Dog and Cat Interaction Problem - Ideas Needed

Hello all,

We have two four year old spayed female shelter cats. They aren't from the same litter but within one month of age of each other and they get along well. The cats have been our only pets for the last four years. Five months ago we got two sheltie puppies, one male and one female, not littermates, within one month of age of each other. The male is now 9 months old and the female is 10 months old. They are probably at their full sizes now and our male pup is very large (17.5 inches) for a sheltie and the female is small (14 inches). They hang out and play together constantly. We have been working on the house training thing and we have a dog door that use at will and they use it just fine. We have a great yard for them to run and play and we take them out twice every day for long walks or runs with a bike. Plus we play with them in the yard. They are definitely high energy dogs. They are well trained on the leash and know most of their obedience commands.

Here is the problem. Since the dogs are now big, especially our male, who is very big, he is terrifying one of our cats. He barks at her and chases her whenever he has a chance. The cat has rewarded us by peeing on our carpet in our dining room....alot. I clean it up immediately, steam clean the carpet, have put down plastic and have put two litter boxes on the plastic. She still pees on the plastic and sometimes on the carpet that isn't covered with plastic. This happens at least once a day, sometimes more, for about the last 6 weeks. The other cat swats at the dogs and isn't bothered by them. I have been working with our male dog on training and working with him to be calm and non threatening to the cat(s). It is coming along slowly as he is very hard headed, but certainly trainable. He has a high prey and play drive with high energy thrown in. Otherwise he is a giant love bug lap dog and loves all humans, as does our female dog.

I have contacted an animal communicator, who has confirmed that the male dog is the problem and the cat is terrified of him. I am going to take the cat to the vet tomorrow to confirm that she doesn't have a urinary problem, but I am 99% sure she doesn't. I am going to ask for kitty tranquilizer or something to help calm her, if possible. I have tried Rescue Remedy to date and it hasn't helped yet. I might ask for a tranquilizer for the dog too...but none of these ideas are a permanent solution.

The male dog is also becoming quite dominant over our female dog and we are considering all options, such as the really remote possibility of re-homing him if he really cannot get settled down. He is also getting too rough for the female dog of late and now I am a bit worried about her safety. I don't think he is dangerous, but he can be very, very rough with her.

I have also considered a professional dog trainer, but haven't done that yet.

Does anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions to help all four animals co-exist peacefully and happily?

I am out of ideas at this point. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

P.S. All animals eat a raw food diet.

~Critterkids Tweet