A Love/Hate Relationship

Our dog, Griffin, and our cats, Sara and Charlemagne, share what you might call a love/hate relationship--Griffin loves them and wants to play, they hate him and want to be left alone. He always bounces around them and will often bark to get their attention. They just lay there, unblinkingly staring at him like he is an idiot (or "dork" as The Scribbler affectionately calls him).
He will also lay his head right next to them and stare at them. As long as he doesn't bark, they just look at him. He sniffs around and moves on or backs away to bounce and bark. I think he knows it is safer to move away. Sometimes when they venture down from their high perch (they move around on the counters, tables, backs of chairs, windowsills, couch etc to remain safe ), he will chase them. There is not much sanctuary in our tiny room. Once cornered, they will hiss, growl as only cats can do, and reach out to scratch him. A few times, they have been successful and made contact. However, he must suffer from short term memory loss as he keeps coming back for more! Recently, Charlemagne succeeded in scratching Griffin's left eye with a strong left hook. I didn't see it happen and, although it looked red and obviously scratched, I wasn't too concerned until his eye began to turn red with the redness spreading to the other eye. He began to squint and blink a lot with his eyes being covered almost entirely by his third eyelid, which I didn't know dogs had. He looked so pitiful and we missed seeing his big brown eyes. We took him to the vet for diagnosis and subsequent antibiotic eye ointment treatment 3-4 times a day. At the vet, they had to sedate him to allow for an examination. The Scribbler and I had to carry the dead weight of 68 pounds of dog to the car. He remained in the above state for most of the day. Every time he tried to get up, he would stagger or else begin something only to change his mind and lay back down to sleep. It was a nice respite from puppyhood for us as well as the cats. Since then, he has been a bit subdued and quiet. His eyes are improving, but still somewhat red. Do you think he learned his lesson?