Please help!! Dog Problem

M

Morrigan_Lady

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Hi All, Ive posted this in the Dog Forum aswell, but thought I may get more response in here.....

Help! I picked up a Scottish Terrier on Saturday and bought him home for a trial. Ive got two cats by the way!
As soon as he came through the dog he wanted to chase the cats and barked at them. Needless to say the cats legged it.
I was up ALL night Sat worrying about them. They did come back eventually Sunday while me and Buster (dog!) were out.
He's very obediant (sp?) and understands a firm no.
But ANY advise on training tips would be great. Im worried I wont be able to keep him coz he just wants to chase the cats and my cats are my babies and they are pertrified and are currently firmly wedged behine the sofa and Buster is in the Kitchen while Im at work. He is showing progess though, coz thismorming he jumped up on the sofa looking for the cats and I said NO, DOWN and he responded and jumped down. So I think he will get there, what do you think??????
 

Yes and they said he chases cats, but he was always on the lead so dont know what he'd do. I dont think he would harm them, he just young and wants to play. I think with time he will be ok as he is very obediant and does do as he's told......Most of the time!!
 
I have two puppies - and six cats - and the puppies want to chase the cats. I have to lock the puppies into the living room and that cats are living in the rest of the house. Only the youngest cat - who is the same age as the puppies is ok with the dogs.

The cats haven't gone wild - they just don't like the dogs. They will come in but when the puppies chase them they just run away - I keep shouting at them to smack the puppies hard as that is all it would take - unfortunately they don't speak English!!!!! (only miaow).

Only one of the cats, one who is pregnant, will stand up for herself - she does turn and smack them - and they are very nervous around her.

I think it will take months if not years for the cats to accept the dogs - probably when the dogs calm down a little - if that ever happens. Fortunately, I have enough rooms in the house to keep them separated and having six cats - they have always been quite independent.

If you can't keep them separate I think you might have a battle on your hands I am afraid.
 
We got two puppies when we had a cat, the cat just walked out of the house and went to live next door
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so you might find your cats leave home
 
Im not convinced that you have picked the right type of dog Im afarid as terriers are instinctive to hunt and the cats will be ideal for this.

We have lots of diverse animals living together but our dog is a collie and tries nothing worse than to stalk them or round them up.

If the animals are young enough they may get used to each other but otherwise you are probably in for a difficult time.
Good Luck x
 
When we first got our dog we put a stair gate at the bottom of the stairs and the cat lived upstairs, dog downstairs. It worked pretty well as the cat is not scared of dog now and will sit on the stairs waving a paw if the dog tries to get past
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dog is terrified and won't come past her! We have to be a bit carfeul as the dog will still chase the cat if she runs off. I think it depends on your cats personalities - some are just so scared they will always run off. I think it's worth persevering, but I would think you'll always have to keep them separate to some degree.
 
when i was a kid we got a dog from a rescue home and our cat had to be locked away to protect the dog, he was yowling at the door for days threatening the dog!
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We have recently got a cat from cats protection and I have a dog and a puppy. the puppy was 6 months old when we got Bob the cat. At first Bob was wary of them and hid, the puppy chased him from day one. But now Bob knows both the dog and the puppy and he ignores them. Yes they chase him and he runs, but he knows where he can get to to get out of the way. They now have a friendly truce and no one has ever been injured.

I have also introduced two lurchers into a house which only had cats, and cats which had never had dogs around, and I had been told that one chased cats. She did the very first day, I shouted Leave loudly and managed to hit her as she leapt after it . She stopped and grovelled. A few more like that and she knew leave meant just that and she was not to chase the cats. both dogs lived in close company with the four cats.

You need to establish the ground rules now and stick to them. The dog must learn that No means no. He will son learn that your cats are not for chasing. mind you another cat in the garden just might be!

Mine never gave up chasing other cats that appeared but mine were allowed to roam wherever they wanted
 
Oh this soooo brings back memories of my two siamese being introduced to my OH's westie, an arrogant little sod who wasn't all that bright and persistently tried to chase them!

Mine are house cats but have access to an outdoor run and also we put kiddy stairgates on the bottom of the stairs so they had somewhere to go and hide, where the dog couldn't follow.

We tried what the vet suggested ie sitting down with them in the same room, giving both lots of treats and making a big fuss of them, group hugs and all that b*****s etc etc and it was a complete waste of time.

I'm afraid after a couple of weeks of him making their lives a misery we resorted to the 'magazine technique' as recommended by a professional dog handler.

This involved a rolled up magazine across the end of his nose or across his backside whenever he showed an interest or looked like he was getting up to chase them, coupled with a very loud NOOOO! He would also get put in the garden thereby being 'excluded from the pack' the one thing any dog can't stand.

I know this all sounds really cruel but terriers are notoriously determined little buggers who think they know best.

I have to say it worked a treat and he learned to politely sniff them in passing, eventually the cats learned they had the upper hand and would pinch his food/bed with him sitting obediently watching sometimes. He would still chase cats on walks but never messed with mine again.

I think your terrier just needs to learn his place in the pack, somewhere nearer the bottom. Shut the cats in for a few days or they will just run off rather than confront him and it will take longer to sort out.
 
We have 2 Westies and got 2 kittens, I thought we would be forever closing doors to keep them apart as the dogs wanted to chase and the cats were terrified.
We have 1 room which belongs to the cats and have a childs gate accross the door so the cats can go in and out and have somewhere they feel safe and the dogs can't get in.
It only took a few weeks and everyone settled down and decided they were members of the same pack, now our sofa is usually covered in a mixed pile of sleeping dogs and cats, and when the dogs come home from an outing the cats run up to greet them when they get out of the car !
 

Thank you VERY much everyone. Some brilliant advise there.
Defo gonna try the magazine one. I have to say though, I do feel Im getting some where as when he was looking for cats earlier, I said NO very loudly and he came to me.
He still barks at the horses, but its early days yet and Im confident we'll get there.
x
 
Try squirting him with water on the nose when he goes near them. Or you can try my cats technique she used on our cocker spaniel when she was a puppy, my cat absolutly wolloped her on the neck with claws extended as far out as they could. puppy then ran away squealing with a big scratch on her neck. Nowshe stys a respectful distance from my cat and won't even pass her on the stairs without crying!
 
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