fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2806 ]

[ SECRET POST #2806 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2806 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Five Nights at Freddy's]

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[Star Trek, MCU, Batman Begins]

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[Twilight Saga]

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[Xenosaga]

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[Doctor Who]

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[Great British Bake Off]

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[Law & Order: Criminal Intent]

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[Minecraft]

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[Macklemore]

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I mentioned on here that my sister recently rescued a dog (Abby) from her neighbor. The dog had been running loose for several weeks beforehand, so my sister would sometimes let her into the house. Eventually her owner asked her if she just wanted the dog (since they were not caring for it).

About a week before Abby became more permanent, my sis got a new kitten (Old Gregg). Well, the two get along great! Here is a GIF of them playing http://min.us/i/KWLexJYaxSW3.

Abby and my sister's other dog (Kraken) spend the day at my house (so my mother can let them out during her lunch).

We have two cats at our house. We did not think this would be a problem because of how well Abby and Old Gregg get along. But as soon as Abby saw our cat (they were in the house and Abby was being held by her collar) she got tense/excited. As soon as she was released she took off after our cat and was chasing him around our house before we caught her. She was barking and trying to get to the cat. We let him outside.

Abby went to the door and was barking at our cat through the window. Her fur was all on end and she really wanted to get to our cat.

So, I have no idea what to do. If we cannot get Abby to ignore our cats, she can't stay at our house. In which case my sister will have to try and find a new home for her. But I can't figure out why she would play with Old Gregg easily but chase (and attack?) our cats.

Any advice on what to do is welcome. :D

Did Old Gregg ever run from the dog? Sometimes dogs will know when something will run from them and they'll immediately be ready to chase, while the same kind of animal that's chill won't get a reaction from them.

Unfortunately I don't have any advice on what to do. Except maybe try introducing them VERY CAREFULLY. ;;;

Yeah Old Gregg has. Sometimes Old Gregg will smack Abby on the face and run off. Or just be running around the house. Abby will chase her but never while barking or acting aggressive. My sis said that is the first time she has heard Abby growl (Abby doesn't even mind when Old Gregg nibbles on her dog food).

Abby is a Great Pyrenees/Blue Heeler mix if that helps any.

Ah, that breed info helps a lot. Its going to be hard to get her to see the cat as part of the pack. All you can do if just introduce them to each other in controlled circumstances often and persevere. You can train any dog to live with other animals and any cat to accept the presence of a dog, it just it takes a lot of time.

What you'll need is one of those cat-calming diffusers (your vet will probably be able to flog you one) and a strong person with a stronger leash and a room with furniture that the cat can hide under. Plug the diffuser in in the room you've chosen and after ten-twenty minutes introduce the cat. Give it half an hour to settle. Then bring the dog in, holding it securely by the leash. When the dog tries to go for the cat, firmly give it the command to "Leave!" and "Sit!" The cat will by this time hiding under the furniture.

If the dog calms on the command then reward it and sit with it in the room for half an hour before leaving. Eventually the aim is to have one person hold the dog, and another hold and stroke the cat (and have the two people switch places each time) If the dog does not respond to the command, immediately leave the room and give the cat a treat. In both instances leave the cat in the room for up to an hour after the dog has left. Repeat the process until the dog no longer strains for the cat, and the cat no longer fears and runs from the dog. This may take several weeks, if not months.

The problem is that the dog is just not associating the cat as part of the family and is seeing it as a threat or prey animal it needs to keep off. In short, it thinks it is defending you. The dog is just following its genes, and once you can get the cat associated with being family, it will just as fiercely defend it as you.

Abby isn't strong at all so it won't be hard to control her. I am going to see about keeping her for a couple of days. And try to introduce them.

Even the most calm, chilled out dog will want to chase a moving target. Unfortunately, this includes cats.

Did you happen to notice how the dog's ears were tilted? Were they back toward the back of the head or pricked straight forward? Was there tail wagging, or no wagging?

I could tell you a lot about what to expect and whether or not it would be safe to introduce them if I knew more of the behavioural cues that were happening during this scene.

