Dogs Who Are Cat Chasers And Biters

[Loving my Oldies]

I rescued Myrtie recently and she is doing very well and is a gorgeous lively happy little dog. BUT!! She is an absolute horror with regard to cats. Gussy Cat has been with me since 1999, when, I promise you, she followed me home. Therefore, Gussy Cat has priority, apart from the fact she is not a younster anymore and should be able to curl up in the sun and do as she likes in her own home.

Myrtie sits on top of the couch watching the front garden and goes positively ballistic when she sees Gussy or when her toy boy from down the road comes to visit.

I have been bringing Gussy in throughout the day, holding her tightly as she just wants to escape, in an effort to get Myrtie used to her. Yesterday, I was sitting at the desk and Myrtie was jumping up so hard trying to get at Gussy, that she was hitting her head underneath the desk - but even this didn't stop her She really does try to bite Gussy and is sometimes successful.

Gussy has a catflap into my bedroom and for the first time in ages, she came in last night. I was happy for only a couple of minutes . Myrtie was under the bedclothes but very quickly sensed Gussy was there and she went crazy and of course Gussy fled through the catflap. For ages afterwards, Myrtie paced up and down the bed, trying to work out whether she could reach the bedside table or the window sill and give chase.

Myrtie is a mix of breeds (she is tiny at 3.4kgs), but somewhere in the mix I am sure there is Silky Terrier. Very quickly after I'd rescued her, I realised that I didn't want to rehome Myrtie as she is a dear little thing with a big personality, but naturally my first loyalties and care are to Gussy.

What are my chances of getting Myrtie to a state of non reaction to Gussy?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Mother Moocher

[poodlefan]

With a program of desensitisation and reward for ignoring the cat? Very good!

I'd start with dog in crate and cat loose in room.. reward for focus on you. Progress to dog on lead, then dog loose and cat in crate etc.

A good trainer would be the way to go.

Edited July 22, 2010 by poodlefan

[Starkehre]

Absolutely possible.

The dog may or may not ever get to the point where you would feel comfortable leaving them together unsupervised, but it would be sensible not to risk it anyway.

It would be wise to keep in mind that dogs that are very prey driven by cats can and often do become used to and fine with cats they know and are a part of their own household with training and exposure, but with strange cats, everything reverts back to the original behaviour.

Good luck with it.

[Greytmate]

The best solution would be to separate her from cats, and rehome her to a non-cat home.

They can be trained out of it to a certain extent. But the training methods are not exactly easy or fun.

Think of poor Gussy. Gussy's welfare and happiness has to come first. Cats are well aware when they are being perceived as prey. Poor lil' Gussy.

[Loving my Oldies]

I'd start with dog in crate and cat loose in room.. reward for focus on you. Progress to dog on lead, then dog loose and cat in crate etc.

Thanks, I'd thought about that. I'll bring in the little crate and start on that today.

The dog may or may not ever get to the point where you would feel comfortable leaving them together unsupervised, but it would be sensible not to risk it anyway.

Gussy is bigger than Myrtie, but I wouldn't want either of them to get hurt.

It would be wise to keep in mind that dogs that are very prey driven by cats can and often do become used to and fine with cats they know and are a part of their own household with training and exposure, but with strange cats, everything reverts back to the original behaviour.

Ain't that the truth! My "original" dogs are totally fine with Gussy, in fact she rubs up against them and follows us on our walks. But let them see another cat as we are on our walks !!! In fact they aren't too bad and do come when I pull them away from eyeing a cat sunbathing in a front yard. They are never outside unless on leads, so that situation is controllable.

Thanks folks: you have given me hope.

[Loving my Oldies]

Think of poor Gussy. Gussy's welfare and happiness has to come first. Cats are well aware when they are being perceived as prey. Poor lil' Gussy.

Gussy's wellbeing and happiness are the reason for my post.

[poodlefan]

The other thing to remember is that distance matters in this process.

