Help! New dog wants to chase the cat.

m6agua · April 2016

So as you know we got the rescue dog a few weeks ago. He seems to learn pretty quick and we have obedience training starting on April 10 (6 classes) for the basics. The biggest problem is he is obsessed with the cat. Every time the cat is at the stairs he just stares at him. Today the cat came downstairs and the dog chased him once he woke up.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to teach our dog to ignore the cat? If we don't fix this issue DH will not want to keep the dog.

EmmieAnn22 · April 2016

Is he obsessed with the cat because he wants to hurt it or is he just curious?

My parents have a cat and our dogs spend quite a bit of time down there. Our beagle mix would bark at the cat and chase it around and just wouldn't leave it be. But it was because she was just super curious what the creature was. It took a while but they worked it out between them. Don't know how common that is. The cat learned to avoid the dog and the dog just isn't as curious about what the cat is up to.

Something I've learned with our dogs is you have to give hem something better to do then the bad behaviour. The most fun thing for your dog is getting the cat so you have to find what your dog likes better. For our dogs it's tennis balls. Good thing is you are going to obedience class and this is a common issue so I'm sure the instructor will have some better tips.

m6agua · April 2016

Thanks. I think it's because he is curious. He gets really excited when he sees people and other dogs too. So far with those he has learned to calm down pretty quickly.

kristah2 · April 2016

Often times it's just a matter of the dog getting it out of his system and them getting used to each other. If he's chasing because he's super curious he just wants to know and play with the cat. Once they get to know each other and more comfortable together it will stop. It's josh integration.

hollowway · April 2016

Could you try a controlled introduction? Let the dog meet the cat on a leash, in a neutral area. Know the signs of tension, impending aggression, etc in dogs... Any negative reaction, give a correction. Any positive reaction give praise.

comealongponds · April 2016

How does the cat feel about it? My cat loves to play chase with the dog....they'll spend hours tearing up and down the hall and stairs if I don't make them stop. Sometimes the dog starts it and sometimes it's the cat! They'll also snuggle together in bed and the cat will bathe the dog's face & ears.

Make sure your cat has a safe place to go with access to food, water and his litter, we baby gated our basement off so the cat can get down and be away from the dog if she irritates him too much. Offer high value treats (like cheese or bits of chicken) if the dog approaches the cat calmly. And doggy time out is super effective too - warn the dog once about bad behavior and if it continues, say "No!" and take him by the collar and put him in a room with the door shut for about five seconds (or until he stops barking/fussing). This worked great when the two of them were testing boundaries.

Eta words are hard

talkthewholetime · April 2016

Just make sure there are safe, dog free places for your cat to go (a baby gate that your cat can fit under but your dog can't works great). Eventually, it'll be old news to your dog, especially once the cat is more comfortable and come around more often. Always give kitty an escape route.

MrsBinPA · April 2016

Our boys like to chase the cat. We use "leave it" or "stay" if we see her come out and them get interested in stalking her.

Our cat pretends to be afraid but she instigates sometimes too so we know she isn't all that upset by them.

zrain · April 2016

Our dog used to chase our cat. She has a room in the basement to herself with a baby gate that has a cat sized door in the bottom so she could just run in there when she needed to. We put a cat tree and her litter boxes and a cat door to outside in there so it's a perfect little safe place for her. As far as correcting the behavior, your obedience trainer should have some good ideas. I hope you figure something out. It's so stressful when they don't get along!

m6agua · April 2016

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I hope time will make things better. Right now our cat has the whole upstairs to himself. He is a "scaredy" cat but more so with people. He seems really interested in the dog but just timid still.

@mamabear1323 a controlled interaction won't work unless we have our cat in a crate.

Want a personalized experience?

Help! New dog wants to chase the cat.

Re: Help! New dog wants to chase the cat.

Choose Another Board

Search Boards