# chasing and barking at cat



## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Jake will be 16 weeks old and I have a 3 year old cat that stays indoors.

In my home I put up a metal swing baby gate in my home office so Maggie (cat) has a place for her food/water and a place to get peace....

Anytime Jake sees her he chases her....it's awful, and worse is when I am in the office and he is on the other side of gate and see Maggie in the same room as me he gets mad, barks and tries to get in by biting the gate. If that doesn't work he proceeds to try to pull sofa pillows off...knowing that's a no. I get up ask him to leave it, or say NO he then barks at me and bites me or the closest thing near him. This behavior is mostly when the cat is near me. 

Is this something he will grow out of? Will he ever decide to NOT try to chase the cat and NOT have this bratty jealousy? When he is crated and Maggie walks through the room he watches her but rarely barks. If Maggie is near me he changes.

How do I quell this jealous bratty behavior? Not to mention the poor Maggie only moves about the house when he is crated...

Help!


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

bump....


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## florina (May 27, 2010)

hi, 

sorry I can help; I'm in the same trouble...I do not think that is a matter of growing up will change. 
Mine is only 5 months old, the cats are up stares and he is in the living room, they do'nt see eache other much...the third world war is near...
When I walk him...a cat around is 1 cm more for my left hand, see the picture?


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## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

I had the same problem, my cats are 14 and don't really enjoy the puppy chasing them anymore. I kept a leash on Molly when she was inside and if she went to go after them I could grab the leash and say Leave it at the same time. She is 7 months old now and is not brilliant but much better.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

How does your cat deal with the puppy? 

I have to say that personally I cannot offer much hope. We had 2 cats when we had our WGSD. We rescued her as an adult and it didn't take much for her to accept the cats as off limits...but she was a pretty mellow old girl with limited prey drive. The cats didn't love her and were cautious around her when she was up and moving but they would be in the same space as her when she was laying down.

When we got Argos, he had been raised around barn cats who were pretty dog savvy. My cats were not. They would see the puppy coming and run and growl. They would bat him in the face with their declawed feet...which was ineffective to say the least. The running and the fun noises made the cat the BEST thing ever. He would watch them intently from his crate and we did a lot fo discouraging and obedience with Argos...but we had a house divided. The cats lived upstairs and would not venture down to the realm of the puppy. The puppy grew into a dog that became more frenzied about trying to get those elusive cats (Frustration builds drive!) and he had a hard time settling down in the house because he was on the constant hunt. If he managed to find one I could issue commands like Platz and he would listen...but his feet were digging into the carpet with the effort of his restraint. So after about a year and a half of trying to get along...

the cats are living the good life with some really nice cat folks who were friends of my neighbors who have a house on a wildlife preserve with lots of bords to watch and no dogs to terrorize them. They also go RVing across the country with them as well...I get pictures and they're happier now.

Probably not the encouraging story you were looking for...But it's what we ended up having to do.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Hondo has a very high prey drive when it comes to the cats. However, my cats are outside (barn) cats and were feral when we got them. They'll come up to the house and sometimes rub on your legs, but they aren't the cuddle and kiss on the nose type of cats. 

Hondo goes bonkers over cats, every time. He is 9 months old now - and we are working on this issue. We are at the stage now if I can catch him before he explodes I can control him. I'll take that as an accomplishment. It's all about baby steps. 

I wonder if you found something that would help him focus his prey drive on - and provide it to him when he kicks into high gear. Like a particular fun toy - a tug - or squeaky thing. Something you can throw to him when you can see he is about to zone out on the cat. I would think it would be all about timing, set it up and control the situation. 

Good luck!


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

All my dogs except one has been fine with my cats.

I also have a room blocked off with a baby gate , litter boxes are in there, to keep the dogs out mostly.

The 'one' dog I had big problems with, was my male aussie. I rescued him at 12 weeks of age, he was fine with them the first couple of days, (settling in I presume) and then turned into cujo on the cats.

My cats are pretty dog savvy but he was way over the top on them. Actually acting like he wanted to kill them, he'd pin them to the floor and 'go off' on them..Verbals would not work, I had to stay on top of him 24/7 , after a couple of times of going off on the cat(s) and then having one pinned,,I knew I had to get physical with him or he was going to end up killing one of them.

