A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone. For example: I have a dog.

A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone. For example: While I love cats. A dependent clause can be joined to an independent clause to make a sentence. For example: While I love cats, I have a dog.

However, two or more independent clauses cannot stand in the same sentence (this is called a run-on). There are three ways to fix this:

1. Use a semicolon between them.
2. Start a new sentence (i.e. put a period after the first clause, then capitalise the first letter of the second clause).
3. Use a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, etc.)

A comma splice is not a way to fix a run-on. This is when you join two independent clauses with a comma. For example: I like cheese, cheese is good.

Case closed.