We have a cat that’s around 5, and last year we got a puppy, who’s now about a year old. I was hoping they’d just learn to be around each other, but it hasn’t happened yet. Whenever the dog see the cat, he wants to run up and say hi. The cat of course interprets that as aggression and runs away, which I’m sure makes the dog think, “Fun! Chase!” So there’s this cycle built up where they just can’t even be within eyesight of each other without both of them taking off.
Any advice on how I can either get the cat to stop running away, or the dog to stop trying to chase the cat? The obvious solution would be to train the dog not to chase, but it always happens so fast, and often when I’m not in the same room, that it’s difficult to actually catch the dog in the behavior so I can train him to stop.
Put them both in crates and then have them face each other. They’ll have an opportunity to sniff/check each other out without any chance of chasing/running away. I’d start from a good 5-10 feet apart then slowly shorten the distance as they get more comfortable just being around each other.
:rolleyes: That’s a good suggestion for introducing two new animals, but these two have lived together for a year already. They’ve sniffed each other by now.
Some of the problem will naturally fade once the dog is out of that hyper-energetic OMGmustplay!!! phase of puppyhood. (What breed is the dog? You can ignore that previous sentence if you have, say, a Jack Russell.) But unfortunately, the only real solution is to teach your dog that it is Absolutely Unacceptable to chase the cat.
What you really want is for the cat to be confident enough to not run in the 1st place, and thus not setting off the natural canine chase instinct, but I’m not sure how you can accomplish that. It might happen, but if it does, it won’t be up to you.
My sis has the cat you need. I’ve seen Maggie stare down hungry coyotes and more than a few dogs have run yelping for the hills with a bloodied nose after they got a little too curious.
That’s funny, our 21-year-old, deaf, arthritic, AND declawed cat (who we had to put to sleep a couple weeks ago) had no problem hissing and swatting at the dog to where he learned to leave her alone. But the young and fully clawed cat just won’t stand up to the dog at all.
I think DCnDC might have the right idea. They may already know what the other smells like, but they do need to learn to be calm in each others’ presence.
I think it’s easier to introduce a cat to a dog than the other way around. We had a dog and got a kitten. The dog chased it once and it ran behind the refridgerator. The next time the dog barked and the kitten climbed on the back of the couch.
The dog couldn’t get it on the couch or behind the fridge. Kitty was then satisfied she didn’t have to fear the dog as she had places to go and the dog was like “Well this thing isn’t gonna be any fun to play with.”
They spent the next ten years ignoring each other.
Once the dog realizes the cat isn’t going to play with it, it’ll get better.
But then again, one poster here, I recall, said something about having belligerent bunny, that despite repeated attempts to teach it not to, would always wanna punch the cat.
Heck, some cats don’t get along with other cats, let alone dogs. I don’t expect dogs and cats to get along. They’re gonna do what comes naturally. Puppies want to play and many dogs are bred to chase. It seems futile (and a bit wrong) to try to train them to do something that’s against their nature.
As long as your cat has a safe place to hide from the dog, I’d spend the puppy training time on something else. They’ll get used to each other, eventually.
We brought a new puppy home a year ago, and had two old cats (the oldest has since died, at 18). The fat cat would run and Sadie would chase – fat cat lost a pound or two, but he needed it. The older cat would either smack the puppy or hold his ground, and Sadie quickly learned to ignore him.
I wouldn’t waste my time trying to change the situation, as long as there’s no injuries or stressful harassment. My dogs and cats don’t interact much, and my big dog doesn’t like the cats and keeps them out of his personal space if he thinks they are intruding. If he wasn’t in the picture the cats would probably be more friendly with the smaller dogs. There’s no way to force a friendship.
Ceasar the Dog Whisperer says the key is to let them both know that YOU’RE in charge. Once they get straight that they are both betas, and you’re the Alpha, harmony abounds.
Mu first instinct is to let the animals works things out themselves, but I don’t have expensive drapes. I’m also more used to cats that will not leave dogs alone (they are descended from exceptional hunters.)
However, lack of direct experience won’t stop me from offering a suggestion. Get a very tall cat condo that has several levels - plenty of dog free options for the cat. Absolutely exhaust the dog with a long walk and aggressive dominance play until the dog just wants to rest.
