How I can stop my dog from chasing the cats?
We've had Watson over a week now, and neither of our two cats (see the album for photos) are adjusting. It's like they want to get to know him, but as soon as Watson stands up and the cat sees just how big he is, the cat runs off and Watson chases after him. I was expecting the adjustment period to take 3-4 weeks, but we've not shown any improvement after 10 days - is there anything I can do to make the adjustment smoother? I do have a bottle of FeliFriend, would that help the cats adjust? |
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| When Maggie arrived, she also wanted to chase my cat Miles. It still happens from time to time but I did a number of things that helped improve the relationship:
1. Gave maggie treats whenever Miles was approaching or leaving so Maggie would focus on me instead of Miles. 2. Kept maggie on leash inside the house so I could physically prevent her from chasing miles -- I would make her do a down and then commend and pet her; 3. Keep maggie behind a gated area so miles doesn't have to interact Maggie if he doesn't want to. Miles can come and go as he wants. 4. Feed and pet Miles first so Maggie knows he is part of the pack and superior to her. 5. Put Maggie in her crate for a time out if she chases the cat and fails to heed my Stop command. It is working pretty well. Now when Maggie sees Miles, she often looks to me first for petting and treats. She tries to sniff and lick him, which Miles thinks is annoying but he can handle on his own. . . Ten days is not long. I think a few months is pretty normal. . . Good luck! |
| We've had Barney for almost a year and he still chases the cats. Not as bad as it used to be, but if the cat runs, then he'll usually chase after. It used to be that if the dog saw the cats, he'd chase. Then, it was only when the cat ran away. One cat still runs, and consequently still gets chased. The other cat is fine when he just walks around or stays still.
I'm sure it'll get better--they are just getting to know each other...either the cats will learn, or they will all learn to like each other and just hand out. |
Ben will chase when Stormie runs......that is it...although Stormie is the loner in the family  so, Ben hasn't been able to establish a realtionship with her!
For the most part he leaves Samson alone, Sam is the social kitty  ...the only time that Ben really fusses with Sam is when we first get home after work.......Sam is outside during the day so when he comes in Ben runs to him and drentches him, he also engulfs the poor cats head in his mouth! 
Ben has never hurt the cats, but he sure does annoy them! This is NOW! When I first brought Ben home he was so bad that one of our other cats left home....REALLY! I thought he was dead and a few months later I got a call from a woman in the next neighborhood over saying "I have Sebastian here with me, he has been hanging with my cats for a about a month....I didn't call sooner because he has just now allowed me to approach him......." so, I went straight over and picked up my baby! I was so happy that he was alive and okay! He was at home for just a few hours when he decided to leave again.....  ........the same woman called me the next day and said she had him again.......so, he is now living with her and her cats and very happy to be "Ben Free"....... |
| Daisy loves Mork (cat) but will chase him anytime Mork decides to run. Mork also loves Daisy and will lay down beside her to sleep, so I figure he knows that if he runs, he will be chased, so he is instigating the game. |
| Hi,
It's only been a week...give it time they eventually get used to each other. Dogs instinctively run after things that ...well run too...soon as the cats get used to your new boy and stop running..so will he. May take months for everyone to get used to each other. After aprox 30 animals of all shapes, ages, and sizes that have had to eventually become accustomed to each other , I'm used to it. (Fostered and rescued many canines and felines over the years.) If a new cat doesn't run , neither will the dogs. With some, it took a bit longer. As all my dogs also have canine brothers..they chase them too when they run. Most dogs see it as play...kitties aren't as impressed with this behavior. The key to help the kitties is baby gates. I rave about them as the pup can't scale them yet and the cats have a safe haven away from that "annoying new thing in the house". Not that your boy is annoying but how the kitties probably view him at the moment. To help my previous aged cats I broke out a small piece at the bottom of the baby gate as they weren't as agile as their other feline buddies but could slip through it quickly but even as tykes the sheepies were too big to get through. Good luck! Marianne and the boys also have 4 cats, 1 rabbit and guinea pig in the household and it's peaceable! |
| Thanks to everyone for the replies - We've made some progress today, both May and Hugo walked past Watson and he didn't bat an eyelid (although the cats were both very wary of him.
