Need to stop this behavior

My dog, Waffles, is a 1 year old (this month) blue heeler. He is very well trained, but he has this bad habit of being very whiny/jealous when the cat is on the couch. It's nothing new to him that the cat is up there, thats been her spot since before he came to us at 10wks old. He was never allowed on the couch till about 6mnths old and only then he had to be really well behaved to do so. Since then he's thought of the couch as a good thing and always wants to be there. But now when he sees the cat there, he becomes very possessive and starts to constantly whine. The only way we can remedy this is to knock the cat off. But I'm tired of denying her one "safe" spot from him.

How can I remedy this? Should we walk out of the room every time he whines? Or "ahht" (negative sound) him all the time? I don't want him associating the cat with negativity, he'll chase her around more.

Please help.

Thank you.

Is there room on the couch for both. Try socializing them together. If my dog Koko comes to the couch and Rascal is there she will stand at the couch looking at us until we move the cat enough for her to get on the couch too.

Hmm, my cats and dogs share space as well.

It sounds like he chases the cat sometimes, unrelated to the couch? Do you have one room gated off, so the cat has a safe place to escape to?

Also, no matter HOW friendly they become, never trust your dog with your cat outside in the back yard. Once the cat spooks and runs, the dog's instincts will kick in.

My cats are indoor only, but 2 will come out with us in the nice weather; Chestnut likes to sleep under the catnip! :D But I make sure the dogs aren't anywhere around.

Can you produce a chew toy / raw hide (if you use those) and appease him that way? I know the whining drives me NUTS!

Hope someone has some ideas for you.