alainax
Well-Known Member
Hello! I was hoping all you smart dog owners may be able to offer me some wisdom on my predicament!
Ill try and keep my post to the point. I want to knock this on the head immediately, so to not allow it to get any worse. We hoped she would mature and grow out of it, but I think we are going to have to do some real intervention here.
Cocker spaniel, 6 months, bitch. Hyper happy little dog. 2 indoor cats, 8 year old Korat, and 4 year old Havana- both slightly aloof/nervy with the Korat being the more confident.
I have had dogs and cat's all my life, and they just got along, there was no special training needed. Even with the English pointer, dalmatian etc, the cats just told them off. Now with the cocker I think I need some advice.
When we first got the pup, the Korat would tell her off when she got too close, a growl or a bop on the nose and the pup would back off. Great! The Havana just doesn't have it in her. She's a quiet wee timorous thing. As the pup got bigger she began ignoring the cats bops and growls. The cat can growl hiss and scratch all he likes, she will still run at him and try to play. The result is the cats just run.
The pup isn't allowed up the stairs but the cats are. So we put a puppy gate across. This stopped the pup getting upstairs, but the cats also have no incentive to come downstairs.
I thought it would be a good idea to allow the cats to have some space from her, but now I wonder if this was a bad idea. As it seems to have just split them up.
As for the puppies training, she is brilliant in all aspects, apart from this! She does the usual array of sit, stay, paw, lie down, drop - with her recall being perfect to date. Doesn't chase wildlife, comes back even if there are other dogs. Sits and waits at the road side etc.
Her diet is good, and she is exercised very well. She will chase even when totally knackered after a long day.
However, when she sees the cat's, she just goes into chase mode. Our current tactic has been to tell her "NO!" immediately as she put one paw into motion towards a cat, pick her up, and put her in her room. However it seems like she "Locks on" to them. The issue is also that they run. She doesn't seem to want to hurt them, more to play with them. Which they of course don't fancy!
I have thought that maybe I have been my own worst enemy here by giving the cats the safety of the upstairs, as they just run, pop over the gate, and that's the end of the chase. I thought maybe I have to force them to get used to each other, but safely. Possibly having her in the living room in her crate, bringing the cats down with us and all sitting. The puppy will go mental, the cats will get stressed - but would it if done regularly get them used to each other, or make it worse?
Another thought was to use her working breeding to train her to lie down even if she has spied something she wants to chase after. Would this work?
Please let me know what you would do, I'd love to hear some suggestions.
Thank you.
Ill try and keep my post to the point. I want to knock this on the head immediately, so to not allow it to get any worse. We hoped she would mature and grow out of it, but I think we are going to have to do some real intervention here.
Cocker spaniel, 6 months, bitch. Hyper happy little dog. 2 indoor cats, 8 year old Korat, and 4 year old Havana- both slightly aloof/nervy with the Korat being the more confident.
I have had dogs and cat's all my life, and they just got along, there was no special training needed. Even with the English pointer, dalmatian etc, the cats just told them off. Now with the cocker I think I need some advice.
When we first got the pup, the Korat would tell her off when she got too close, a growl or a bop on the nose and the pup would back off. Great! The Havana just doesn't have it in her. She's a quiet wee timorous thing. As the pup got bigger she began ignoring the cats bops and growls. The cat can growl hiss and scratch all he likes, she will still run at him and try to play. The result is the cats just run.
The pup isn't allowed up the stairs but the cats are. So we put a puppy gate across. This stopped the pup getting upstairs, but the cats also have no incentive to come downstairs.
I thought it would be a good idea to allow the cats to have some space from her, but now I wonder if this was a bad idea. As it seems to have just split them up.
As for the puppies training, she is brilliant in all aspects, apart from this! She does the usual array of sit, stay, paw, lie down, drop - with her recall being perfect to date. Doesn't chase wildlife, comes back even if there are other dogs. Sits and waits at the road side etc.
Her diet is good, and she is exercised very well. She will chase even when totally knackered after a long day.
However, when she sees the cat's, she just goes into chase mode. Our current tactic has been to tell her "NO!" immediately as she put one paw into motion towards a cat, pick her up, and put her in her room. However it seems like she "Locks on" to them. The issue is also that they run. She doesn't seem to want to hurt them, more to play with them. Which they of course don't fancy!
I have thought that maybe I have been my own worst enemy here by giving the cats the safety of the upstairs, as they just run, pop over the gate, and that's the end of the chase. I thought maybe I have to force them to get used to each other, but safely. Possibly having her in the living room in her crate, bringing the cats down with us and all sitting. The puppy will go mental, the cats will get stressed - but would it if done regularly get them used to each other, or make it worse?
Another thought was to use her working breeding to train her to lie down even if she has spied something she wants to chase after. Would this work?
Please let me know what you would do, I'd love to hear some suggestions.
Thank you.