May was even being brave enough to stick her head into his food bowl to see what was inside. Watson has spent most of the afternoon dozing behind my chair where Hugo has been sleeping, with only a little hissing from Hugo whenever Watson stood up. Baby gates may be the way to go - our bedroom is at the end of a hallway, and if we put a baby gate across the hallway, both cats will have somewhere familiar to escape to, with Watson not being able to follow. I know this is going to take time, I just want to make it as easy as possible. |
| Hi Steven,
Glad myself and others could help. I too have my bedroom at the end of the hall and the cats found their sanctuary there for almost a year. Until one day Merlin easily sailed over the gate..but by then they were all pals. Now...about feeding the cats..... no worries about the cats eating the dogs food as it is vice versa. As your boy grows he's going to just think their food is so much better than his!! I feed my kitties behind a closed door in one of the spare rooms only because Merlin would scarf it all down before they had a chance to eat. He lives for food! As do all my three dogs. I recently pet sat for a friend and was amazed at their ingenious method. They have two dogs and two cats. They had a friend make what resembled a cat door inside their home for feeding the cats. If I can explain this correctly, it was placed at the side of the stairs in their home. That way the cats had access to their food through this little door (the stair railing on one side prevented the dogs from gaining access, the wall was on the other). The front panel was wood with an opening only big enough for a cat to go through. The panel could easily be lifted up to refil the food dishes and for cleaning. Anyhow I thought it was a great idea! Marianne and the boys |
Marianne wrote: Now...about feeding the cats..... no worries about the cats eating the dogs food as it is vice versa. As your boy grows he's going to just think their food is so much better than his!! I feed my kitties behind a closed door in one of the spare rooms only because Merlin would scarf it all down before they had a chance to eat. He lives for food! As do all my three dogs.
We've already solved (for now) Watson's craving for cat food. Our entryway is separated from our living room by a half-height wall - about 3' (1m) high - making it just out of Watson's reach, while being still easily climbable for our oldest cat. Their food and water is on there for now, safe from Watson's bottomless pit of a stomach. |
| We've had Watson for over three weeks now and if anything, things are getting worse.
This evening he started to chase at Hugo because Hugo walked quickly around Watson's dog bed - no lingering sniffs, not even walking on the bed, but walking quickly around it to get to the other side of the room. Watson's also managed to corner Hugo by the fireplace and in the kitchen by the fridge in the past few days. Yesterday, Watson lunged at May because she was dozing on the arm of sofa, eyes closed and snoring. I really don't want to turn him back over to rescue - he's a wonderful dog, wanting to be everyone's friend and sticking to me like glue (so much so that I've almost fallen over him a few times as he follows me around the house). However the cats have had no peace since he arrived, they've not had chance to play with any of their cat toys. We're now thinking that a puppy may have been a better choice - having something small that the cats feel comfortable around and get used to slowly, rather than suddenly having a 100-pound adult running around the house. |
| Steven, I'm sorry you're having this problem. I know it can be very frustrating when you want everyone to get along. What I've found that works for me is to give my cats their own room. That way, they have a place to which they can retreat when the wigglebums are inside. All their toys, cat condos, litterbox, food, water, etc are in there, too. So, if they want, they can stay in there all day long. If they choose to come out & socialize while the wigglebums are inside, they can do. But, it's up to them. Of course, when the wigglebums are outside playing in the yard, the cats have full run of the house. It seems to work itself out. Sometimes they socialize, sometimes they don't - depends on their mood. Beau & Gen will chase them sometimes, but only if the cats choose to run. If not, they lose interest quickly and just settle down.
