after him.
When we adopted Ramone he showed way too much interest in the cats, and not in a good way. For awhile I wasn't sure we'd be able to make it work, as I wasn't willing to live in a segregated house (ie. dogs upstairs, cats downstairs).
What we did is we took Flea and put him in his carrier. Then we put Ramone on a leash and led him by the carrier to sniff Flea. Flea felt safe and we had control of Ramone. I made him sit by the crate and I clicked and treated him every time he looked away from it. It took awhile at first because he wanted Flea really badly.
When he learned that he got treats for looking away from Flea I opened the door of the carrier. Flea came out and started sniffing around. This excited Ramone at first, but because we had him on leash he couldn't charge Flea. I had him in a down at this time because dogs aren't as likely to break a down as they are a sit. Again I clicked and treated every time he looked away from Flea.
It took a couple sessions, but now they are good friends. Well they are more like siblings. Sometimes they love each other and other times they torment each other. :rolleyes:
I also think that it is good that you have a safe room where Boomer can go that Ginger can't get into. I think that is very important.
As for letting Boomer teach Ginger a lesson... it can work very nicely... or it can end up expensive if Boomer gets her in the eye. Also if Boomer is the type of cat that runs first and asks questions later she will only learn that chasing cats is fun. In that case you have to make sure you teach the lesson that chasing cats isn't fun.
I hope you can take something from my experience with Ramone and my cats to help you. Good luck!