I have a gorgeous 5 month old female puppy called Juno who has a
fantastic, laid back personality - except when it comes to our cats.
She was quietly curious, until she unintentionally surprised my female
cat Alannah, who gave her a bit of a slap. Ever since then, she will
bark at all the cats, when they run in fear, she'll chase them.
Ashka, the male and most friendly of the cats, tends to stay still
(while trying his best to look like a stegosaurus dinosaur), but even
then Juno will just bark & bark.
Juno is fine with any other animal: Human; horse; dog. Even with cars
and push bikes - but I just can't get her to calm down around the
cats.
I've tried distracting her with food. Scolding her ("No!"), trying to
get her to sit and stay, holding the cat (she just jumped up & I got a
nasty scratch), patting and feeding the cats first to make them higher
in the pecking order, & just leaving them to sort out the pecking
order themselves, all to no avail. I'm beginning to get really
frustrated.
I've now bought a baby safety gate which cuts the house in two and the
cats can get through - with much barking. So there's little risk of
the cats being harmed. But it's be great if Juno would just settle
down. I don't expect them to snuggle or anything - I'd be happy if
they just ignored each other...

I'd be really grateful for any advice you could provide.