Update on canine/feline household relations

I have an almost thirteen-year-old cat who used to think he was a dog,  Cisco,  and three prey driven retrievers, who in the past have packed up on the cat.  Cisco used to have a cat buddy to hang out with, but unfortunately, that kitty has left this plane of existance and now Cisco is lonely.

Because of the packing activity, the cat has his own segregated living quarters gated off from the rest of the house.  This way he can enjoy being a cat without worrying about dealing with the dogs.  The cat has the ability to jump the dog barrier and join in household activities if he so chooses, which he normally doesn't.  However, since he no longer has his kitty buddy, he's getting bored and lonely in his living area.

I've been trying to broker a peace treaty between the canines and the feline, and things are progressing nicely.  The cat is pretty non-reacitve about the dogs, other than yowling when he's unhappy about something.   My girls, who both grew up with the cat and used coexist quite nicely with him prior to Ranger joining the pack,  have gone back to simply ignoring the cat.  Ranger would really love to play with the cat, but he's so exuberant about it that Cisco gets annoyed and wants to remove himself from Ranger's presence.  Ranger is not above a good cat chase if the cat is runniing, and if Ranger gives chase the girls are not above joining in on the fun.

I've decided that I need to concentrate on Ranger's behavior and everything else will fall into place.  Ranger is both fascinated by and slightly concerned about the presence of the cat in the house.  He quietly stands guard at the barrier to the cat room and if I'm holding the cat, he makes sure that he is nearby in case I need saving.  At the same time he also likes to sniff the cat all over and he licks his ears, much to Cisco's dismay.  I'm working on teaching Ranger to not chase the cat, and to wait until the cat gets out of dog reach before he checks the cat's path of escape. 

We started with a brusque "Leave-It" calling Ranger off the chase, and have now built up to just a quiet "Ranger, stay".  When the cat is out, Ranger now looks at me for guidance before any interaction with the cat.  I don't trust him unsupervised with the cat, but he now has faith in my ability to keep the cat in line and doesn't feel quite so anxious about keeping the cat under guard. 

Tonight we had a milestone in Ranger/Cisco relations.  Cisco jumped off of the couch, over Ranger's head and slunk back to the safety of his room and Ranger merely watched him go.  He waited for Cisco to be back in his room and for me to say "Good Boy" before getting up to go check on the cat.

Baby steps.