Did you happen to notice how the dog's ears were tilted? Were they back toward the back of the head or pricked straight forward? Was there tail wagging, or no wagging?

This. The dog might just have been over-eagerly trying to play with the cat.

I can't recall her boy language. I THINK her ears were forward. Not sure about her tail though. She chased him around a coffee table and was grabbed by my sis's boyfriend who was sitting on the couch.

The only thing I really remember was all the hair along her spine was sticking up.

Ears forward is a bad sign. What you're describing sounds to me like predatory behaviour which, again, is a totally normal canine response to a small, fleeing animal.

I would keep them separate for now, and when you introduce them again have a leash on the dog in case there's any need for restraint. I'm not saying it's a certainty that the dog might try to attack the cat, but just in case.

On reintroduction, have the dog lay down so that the cat is automatically in a taller position. Ideally, place the cat on the ground and let it go to the dog if it chooses to, not the other way around. If the cat isn't having it, don't force it. You might have to repeat this method of introduction three or four times for it to stick.

If the dog continues to display aggressive behaviour like this despite four or five separate introductions, then it's time to think about removing it from the environment.

Thank you for the advice! We will try introducing them again this weekend. :)

I hope it goes well!

Hm. I know my dogs aren't cat-safe - some greyhounds are, but they also are inclined to have a high prey drive and will run (with the intent to kill - they have attempted it) at any small moving animal that gives out prey signals.

Sounds like that's not Abby's problem, though, or at least not with cats in general? I agree with Herpy that more context is needed.

However - and I say this with a heavy disclaimer since I don't know much about cats, having never had one - I know that some cat owners confine their cats to one room or area of the house when introducing a new animal (cat or dog) to the house to get it used to the idea of sharing their "territory". There might be a lot of hostility across the barrier, but it tends to die down eventually. My aunt did this with her one cat, who she's had for probably at least a decade, and her dog, who she adopted a couple of years ago. There was a lot of hostility at first, but they got over it and now they get alone fine (even though that usually just means ignoring each other).

By the way, Abby and Old Gregg are both gorgeous! Thanks for sharing that gif!

It took them a while to get used to Kraken. It has been three years and our female cat STILL won't go near Kraken. Our boy cat loves on him sometimes though.

Who is Kraken? Another dog? ("Kraken" is an awesome name.)

Yeah. Kraken is my sister's dog.

Our dog doesn't see our cat as a cat. They play with each other and get along great. The stray cat that shows up in the backyard? Drives the dog insane. He barks his head off and if we let him, he'd chase it all over.

My point is that animals that live together can learn to get along but when a strange one is introduced, that's completely different.

It also matters how they are introduced to each other. Most dogs inherently see cats as prey and will want to chase them. I'm not an expert, but if you can get them used to each other as equals, I think it would go better. Maybe have your sister bring over the dog when she can be there with her.

Yeah, I think we are gonna take her for a couple days and just monitor her all the time.

When we got our kitten, Spot, his place in the house was the laundry room. He spent his first couple weeks in there, getting accustomed to the smell of the people and his dog. We put their bowls on either side of the door, so when they ate they could smell each other. After the first few days, we propped the door open maybe half and inch, so they could smell each other more, and see each other if they tried really hard. Then an inch a few days later, and finally about three inches -- big enough that they could see each other without having to look around, but small enough that Spot couldn't get through.

Each step of the way, one of us would sit with each animal, letting them eat but being there in case they got stressed out. When they demonstrated at least two straight days of easy going feeding, we moved on to the next step.

When we brought Spot out for the first time, we held him and put him where he and the dog, Jazz, could touch noses if they wanted and get used to each other. Then we let Jazz into the laundry room to sniff around while Spot roamed the first part of the house, and they got more and more used to each other.

