Riley will bark at the cats incessantly if allowed. You would think he was trying to make them go deaf (and everyone around them). Last night, I was outside with one of my roommates trying to fix something, and we left the dogs inside. Riley barked for a good 15 minutes straight (the annoying puppy bark that's just the right pitch to kill a person, not his deep big guy bark). I thought it was because we were outside. I look in a window to check on the dogs, and he's got a cat on the back of the couch who he's barking at!
I use a squirt bottle (and "no", b/c he knows not to do it). He still does it at times, and he and Sadie sometimes chase two of my cats, but it's not too frequent. I usually keep my bathroom babygated as the cats' safe area (litter box, food/water) when I'm home. When I'm not home, the dogs are in my room, so the cats have to get to the litter/food on their own (but the dogs are usually asleep and the food is on the bathroom counter), but they have the run of the rest of the house.
What is interesting is the cats' different attitudes towards the dogs. One cat ignores them and they don't bother him. He's too cool for school, though, the lazy bum. He acts like he's the king of wherever he goes and takes no time transitioning to new environments. The second cat likes to throw a fit about the dogs to attract attention. He also likes to take shots at them from on top of the furniture. He will run from them at times, though, but usually he-very vocally-tells them who is in charge. The third cat runs from the dogs if they show interest in him.