Then watch a nice peaceful movie in the room with the cat tree; sit on the floor with the dog in your lap.
Eventually, the cat will come around.
Or you and the dog will get plenty of exercise and your drapes will be saved.
I thought wild prides did have social structures with hierarchies, just different from cannines.
Lions are the only cooperatively hunting wild cats. All others are solitary hunters that form, at most, loose social associations. In particular, the idea of a dominant “alpha” who controls access to resources does not apply to domestic cats or any primarily solitary predator.
Do they ever get along? My two cats (4yo and 9yo) fight like they’re trying to kill each other . . . then the next minute they’re curled up together and grooming each other.
I once made the mistake of getting a puppy when I already had a cat. The puppy would steal all the cat’s food. At the first opportunity the cat sneaked outside and never came back.
I have 6 dogs and 4 cats. They all co-exist peacefully, mostly because I don’t allow the dogs to harass the cats. When the dogs don’t chase, the cats relax. They jump over the dogs, and walk around them and one desperately tries to suck up and make friends, but the dogs are pretty apathetic. One cat sometimes climbs inside my giant schnauzer’s crate and just looks at her like “this is my domain.” I just got two new dogs three weeks ago. They first tried to start something, but I yelled and the cats weren’t scared and didn’t do diddly. Finally they just stopped with the fun. It all starts with controlling the dogs.
Obedience train the dog so that when it starts a bad behavior (chasing the cat) you can stop it with a “NO!”. Eventually the cat may stop panicking and running away.
My dog isn’t excessively trained, she rarely comes back in the house the first time I call her, but she knows “no”. But mostly my cats trained her to leave them alone. My 60 pound pit mix is bullied by a bunch of cats. One of them actually likes her and plays with her and let’s the dog give her flea bites, but she also steals the dog’s bed and won’t share. The dog will sit patiently beside her bed until the cat moves or allows her to lay down with her. If the cat doesn’t want to share the dog gets bopped on the nose and leaves her alone.
I keep them on the leash, and then introduce them to a new human or animal with the leash relatively firm. I gradually increase my pulling force if the dog is getting too close. If the dog tries to jump, I time it so that I pull at the exact moment the dog tries to jump. Ideally, I want the dog to remain in a sitting position while a comfortable (1-2 feet) away from the person/animal (the other person/animal can initiate further contact by stretching or extending a hand.) At the same time, I associate a verbal command (“No Jumping!”) with the pulling so that later I can use the command without the pulling.
That would be step 1. The second step would be to get the dog into a calm, submissive state. If you aren’t sure how to do this, watch a few episodes of Caesar Milan’s TV show. Once the dog is able to relax, then I would bring the cat.
Caesar did an episode where he got a dog and a cat to stop chasing each other.
In my opinion it is easier to stop the dog chasing than the cat running … so I’d start with that.
I teach my dogs that when they are in the house they stay on their beds … initially with a young dog this requires a lead … so they are tied to the couch with their bed. This enables the cats to approach the dog and move around the house safely. Dog learns cats are boring. I do lots of reward training so “bed” is a very strong command for them (instant food reward!).
One of my current young dogs still needs to be tied up at night because she’s not 100% trustworthy. Unfortunately one set back chase and you’ve got to be even more vigilant for longer.
You can also buy collars that give a shock … I’d use this as a last resort … I’d prefer to use reward training.
If the dog is not safe around the cat, then I think you need to protect the weaker animal - the cat!
We had a similar situation. Our dog doesn’t do stairs. So the kitten was able to introduce herself to the dog on her own terms. Sitting one stair beyond his reach.
Eventually he decided we got him a pet. He’s wonderful, but he doesn’t clean her litterbox (stairs, and I don’t approve of the way a dog cleans a litterbox). They’ll play a little (he is large dog and she is a smallish cat), cuddle and groom each other, but mostly just take their separate naps. She is “alpha” in his world. In her world, she is a cat - which makes her the center of her own universe.
Anyway, good luck. We had two cats that spend five years living together and never got within seven feet of each other without injury.