Granted, this is for one's own pets, when they're going to be living together, and you have a room you can dedicate to something like this. You've gotten some really good advice so far; this is one more thing you can look at trying. I would recommend picking the one that will be easiest and make the most sense for your situation and stick with that alone. It might confuse things to try one thing and wind up switching in the middle. Also, We were told you put the new animal in the one room, vs. necessarily the cat -- you don't want to make them upset by taking away their territory, along with everything else!

Essentially, what you're going for is introducing them in a setting that is calm and controlled, so they can feel the adrenaline rush (since that's their first association with one another) and move past it. You may still see that initial "Run! Chase!" reaction because that was their first interaction. But you can eventually train them out of it. Their dispositions will dictate how long and how much effort you need to put toward it.

Good luck!

Most of the advice given here is good.

The very short, very TLDR version of what you need to know is this - it's ok if all your animals don't have the full run of the house. You can't just introduce them all and expect them all to get along with each other immediately, but it is possible that they can learn to tolerate each other's presences. Hell, quite often animals of the same species hate each others guts when they first meet, and introductions have to be handled slowly and with care.

https://www.petfinder.com/cats/bringing-a-cat-home/cat-to-cat-introductions/

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/how-to-introduce-a-second-cat/

These two are specifically for cats but is a good idea to understand that in introductions, you can never take things too slowly. Cats don't suffer or hurt from being kept in a particular room for a few days, and it might help to let Abby get used to the smell and presence of cats being around and for the cats to get used to Abby's presence in stages. Notice that in both cases, introductions don't happen full on but rather in controlled environments - first via smell / sound, then in a room with people watching and holding onto animals, and moving up from there. Going back to basics might - at the very least - give you and your pets some space of their own and peace of mind as opposed to having to constantly break up fights.

Cat training your dog can be a huge pain if they haven't been socialized to them when young. It's totally doable, though. To be honest, a lot of the issues are due to cats and dogs having totally different body language and both of them not really reading each other quite right. Plus, the chase / herd instinct can be very difficult to avoid, but if you know it's there, you can redirect or train the dog to realize that leaving the cat alone results in a bigger reward. Note that the point of training here is not to punish the dog for going after the cat, but rather to give it incentives to leave cats alone.

https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-problems/dog-chases-cat/ Petfinder has a decent explanation. In any case, controlling the environment / doing it in stages is key. If you can get the dog to sit / stay at your command first, and then slowly introduce cats around and continue to get that reaction, that would probably help. Specific details of what works to train your dog depends on what your dog likes - the short of it is, find something that your dog actually CAN chase or wants to chase or enjoys playing with or loves to eat, and then first train them to go after that, then distract / redirect or reward them with that whenever they leave the cat alone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAOe1djDyc Kikopup has a really good 'leave it' video that goes through the basics - though you're working with a cat rather than with food, the principle is the same; you want to make sure your dog gets that if it leaves the thing it likes alone, it gets things it likes more. With time and consistency you can have animals that get along, but you (and other people in your home) will need to guide and oversee this process.

Thank you for the links! Fortunately, during most of the work day the dogs are kept in one the bedrooms but let out for an hour or so during lunch. So confining them will be no problem.

That's good! If the lunch period can be used for supervised interaction, that might help with getting Abby slowly accustomed to having cats around. As a dog all she knows is that there's a small thing and she wouldn't automatically get that she isn't supposed to chase it, but introducing the cat to her in stages (maybe using a cat carrier first) might help her be more accustomed to having it around and less likely to immediately go after it, or see it as something to go after.

I'm a bit late now, but I wanted to say that my experience with dog training says that positive reinforcement works best. I agree with the others who said that you want to reward Abby when she reacts the way you want her to around the cats. You should probably keep her on the leash while she's around them until she gets used to them. You can distract her with other commands you want to teach her or toys or petting her while keeping an eye on her and it might help to just let her get used to the cats being in the same room.

The dog trainer I worked with was big on heaping lots of praise on the dog every time you catch it doing something that you want to encourage. For you, that's being nice to the cats, so any time she isn't tense and trying to chase them, you can tell her she's being good.

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[ SECRET POST #2806 ]

Need advice from some dog people

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Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people

Re: Need advice from some dog people