Start with feeding Gussy some distance away (say down the end of the hall) and reward only the behaviour you want with Myrtle. I've had a behaviourist explain how they used a strange person with a curtain to start a very long desensitisation process for one dog .. just a glimpse.. reward focus and work up. Opening and closing a door might work for you.

Time and distance need to be worked on slowly.

Edited July 22, 2010 by poodlefan

[Greytmate]

Think of poor Gussy. Gussy's welfare and happiness has to come first. Cats are well aware when they are being perceived as prey. Poor lil' Gussy.

Gussy's wellbeing and happiness are the reason for my post.

I know.

I have had years of experience in assessing prey drive towards cats in dogs.

I have no doubt that there are effective training methods that can be used to lessen that drive.

But it is a very dangerous drive that can be inadvertently heightened by people attempting training and making some very small error.

I draw a line myself. Gussy doesn't want to help you train this dog. The cat has spoken.

[ash&elar]

Good luck i have 6 cats and my poodle loves to stir them but he is only a puppy and is not really trying to hurt them, my british blue boy sulley is not worried about him at all so will not run and if FEZ gets too annoying he slaps him in the face but he always has his nails in i think sulley at 6months old weighs more than FEZ lol sulley is gonna be a big boy like his daddy.

[Greytmate]

MM. Ring around and find a foster carer that has a big, old, tough dog-bashing tom cat. Take Myrtie there today.

You need to give Gussy some immediate respite and this will give you some breathing space to help decide.

[Greytmate]

But don't let Myrtie off the lead around any cat. Just see if you can get the tom cat to scare the bejeezus out of Myrtie.

[Golden Rules]

I draw a line myself. Gussy doesn't want to help you train this dog. The cat has spoken.

Yep, agree here.

I have two cats that are very timid. I brought a foster dog home recently and the cats wouldn't come inside from their enclosure for a couple of days. Then when they did, the little foster wanted to chase the cats - only when they ran, he would be OK otherwise, but they would run anytime the little dog looked at them.

I was so pleased when that little dog went to it's new home. Cats will always be 'top dog' for me as they are far more vulnerable than most dogs.

Hope you can find a solution MM!

[Nekhbet]

I wouldnt necessarily start with dog in a crate and loose cat - crate builds frustration which can increase prey drive and make your job more difficult. I would start on lead with a corrective device (prongs come in teeny tiny sizes too) correct for any attention towards the cat and reward with a toy for ignoring cat.

Although I also second the old dog bashing tomcat idea LOL just trim up his claws first

[raineth]

Hi there,

In January, I got a big mutt from rescue. He is the sweetest animal - except when it comes to cats!!!

We don't have a cut, but we see at least half a million of them on our walks. Some of them are very friendly towards dogs and will approach to say hello. WHich in my situation was a bit

He was very bad - he would completely zone out (rigid body stance, completely focused on the cat) if he saw a cat from even a distance of 200 metres!!!

If one moved closer to him he would go pretty wild lunging at the end of his lead barking and carrying on.

Anyway I have worked steadily at it using food rewards and we can now walk past cats and have cats approach us, and even have cats run past us (!!!) and he will just look up at me and wait for his big food reward

THe only thing was, that initially I had to do something more drastic to shake his focus. Digby is quite sensitive, and I would rouse on him if he zoned in on a cat. I only had to do this a few times enough for him to understand I didn't want him to do that. SO I think an aversive can work, but for them to really turn around you need rewards.

Make it so that the sight of the cat = means special rewards for the dog. When he started to link that cat=reward, he would then look at me when he saw a cat. Ofcourse that meant he got a really really big reward!

You want to change it so that his automatic thought on seeing the cat is not chase/bite/kill, but cat=reward. But it might help you to train him so that he looks at the cat and he sits, then gets the reward. Because in a way you want to teach what to do when he sees a cat, not just 'what not to do' when he sees a cat.

So yeah, I think you can definitely do it ;)

[Greytmate]

Hi there,

In January, I got a big mutt from rescue. He is the sweetest animal - except when it comes to cats!!!

