Hi everyone, I'm new here and I'd like to ask a question.
Since last Saturday (25th April 2026), we've adopted a lovely 8-year-old Shepherd cross called Sunny. When we first brought her home, she met our two cats, Balmy and Rhésus, and didn't take any notice of them at all. We blocked off the upstairs for Sunny last weekend so the cats could have some peace. The good thing is that they aren't hiding; they're quite relaxed up there and are eating well. They watch her and have been quite bold about coming up to 'meet' her – it's been great to see. So, we've removed the chairs blocking the stairs and we're letting the cats come down whenever they want. Generally speaking, everything is going quite well, but since today (especially), Sunny has been watching them and fixating on them... She gets close and really stares (sometimes even lifting her front right paw for some reason). When I call her, she tends to come back to me (mostly, but not all the time), but then she goes right back to staring at the cats again. A little while ago, everyone was downstairs (mostly for food) and she was staring quite intensely at Balmy, who hissed and swiped at her (without claws, I think). Sunny must have bared her teeth, so I gave her a firm telling-off and she came back with her tail between her legs, looking a bit sorry for herself. Then, when I was putting their dry food out, she started staring intensely at Rhésus... I think he hissed, but I'm not sure, and while they were staring at each other, I saw Sunny baring her teeth...
My question is this: I think we're not far off the living situation we want (knowing it won't happen overnight), but do you have any tips for stopping Sunny from fixating on the cats? I'd really like her to stop following them when they come downstairs, etc. If you have any similar experiences, I'm all ears; I really want this to work and I truly think it's possible ;). Thanks in advance!
