Dogs & Cats

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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 2nd, 2006, 10:13 pm

Okay, so unlike some of you here I like my cats! :wink: :wink: Any ideas on how to get Inara to understand they are not small dogs she can play roughly with? She is desperately interested in them, and play bows to them (they don't bow back... :| ), but when one comes within reach she leaps and tries to pin them down. Needless to say, that's not acceptable behavior! And none of them (we have 3) have their front claws - if they did, I wouldn't be as worried. Any ideas? I'm trying leave it, and also just getting her to sit or down stay, but she's not very solid on those yet. Should I just give it a few months for her to get really bored with them?
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Postby mnp13 » April 2nd, 2006, 10:21 pm

I love my cats, they are clawed and keep the dogs in line all on their own...

In my house, the cats can do no wrong. If the dogs bug them, the dogs get in serious trouble. If the cats start with the dogs, the dogs get in serious trouble.

The dogs avoid the cats.
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Postby katiek0417 » April 2nd, 2006, 10:38 pm

I don't know that Sacha and Nisha will ever NOT chase the cats. My older cat doesn't have claws, and she's figured out not to come downstairs...my kittens both have their claws, and make it clear that when the dogs do chase, there are serious consequences (i.e., hamburger nose).

Even that hasn't done any good.

I've tried the long downs with Sacha (the puppy doesn't know it, yet)...but if the cats take off, prey drive kicks in....

The pit I'm watching is okay with the cats....but, again...if they take off, there's no holding him back...of course, I've been told that he used to hump the cat that lived with him before I started dog-sitting him...
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Postby pLaurent » April 3rd, 2006, 11:14 pm

My dog is wonderful with cats, but I've had some fosters who weren't.

You need to be very firm with this - NO lunging or chasing cats ever! Just one chase will strongly reinforce this behavior, because it's so darn much fun.

You need to make it more profitable not to lunge at the cats. With the leash on, correct as soon as the dog looks at the the cats - do not wait until he is lunging - and bark "NO CAT!!" As soon as dog turns to look at the crazy lady who is ruining his fun, immediately praise and give a treat.

Most dogs would prefer treats and praise over corrections, but some dogs are near incorrigible. :|
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 4th, 2006, 9:00 am

Thanks for the suggestions - fortunately we have a baby gate up so that Inara is confined to two rooms. But as the cats become more comfortable, they're sashaying right up to the gate and taunting her, if not coming under, letting her see them, and then bolting. *sigh* All my pets are incorrigible! I do holler at her when she lunges at them, and if she's on leash she gets a good yank while being hollered at. She gets spayed at the end of this month (providing she doesn't go into heat - keep your fingers crossed!) so maybe that will calm her down a bit...wishful thinking, I'm sure!
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Postby SisMorphine » April 4th, 2006, 9:40 am

I can't have cats. Wally tested cat safe before he came to live with me. Unfortunately I have a 17 year old devil cat. She saw him in her house, ran across the room and launched herself at his face. Unlike most dogs who would be like "Oh crap, there's a cat biting my head" he said "You wanna fight? LET'S GO!!"

So my cat stayed with my parents when I moved to keep both of them from beating the crap out of each other. Now 95% of the cats he sees he wants to attack. It's not a prey driven kind of thing (hell, he hangs out with my rabbit on a daily basis) more of a "I want you dead because you said something about my mother" kind of thing.

"Leave it" has worked pretty well. But he's yet to actually follow the command "drop it" when it involves a cat in his mouth :rolleyes2:
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 4th, 2006, 9:50 am

:ROFL2:
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Postby pLaurent » April 4th, 2006, 2:26 pm

She gets spayed at the end of this month (providing she doesn't go into heat - keep your fingers crossed!) so maybe that will calm her down a bit...wishful thinking, I'm sure!


Wishful thinking, yes. Spaying is not going to affect her prey drive.



Unlike most dogs who would be like "Oh crap, there's a cat biting my head" he said "You wanna fight? LET'S GO!!"


