Hot long for cats and puppy to get used to each other.?

[kismit]

We have two cats, a 7 year old male and a 6 year old female. We added a 9 week old shepherd cross puppy about 7 weeks ago. We have the dog segregated to half the house where we have hardwood. They either ignore each other from a distance or the cats hiss and claw at the dog from the safety of a counter or table top. Once in a while the cat action gets the pup yapping and running around frantically, but mostly she just seems to want to examine the cats more closely.
Early on the cat's showed some kind of hunting behavior where the male would be in front of the dog, hissing and pawing, and the female clearly circling around back as though looking for a pounce opportunity. We never let it go far enough to see if that would happen .
We have her in puppy classes and she socializes well with other dogs. The only time the cats touch the hardwood floor anymore is when they are walking the "gauntlet" past the dog to get to sit beside me working on the computer. This is done most aggressively with the low warning growl from the cat which sort of freezes the dog before the cat dashes the last few feet to safety.
When both cats are in the kitchen we get the "wild kingdom" with cats hissing, growling and clawing from the table top. occasionally connecting with the pup who is phased only seconds by the discomfort. The dog seems to be pretty much playing. The female is the dominant of the two cats but the dog has no fear of her, maybe because she can't inflate her size as much as the tom. The male cat has actually put the run on the dog a couple of times but not in the last couple of weeks, possibly because the puppy is now about 18 pounds.
Sorry for the long story but will these animals ever reach an accomodation? Will the puppy ever realize the cats hate her and don't want to play. I think the cats reaction is just defensive and is brought on by unwanted puppy proximity and attention so even though they are the angry ones it is the pup the starts things. Should I consider taking the water bottle to the dog whenever she gets nears the cats? I am getting worrined that at 4 months I may have missed an opportunity. Any thoughts?

[Lucky Rescue]

I always say that, in general, the worst combination you can possibly have is a puppy and adult cats who are not used to puppies or dogs.

The only way there will ever be peace is if the cats learn that the puppy will never EVER be allowed to run after them or approach them in any way.

This will involve a lot of work and training on your part. You must keep the dog either gated or on a leash in the house, so you can correct him and teach him to completely leave the cats alone. You must keep him out of the cats' territory. If they have a "safe" place where they are sure the dog cannot go, this will calm them a bit. Otherwise, they feel they have to defend themselves and this could result in injuries.

[CJ05]

We had an issue bringing our new puppy into a house with 3 cats last spring. We have 3 male cats and they all behaved differently to the dog. Early on when we first brought the dog home all the cats were a little reserved and did not go near the dog. One of our males( Lincoln 8yrs old) did not like and still doesn't like the dog and whenever the dog came near, he would swat and hiss at her. Lincoln actually caught our dog (Daisy) in the eye once. Daisy now in most cases has learned to avoid Lincoln but still every so often trieds to play with him. We also have another 8 yr old cat Elvis. He is overweight and lazy and usually takes abuse from Daisy with little resistance except for an occasional ear bite. We have to constantly tell Dasiy to leave him alone but I think she just wants to play. Our third cat Oliver (3yrs) doesn't not seem to mind the dog. He rubs against Daisy and purrs, then Daisy tries to play until oliver get irritated. They seem to be the best of friends most often and we have recently caught Oliver sleeping in Daisys' crate.
Your cats may someday tolerate your dog, be nice to the dog or flat out hate the dog ;only time will tell, but make sure to keep an eye on them if they are together.