New Family Needed :(

[Woodland1]

It is with great sadness that I am posting here, but we have tried for several months to adapt our labradoodle (F1) male into life at our house, with our family. He will be 1 yr old in June, however the vet believes him to be older than the pet store papers suggest which is plausible considering he came from a puppy mill . I found him on Petfinder, as a 2nd dog and companion for our senior golden and our whole family... he came from NYC and was well loved by his prev owner but lived with other large dogs in a small apartment and I think he developed some strange habits etc. What I can say is he is a good family dog, but is in need of more than we can give him here. He is exercised and played with daily, well taken care of (neutered, UTD on vaxes), plays with our other dog etc... but the training and work we put in has not stopped some of the behaviors that make it very difficult for him to live here happily. First off, he should not go to a home with cats. I have two cats, one for 12 yrs and one for almost 5 yrs and since we got our doodle, they have been terrorized, chased and harassed to the point resulting in bad behavior from them (going outside of the litterbox, destroying furniture which they NEVER did, being aggressive toward us when the dog is around)... Recently the dog chased the cats from the couch where I was sitting and they clawed me so deeply across my arm and neck-- and this has happened numerous times. We have tried positive redirection, crate training, ignoring/praise techniques and to no avail. He has a drive in him and I cannot see it ending well w/the cats. He loves his crate, but I never believed in having a dog who spends quality time inside of a crate and it is heartbreaking for me to have to separate him. Anyway, I am hoping that someone can provide a happy home and family, that he so much deserves with NO cats... they seem to drive him batty and he completely tunes everything out when they are around. Not fair to anyone. Please reply here or send a private message. We are located in CT.
*** I just want to add that he is a GOOD Dog. He loves other dogs, gets along with everything from our golden to my mom's tiny rat terriers without an issue. He is great with the kids. We have a small house, 5 people living here and the cats have nowhere to run from the dog without creating a problem. I don't want to portray him in a negative light, but being realistic about his needs and family that would be best for him. We may have a re-homing fee (reasonable of course) to assure he goes to the best home possible not just for "free." I hope that is understandable thank you!