I hope you can find a way to make peace in your house. It does take time. |
| That sounds hard. Poor kitties. How old are the kitties? What kinds of things have you been doing to address it? Has anything helped? |
| I agree with Tammy. We make the downstairs the dog zone and upstairs is for the cats. Also, we have a baby gate separating the kitchen and the rest of the house where we can put Barney when he needs a time out.
We have had Barney for nearly a year. He was 6 months old when we got him (so already large--maybe 50 something pounds). The 2 cats were adults, but obviously much smaller! Things have improved slowly but surely. Instead of Barney ALWAYS chasing the cats, he just does it most of the time, now usually if they are walking within a few feet of him, are running, or are walking a quick pace! While it isn't the ideal love-fest I was hoping for (cats and dogs cuddling together by the fire), I don't feel like anyone is unduly upset. The cats can escape to the upstairs or the back of the couch or the top of the fridge while downstairs. One cat likes to tease the dog, so they have a rough housing relationship, and the other cat mostly sits on the stairs watching while the dog is out and about. She's been better in the last few weeks about exploring the downstairs while Barney is asleep or busy with something else. I would recommend just waiting it out...please try to keep this dog. I know how frustrating it is to constantly have the dog/cat battle going on, but to me it isn't worth getting rid of the dog... |
| It's not really practical to give the cats their own room - our house is small (1214 sqft), and is 'T' shaped - the living room, dining room, entry way and kitchen at the top of the 'T', the bedrooms and bathrooms are off a hallway. The cats would have to be shut in one of the bedrooms, where their only view would be the house next door. They like to sit in the big living room window and watch the world go by, or to doze in front of the heat vents, or lie in the sunbeams that stream through our south-facing patio doors - they'd not be able to do any of that if they were in one of the west-facing bedrooms. The cats are also very social (which we've always encouraged), have had the run of the house in the past, and love to greet anyone who comes into the house, but so does Watson, and I don't think it's fair to the cats to keep them shut away just because we have a new arrival - I understand there may be some changes to their routine, but shutting them away just isn't cricket.
Having the dog outside isn't an option either - our yard is currently unfenced until we can complete landscaping later this year, and one of our neighbours has a goldendoodle that tries to be alpha whenever they're both outside leading to much barking and growling and nipping. I work from home, so I can take Watson out whenever he wants to (he's walked three times a day), but I can't leave him loose outside. We've looked at baby gates, but the only practical place to put them is along the hallway leading to the bedrooms (thus keeping the cats in the bedroom again), however the hallway is long enough that Watson could easily get up enough momentum to go right through them (the ones we've seen are pretty flimsy) or simply jump right over them (I've seen him jump waist-high on occasion when really excited). Finding a crate for such a big dog hasn't proved to be easy either - most of the people around here are military (there are four big navy bases less than 20 minutes away), who mostly live in apartments that don't allow big dogs so the local pet stores just don't stock many products for big dogs as there's no demand. I'd either have to order a crate online (without seeing it first), or drive 2+ hours to Seattle to pick one up. I'm not expecting peace, harmony and cuddles by the fire after just a few weeks, but I do not expect Watson to lunge at a cat that's in my arms (which just happened a few minutes ago), nor do I expect him to start after a cat just because she's sat on the bed or the sofa arm (Watson's not allowed on either, so maybe it's jealousy). The cats are 9 (May), 3 (Hugo) and Watson will be 8 next month. We have made some progress - the cat's dry food is back on the kitchen floor by Watson's food and water bowls and most of the time they feel comfortable enough to wander in there to eat. They've even taken to drinking out of his water bowl (when the water level is high enough for them to reach). Their wet food is still given to them on a ledge away from Watson so he can't eat it. The cats are fed first to try and show him that they are the pack leaders, but because their wet food is given to them above his eye level he may not be able to see that clearly. I really don't want to keep him on a leash inside the house as I'm trying to associate the leash with being outside and going for walks (something he's not really used to), but even with my hand holding his collar, he still tries to chase them (as happened with May on the sofa the other day). I do not want to have to take Watson back as for the most part he is a wonderful dog, I just worry that one day I'm going to check the mail and come back to find that Watson's managed to corner a cat, the cat has fought back, Watson's retaliated and has seriously hurt one of them. |
| I hear you re not keeping the cat excluded. I was able to arrange my baby gate in a way that the kitty can still get in the room but it keeps the dogs from getting out. I also agree lunging at a kitty in your arms is no good. The leash worked great with Maggie (I still use it sometimes) and it does not interfere in any way with her enthusiasm for going out with the leash. You could get a second leash if you are afraid of a negative association but Maggie certainly hasn't had any. . .
