Seeking Advice on Dog-Cat Conflicts
I recently moved to Alaska with my two pets, a Mini Schnauzer puppy who’s almost a year old and a four-year-old cat. We adore them both, but they’re having serious problems living together, and we feel lost on how to resolve it.
Our puppy often goes after the cat, biting his neck or limbs aggressively, and it doesn’t seem like play—he bites hard and won’t let go. At times, it feels like he’s hunting the cat. Sometimes he gets excited and runs back and forth when the cat chases him, but we can tell the cat isn’t having fun. Most of the time, the dog is right up in the cat’s face, and the cat hisses, hides, and gets stressed.
We’re also worried the dog might have learned bad behavior from us. Whenever the cat misbehaved, we would give him a gentle spank, and the dog would bark and seem anxious, almost wanting to join in. We’re not sure if this has made the dog see the cat as something to attack or chase.
Things got worse today when the cat suddenly attacked the dog, and in return, the dog grabbed the cat by the neck and shook him hard. It was intense, with the cat screaming, and I’m really concerned about one of them getting hurt.
We don’t want to rehome either pet, but we also don’t want to wait for a serious injury to happen. We’re really not sure what to do. If anyone has tips, resources, or advice on handling this kind of situation in a new home, we would really appreciate it!