My last dog was like that. He was just fine with my cats, unless one of them hissed or otherwise showed any hostility to him. Then it was "I'm gonna KILL you!!!" and he'd go after them like a wolf. But he just scared the crap outta them, never harmed a hair on their fuzzy miserable bodies. :D
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Postby a-bull » April 4th, 2006, 9:56 pm

Both my guys have strong prey drives, and neither was good with cats, but I had 6 when I got them, so it wasn't a choice. :)

I started them out interacting with the cats on leash only, so I could keep complete control and make any necessary corrections. I didn't remove the leash until "go easy" and "leave it" were being followed consistently. Once I removed the leash, (weeks later), I kept the interaction brief, always ending on a positive note and by 'putting the cat away' somewhere safe away from the dog.

The hardest thing is when the cats run, because lets face it, cats are fun to chase. Mine all have claws, so that was extremely helpful, but again, commands such as "easy" or "leave it" are very valuable during the chasing game.

Many dogs will eventually learn that the cats are part of the family, and although they may play too rough with them and could hurt them---(so they should never be left alone together)---they will accept them as 'part of the family.'

Babygates, etc. help, because they can get use to one another without incident.
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Postby BigDogBuford » April 4th, 2006, 10:01 pm

mnp13 wrote:I love my cats, they are clawed and keep the dogs in line all on their own...

In my house, the cats can do no wrong. If the dogs bug them, the dogs get in serious trouble. If the cats start with the dogs, the dogs get in serious trouble.

The dogs avoid the cats.


That's the way it is at my house, too. The only time the dogs get in really BAD trouble is when they chase the kitties. They've gotten to the point that if they start to chase the cats they'll stop, look at me and then high tail it to their bed. Heh.
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Postby a-bull » April 4th, 2006, 10:04 pm

BigDogBuford wrote:
mnp13 wrote:I love my cats, they are clawed and keep the dogs in line all on their own...

In my house, the cats can do no wrong. If the dogs bug them, the dogs get in serious trouble. If the cats start with the dogs, the dogs get in serious trouble.

The dogs avoid the cats.


That's the way it is at my house, too. The only time the dogs get in really BAD trouble is when they chase the kitties. They've gotten to the point that if they start to chase the cats they'll stop, look at me and then high tail it to their bed. Heh.


lol . . .

My dogs use to think when I picked my cats up it was party time for all! They'd go nuts trying to jump up and grab the cats from me. That was a whole other training session!!!
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » April 4th, 2006, 10:06 pm

Thanks for the helpful ideas - I think I am just going to have to give it time. I've been making an effort to pick the cats up and love them a bunch in front of her so that she knows they're family. Or if I can coax the cats close enough, I'll sit there and pet them both at the same time.
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Postby a-bull » April 4th, 2006, 10:11 pm

It can definitely work out with some patience, training and time.

One of my dogs sleeps regularly with one of my cats now.

I don't, however, ever leave the cats with the dogs when I'm not home.
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Postby BigDogBuford » April 4th, 2006, 10:16 pm

Joxer is the only one I trust with the kitties when we're not home. He's raised every single kitten that's come through here. He just loves them!

Image
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Postby a-bull » April 4th, 2006, 10:23 pm

What a great cat! :)

I seriously never thought I would ever be able to trust mine with the cats, and now they're almost completely trustworthy.
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Postby BigDogBuford » April 4th, 2006, 10:36 pm

a-bull wrote:What a great cat! :)

I seriously never thought I would ever be able to trust mine with the cats, and now they're almost completely trustworthy.


This picture defines Tigerlily's personality perfectly:
Image
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Postby a-bull » April 4th, 2006, 10:39 pm

That little girl rocks!! I bet she trains the dogs in your house. :)
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Postby BigDogBuford » April 4th, 2006, 10:45 pm

Yes, she's quite a personality. Once night I heard a huge commotion and Joxer come just tearing a$$ into the living room with Tigerlily attached to his back...just like a rodeo star! It was seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen.
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Postby pLaurent » April 7th, 2006, 9:43 am

The hardest thing is when the cats run, because lets face it, cats are fun to chase.


Right, or when two cats get into a scuffle. My last dog got very interested in that and I had to be careful.

Chloe is so funny. If the cats have a tussle, or knock something down, Chloe runs to her bed as if to say, "See? Wasn't ME!! I'm a good girl!"

She does have prey drive, and will near tear my arm off if a rabbit runs in front of us, but cats are untouchable to her. :D
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Postby mnp13 » April 7th, 2006, 9:48 am

pLaurent wrote: but cats are untouchable to her. :D


I just wish Riggs was untouchable by the cats... his nose looks like hamburger...
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