We don't have a cut, but we see at least half a million of them on our walks. Some of them are very friendly towards dogs and will approach to say hello. WHich in my situation was a bit

He was very bad - he would completely zone out (rigid body stance, completely focused on the cat) if he saw a cat from even a distance of 200 metres!!!

If one moved closer to him he would go pretty wild lunging at the end of his lead barking and carrying on.

Anyway I have worked steadily at it using food rewards and we can now walk past cats and have cats approach us, and even have cats run past us (!!!) and he will just look up at me and wait for his big food reward

THe only thing was, that initially I had to do something more drastic to shake his focus. Digby is quite sensitive, and I would rouse on him if he zoned in on a cat. I only had to do this a few times enough for him to understand I didn't want him to do that. SO I think an aversive can work, but for them to really turn around you need rewards.

Make it so that the sight of the cat = means special rewards for the dog. When he started to link that cat=reward, he would then look at me when he saw a cat. Ofcourse that meant he got a really really big reward!

You want to change it so that his automatic thought on seeing the cat is not chase/bite/kill, but cat=reward. But it might help you to train him so that he looks at the cat and he sits, then gets the reward. Because in a way you want to teach what to do when he sees a cat, not just 'what not to do' when he sees a cat.

So yeah, I think you can definitely do it ;)

Yes all possible.

BUT. Gussy is terrified around the dog. It would be cruel to put Gussy cat through it in my opinion.

Not to mention the fun new lifestyle in store for MM of crating, baby gates, pet separation, constant vigilance, and closed doors. Awesome times.

[Loving my Oldies]

Yes all possible.

BUT. Gussy is terrified around the dog. It would be cruel to put Gussy cat through it in my opinion.

Not to mention the fun new lifestyle in store for MM of crating, baby gates, pet separation, constant vigilance, and closed doors. Awesome times.

LOL - I have all that already, Greytmate, and not just for Gussy. All my dogs mingle effortlessly, however, I have baby gates and dividers ready to put up when I do housework, want some peace, feed them separately so I can see who eats and who doesn't, people are coming over, etc etc.

I am going to try the desensitising for a couple of weeks and if I feel I'm not getting anywhere, I will look to rehoming Myrtie.

[Greytmate]

I hope you are going to get some guidance then. Because what you have done so far has heightened the dog's drive and has the cat living in a state of high anxiety.

Maybe desensitise the dog to a cat that isn't so sensitive to the dog.

I don't understand why you want to keep this dog. It doesn't suit your home. If it is so good it will rehome easily to somebody that wants cats scared out of their yard.

[raineth]

Yes all possible.

BUT. Gussy is terrified around the dog. It would be cruel to put Gussy cat through it in my opinion.

Not to mention the fun new lifestyle in store for MM of crating, baby gates, pet separation, constant vigilance, and closed doors. Awesome times.

well I'm not saying it was easy, I was just saying it is possible.

And you most definitely have a point that it may be in the best interest of the cat for the dog to be rehomed.

I'm sure MM will make a good decision. And I thought it may be helpful to her to read what I did with my dog, even if she chooses not to use it, or chooses to try another method.

Edited cos I stuffed up the quote tags

Edited July 22, 2010 by raineth

[Staranais]

I taught my last dog to co-exist peacefully with cats. He had killed a cat before I got him. So it is definitely possible.

But, I was also lucky in that my last cat didn't usually run away from dogs. I think it would be far harder to desensitise a dog to a cat that ran and triggered prey drive, than with a cat that tended to stand still. I'm sure it's still possible, but you might need to be a bit clever with how you go about it.

[Greytmate]

I'm sure MM will make a good decision. And I thought it may be helpful to her to read what I did with my dog, even if she chooses not to use it, or chooses to try another method.

Or if she chooses to have the dog trained with a big tough dog-bashing cat in another foster home instead, and gives poor Gussy a rest.

I am all for hearing about methods to reduce prey drive. I just believe that it should only be attempted in a strictly controlled environment that is not shared with a frightened pussy cat.