Great info...Need more Please?

[ChanceLuv]

Hi my name is Lisa! I have been reading through the posts and I'm reading some great stuff. I really like this site. I've been working with my new pup Chance for almost two weeks now. He is doing great such a clever little guy. This morning he was so excited to wake up and play that he pretend to do his business so I would get over it. Clever little guy. Anyway, for the most part he listens to the leave it command. Like when chewing on furniture or little boy's teddys. Chance has recently become obsessed with our good old boy Merlin, he is a very tolerant and laid back cat. Usually Merlin and Chance can sleep inches apart, but lately Chance won't leave the kitty alone. He start barking and gets all worked up, I know he just want to play with Merlin, and sometimes Merlin will playfully pounce, other times he will give the warning strike to stay away. I'm not sure how to command Chance to "leave it" when it comes to Merlin. And every time I try he is in another world that apparently I hold effect on. Any suggestions?

[Marinepits]

You can leave a light leash on him so that he drags it around the house and every time he starts on the cat, give him a light correction with the leash and tell him to "leave it".

Or maybe a squirt bottle and tag him in the nose while saying "leave it".

[mnp13]

Our dogs were adults when we got them, so I'm not sure that this is applicable to puppies.

It is VERY risky to do what we decided to do. We are aware that our method of dealing with dog-cat interaction is NOT 100% safe, you MUST be willing to accept that injury or death may occur if you choose to do what we do.

When they chased the cats, they got in trouble. If they got near the cats, they got in trouble. No matter what happened, interaction with the cats that wasn't a calm sniff got the dogs in trouble. They got the message that cats are to be avoided.

My cats have their claws, so they have a measure of protection against the dogs annoying them. Merlin has very little fear of any of the dogs and has embedded more than one claw into their faces.

The dogs mostly ignore Faye, and she stays away from them. If they approach her calmly she lets them sniff her, or gets up and walks away. Oddly enough, she is the one that will probably remove their eyes if they corner her.

Merlin hates the dogs and they don't like him, he hisses and bats at them at every opportunity and will chase them out of a room just to be a jerk. They will also chase him when they get a chance, though he has been known to do an instand 180 and send them running the other way as fast as they can spin around.

[ChanceLuv]

You have a kitty named Merlin to? Yeah that is a good idea I should probably start getting a water bottle or something. Because there a just a small few things that Chance will tunnel vision out on and I can't get through to him. I usually put him in the crate when that happens, but let him out after a min. I don't like putting him in the crate when he has been naughty because I don't want him to associate it with that.

Well here is pic before the obsession!

[mnp13]

uh... yeah, and he looks surprisingly similar to your cat. You are now the second person with a cat named Merlin who looks like mine. Creepy...

http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=214

[Jenn]

Michelle your missing someone, time to update that link.

Does he react as in stop/run away when the cat gives him a nice correction, or does it just make it worse? It's pretty much the cat corrects around my place. (well the two that don't want to eat them) I'd definitely try the leash to make sure he gets the correction as suggested.

I only had issue with Ben trying to eat the cats, but that was my own fault from before any cats were ever around. I tried the leash thing with him, and it was effective ~ only problem was the cat didn't cooperate. If/when I would get his attention focused on me, and correct him for his ill eat the cat behavior ~ the cat would normally follow within eating distance. Of course, followed by hissing, swatting, death wish actions. With him, (yes I just gave up) the best thing was just for neither of them to ever be loose together. One or another was to be in a crate, or in a closed off room. If nothing else the leash was there to provide a correction, or grab the dog if need be.
The other two at times get a good swatting, or Tucker gets bit during hard games of wrestle. Otherwise, there is harmony. She lets them know quickly when to be left alone though.

[Wyldmoonwoman]

We had major problems with Thorne chasing the cat so we did aversion therapy...same as michelle, we corrected for looking at the cat, sniffing the cat, stalking the cat...the goal was to have Thorne treat the cat as she would a coffee table. Now, if the cat enters the room, my dog will not move, if the cat is in the kitchen and she sees the cat, she will not enter the kitchen unless invited, the cat was here first and rules the house, and she does not have nails so we were extra super dilligent with the corrections to keep her safe...

I never trust them alone, my dog is crated when we are not home.

[ChanceLuv]

Chance will run away when Merlin hisses or swats, but Merlin does not have claws. Also I've noticed Merlin teasing Chance. When Chance gets all worked up, Merlin will get as close as possible like from the top of the microwave to a chair. And when Chance walks away Merlin will go to the room that Chance wonders off to and sit right in his line of sight. My worries were a little premature. We have been doing more work, with "enough" and "leave it" and he is eager to please his mommy. I also have been working on the no free lunch method, which is surprisingly going well. Chance is developing into quite the well mannered little guy. He is awfully young, but hopefully as puberty sets in he learns more and more rather than following his own agenda. Thanks for all your feedback. Please feel free to provide more.

Lisa and Chance (I think I might be a cat, but my mommy says I can't play)[/quote]

[Jenn]

Chance is developing into quite the well mannered little guy.

Good for him, and you too!!