Face The World - Y chromosome

We have had my dog for almost 3 years now and we had the cat before we got the dog. My dog never leaves the cat alone. We have to keep the cat's litter box behind a chair in the living room because he is too scared to leave the room and go to the bathroom because the dog pins him to the floor whenever he moves in the dog's sight. Even when my cat is just sitting on a chair sleeping my dog will go over to it and bite it or hit it with it's paw. How do I make my dog leave my cat alone? We have had this problem for almost 3 years now and nothing we do works. My cat should be able to roam the house freely just like everyone else but he cant. He has to wait until the dog is asleep just to walk around or go eat.

you and your husband need to work on this together . put the dog on a leash . get very good control of the dog but also be calm. speak calmly .
then one of you brings in the cat carries in the cat and sits in a chair with the cat on your lap.
the person controlling the dog speaks calmly to the dog pats him so on but if the dog shows signs he wants to lunge at the cat one word NO and a good firm pull of the leash .
then dog lies down calm praise the dog . repeat all this for awhile then when your comfortable bring the dog nearer to the cat very calm soft voices and pat praise the dog the cat too .
then nearer and nearer until they can sniff each other.
be consistent you speak softly calmly . you use one word NO and a firm pull of the collar . you should have a choke collar on the dog . no they don't choke the dog so get one .
this is how to do it . i have done this more then a few times and never ever not had total success.

They have shock collars with remotes. Put the collar on the dog and stand by with the remote. Whenever the dog looks toward the cat, don't hit the button, instead, bump him in the side, it knocks him off balance and gets rid of his concentration on the cat. If that doesn't work, and the dog begins to approach the cat, shock the dog. He will soon learn that the behavior is wrong, and will stop,

To tell you this
DOGS HATE CATS!!!!!
They are enemies and will never stop unless they get along with one another.

separate them, or yell 'no' at your dog really loud.

don know
i heard there r dvds showing cats attacking dogs.
if u find one n play it for yor dog, I would be curious to know if the animal psychology would work

This will take time, effort, and consistancy. There is an episode on the Dog Whisper directly relating to this. Here is how I would try it (I'm not an expert). Put the leash on your dog so you have control. When your dog is calm, introduce the cat. As soon as the dog perks up or shows any signs of interest in the cat, pull up on the leash, use your voice (whatever you use to correct the behavior), and/or tough the dog just above the chest (below the jaw). Every time your dog shows interest, convince the dog you are in control and the dog should not be interested. As things get better, continue the training. Pet both at the same time (one to one side of you and the other on the opposite side). Correct either with a voice and/or touch if they get excited. I hope this helps a little. Best of luck to you.
Edit: You want to correct the behavior firmly with confidence (but no anger) immediately. So when the dog pricks up its ears, you react now. When the dog makes a growl, lifts its head, starts to move towards the cat, you stop it. You can put your body in the way with a straight block, or do a "bite" using your fingers under the dogs throat or a simple light strike. The dog should recognize you as the master at that point, if not, put the dog in a submissive position on his/her back with you in control. You are not pinning, you are simply controlling. This is hard to describe. Sorry. When you correct, there is no anger, as you are in control, you are more the alpha dog in control and not over the top. Cesar describes this as calm assertive energy. Your goal is not to put the dog an excited state, just a relaxed submissive state. Hopefully this helps.

hit and yell at him so he will learn

Normally I think shock training collars are kinda mean, but I think you should try one. I don't care how many people disagree, but a shock collar saved my dog's life once. He jumped over a 6 foot fence ( I had no idea he could do that!) and ran straight for the road. I yelled at him to stop but he didn't so I shocked him and he stopped and ran back. I have never had to use the shock on him ever since!

Get one that has a beep and a shock. (the kind I have, you can get them at wal mart for $100) When your dog is harassing the cat, beep. If it ignores the beep then shock.

Every time she tries to hurt the cat shock her and she should get the message soon enough.

Just a warning though. Maybe you should keep your cat where the dog can't get her while you train. If the dog thinks the cat is the one hurting it your dog may try to bite more. If it does not work then just forget it.

Disciple the dog every time he does it.

It sounds like your dog is just being playful with the cat. Do not discipline him physically as that only produces aggressive or frightened behaviour. I would look up some behavioural classes for him if you are really serious about fixing this problem, maybe he's bored and this is why he is bothering your cat!?

Find a way to teach your dog that this is unacceptable behavior. At the moment the dog shows any kind of aggression, you can spray the dog with a squirt bottle while firmly saying, "No!" You can also shake a shake can at the same time you squirt him. You can make one yourself with an empty soda can and some dry beans or pebbles and sealing the top with some tape.

If you believe the dog is acting aggressive because he's jealous of your attention to the cat, you can punish him at the time of bad behavior by separating him from you. If you have a cage, you can put the dog in for a time out for a few minutes, but not for so long that the dog forgets what his bad behavior was in the first place. And, always remember to reward good behavior with lots of praise.

There are many books and websites dedicated to help you train your dog and you can also get help from an animal behavior specialist. (Never hit your dog; dogs do not understand this kind of punishment and will not realize what they are being punished for.) If none of these methods are successful, the last resort would be to find a new home for one of the animals where the they can live separate, peaceful lives.