Cat Aggressive...settling into a new home

A friend of mine just adopted 2 GSD/lab mixes. She has 2 cats. Surprise...the dogs are cat-aggressive. I guess they don't screen for that wherever she adopted them from.

She's not the most dog-savy person, and I'm pretty sure she had no idea what she was getting into when she decided to adopt the pair of them. She only wanted 1...but whichever one she didn't take would have been put down. So she has the pair...

For now she has the cats in the bedroom, and the dogs in the living room, keeping them separate. I'm sure it'll take a while for the cats to get used to the dogs - if they ever do...

Anyone have any advice I can share with her on how to get the dogs to settle down and not chase the cats - or at least have a house of harmony?

I've always had a bunch of baby gates put up so the cats can escape. I found two things worked for me to get them not to chase cats-one was teaching "leave it" and then the squirt bottle. But it also depends on if they just to chase the cat, or if they really want to hurt it-I'd be a lot more wary in that second scenario or if they try to gang up on the cats.

I like this article a lot: http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/109/Introducing-Your-Cat-to-a-New-Dog.aspx

I agree with Saira. Squirt bottle and baby gate are two immediate options. Also, keeping the dogs leashed so you can catch them is also good. If the cats aren't used to dogs then I'm sure they are freaking out as well and are probably pretty stressed out. Suddenly having two large animals chasing them is not going to make them want to play nice.

Not that you should tell her this now, but she may never be able to get the dogs to accept the cats. Depending on the ages of the dogs--both sheps and labs have high prey drives and she may not be able to curb that, especially if the cats run.

She should focus on the cats safety first and figure out ways for the dogs to see and smell the cats without getting access to them.

I would definitely get a gate to begin, try the squirt bottle method, try to teach them that it is not ok to chase the cats like that..and hopefully that can help out. I wish her luck. That must be frustrating.