From your message, I am not sure what strategies you have been trying with Watson to correct / redirect his behavior. Maybe if you could explain what you've been trying and what the results have been, someone might be able to help. . . I really wish you all the best (especially the kitties). |
| We've tried to distract his attention from the cats whenever they come around with treats - but just handing them out to him made him come around for more whenever he felt like it, as if he didn't associate ignoring the cats with the treats. We tried putting treats into the largest Kong we could find to give him something else to turn his attention to but he gets bored of it quickly when he doesn't get to the treats quickly - he's not figured out that he's supposed to tip it on it's end for them to fall out, and if I put it on it's end for him to knock over it seems to defeat the point as the treats just fall out. Perhaps the liver Stuff'N or peanut butter inside the Kong may work better. We also have yet to find a soft toy he can be distracted with as he's shown no interest in the soft, fluffy or squeaky toys we've purchased for him (which is frustrating, and getting expensive).
Sending him to his bed or to a corner of a room for a timeout and ignoring him when he's chased the cats doesn't help either - while he understands 'sit' and 'down', we've not quite managed 'stay', so after a while he'll just get up and want to join back in again. A local dog trainer is offering 6-week obedience classes to help correct this, but the class schedule clashed with my vacation in March, so we won't be able to go until April. Hugo is an extremely talkative cat, his meows can be heard from the other side of the house and it intrigues Watson no end. The cats also love to chase each other around and Watson wants to join in, but I'm afraid they'd get trampled underfoot. |
| I think we had a breakthrough today... Watson came up on Hugo by surprise, and Hugo started fluffing up his tail (and he's a domestic medium hair, so that's a *big* tail) and arching his back and hissing.
Watson was first to back down. |
| woo hoo!! go hugo!! Get HUGE! |
| see, it'll happen eventually...the hierarchy... |
| I wish Watson's progress could have been better, but it appears to be getting worse - he's now jumping up on the sofa to get at the cats and trying to nip at them, even while I'm holding onto his collar.
He's being turned back over to the rescue group that I got him from today - the good news is that they've already had more than one family inquire about him, so he'll have a new home within days. We've not given up on OES's though, we're still looking for the right one to join our family. |
| Sorry to hear that things didn't work out for Watson. If you are still considering an OES you might want to adopt an older one, 6+ which is usually the age they start to mellow out a little. |
| Watson was an older OES, he will turn 8 next month. |
| I got a sweet (jekyll & hyde!) dog 3 weeks ago, that is ok with my kitties in the house, sniffing nose to nose even, but outside, she goes after them as if she wants to have them for lunch! They have become really nervous and have not been coming in the house. I have tried everything and finally I keep the door to one room closed with the window open so the cats can come and go when they want. I would really like to understand why she totally changes when she is outside and what I can do to help the cats as they have been with me a lot longer and I know they don't understand why, all of a sudden they cannot come and go as they used to! I read the other messages and they gave me some comfort, but I feel so bad for the cats having been used to my old dog that never bothered them, and now it is mayhem for them. p.s I think my older cat has left home as I have not seen him for a couple of days![/center] |
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