Dear all,

We have recently brought a new dog into our home; he is a puppy, just a few
months old. We already have a cat that we have had for over 2 years; she is
just over 2 years old, and has always been a dream to look after, no
problems of any kind at all.

At first she seemed pretty bummed out by the dog , but then started to come
around as she worked out what the various baby gates etc. were there for and
that she could use them to get away from him whenever she wanted.

We knew we had to try and socialise them and at first hoped nature would
take it's course; the puppy bundled her, we expected him to get a nasty cut
on the nose and learn to leave her alone. Unfortunately the desire to play
outweighs the fear of pain for our dog (he is an Akita, famously stubborn
breed), so we switched to teaching him to stay, sit, and leave, getting them
in a room together, making her feel comfortable moving around on the floor
around him etc. it all went well.

In the last few weeks though she has started urinating indoors; she didn't
even do this when she was a kitten (it's also a pain as we just paid out
?200 to get the carpets cleaned having toilet trained the dog at long last).

At first she went in the same spot he always did; by the back door; she is a
housecat so we thought she may have seen the dog wee there and get chucked
outside, and thought the same tactic would get her put outside; the thing is
she does go out all the time on a harness (myself and my partner work from
home), even when she has "escaped" she just sits in the same spot in the
flowerbed.

She is now going in our main sitting room, often at night when the dog is
locked up in the kitchen (Akitas like cold stone floors) and we're in bed; a
nice surprise to wake up to...

Having spent out on innumerable baby gates to ensure she has all of the
upstairs and considerable amounts of downstair to herself safe from dog, and
having both used up innumerable days giving her love and attention, she is
still doing it, and I just don't know why.

Is this a scent thing? Is she trying to eradicate his scent (she always
seems to go in a spot he went before he was toilet trained; I wonder if
despite the cleaning there is still a smell there that she can pick up and
wants to eradicate with her own smell? How the hell can we combat this and
get her back to being the well behaved princess she was before?

The dog has tried so hard, and in day to day contact they don't seem at all
bothered by each other; is she jealous? She has never been a lap cat and
dogs being the way they are he does get a lot of attention because he comes
looking for it, but we've been so careful with giving her treats and
attention when he does, just don't know what to do, can anyone help? Has
anyone else had a similar experience?

Steve