Reply #6: The problem is that the kitty is the terrorist, not the doggie

[Patiod]

the dachshund is the hapless, usually sleepy victim. So the gates won't help - although they DID help the week we moved her into the house - gave her a feeling of safety until she had established total dominance. Thanks much to whichever DUer suggested an extended separation until they both adjusted.

Frankie is an old guy - 11, and not interested in chasing cats. He mostly just wants to steal snacks from her litter box and whatever cat food she doesn't finish, and sleep. He's not at all interested in HER (a few smacks upside the head with her little fist early on saw to that).

She, on the other hand, also 11, loves to stalk him and pounce, scaring the little fellow. We head this behavior off if we see it coming, but can't always be there. We were watching them in the garden last, night, and it was pretty funny. She was stalking him, and he was happily sitting in the grass, enjoying the last of the sun.

It doesn't seem like a fair trade-off - he loses his easy, simple, quiet life with my elderly parents and acquires a stalker, and she gains one permanent petting-monkey (my mostly-immobile Dad), an unwilling plaything (Frankie), and even her own bedroom retreat (the top floor, where Frankie can't handle the stairs.