Now, I don't particularly get physical with my dogs unless its a serious infraction, and well this was,,either he'd be able to cohabitate with the cats or he was gone, cats were here first So I grabbed him by the back of the neck, and got in his face big time. Did it 'twice' and he's never bothered them again. In fact since then I've brought in 3 more cats, and he's fine with them.

Outside, a totally different scenerio but my cats are inside and they don't really have access to any outside stray cats.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I have 2 cats. Spitz, male, is 17, got him from a friend and was a friendly kitten. Misty is female is about 10. She was ferrel and adopted from rescue as a tiny wild baby. All she did was spit & hiss at me and she was only a tiny kitten. Both cats have grown up with several dogs. We call Spitz the little black dog. Lakoda is the 5th puppy for Spitz, 3rd puppy for Misty. Anyway Spitz doesn't run from the puppy, he has stood his ground and tolerates the head bitting and all the other abuse from Lakoda (she's 4 months now). Misty on the other hand runs. She has never allowed the pup to get close enough to nose her without wacking her. She wouldn't come in the house for days unless the pup was no where in sight. I have tried a lot of different things to get the 2 of them "closer". From holding the pup and rewarding the calm state (can't hold the cat, she'd scratch your eyes out), shaking a can of coins. As long as she doesn't run, Lakoda is fine but as soon as Misty runs, the chase is on. So for us I think time will make it better, but since I already see how Lakoda's prey drive is, it's always going to be an issue.
Last night I took the puppy out in the backyard without the other dogs just to go potty, all the way in the back by my barn there sits Misty. Well Lakoda doesn't like to go in the back, unfortunatly she got zapped by the wire on the horse fence a while ago. Misty was sitting right under the wire. Lakoda got all brave and bouncy, ran almost right up to her, I told her don't let that mean kitty trick you! Well Lakoda sure isn't stupid, remembers she got zapped I have to assume, and she didn't pursue, went potty and forgot all about the kitty, at least for the moment.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Well my Maggie is declawed so slapping Jake in the face doesn't work. The cat comes out and walks around and even runs around playing when Jake is crated, she has learned the sound of crate door locking as sign she may move about. Can I correct Jake "big time" at his age?


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I didn't correct mine big time as a puppy. I did have him where the cat was not so close. The distance was such that he was interested but not overcome with excitement. He was on a flat collar and leash. He would focus on the cat, I would back up saying "leave it". This pulled him away and as soon as he turned to me I praised and fed him treats. I did this a number of different occasions. Nothing too hard on the pup, but more to create the habit that when there was the kitty there would be orienting to me and getting goodies. He has a pretty good leave it of the cat now but not perfect. He wants to play with her and smoosch her all around. 

Now, this is all probably because my cat refuses to run. After all these years, she has figured it out and will not be chased. You will want to work at this were the cat is not running. Later on, when the dog is older and can take correction, I will correct more strongly for chasing. With the pup, I try to teach.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

That's the tough part, Maggie runs...for her life! And when he is crated she runs and jumps and plays...I just really thought that he would realize she isn't prey after seeing her over and over...but it's proving just the opposite. The bigger he gets, the more clumsy...he makes a so much noise trying t chase her on wood floors she always has time to an escape.
I was hoping they would be friends..but I can see from others that clearly that will never be the case.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

When they are older, they might be okay together. It can evolve over time. Each dog and cat are different in this. I would try to keep this from becoming an "ingrained" behavior where the drive kicks in as soon as the kitty is seen. Can you arrange any quiet time when both are tired?

My German Shepherds have all come to protect their cats. The dogs even know strange cats from their own.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I try to make it as positive as possible. 

Dog/puppy is tethered to me. 

I find their threshold for being near the cat - 10 feet? 5 feet? without reacting and step back from there. Reward their quiet sit and looking at me. NOT locking on to cat - back up from there. 

Phrase is nice to the kitty...

They need to learn what that means. 

Nice to the kitty is not staring down, pawing, nosing harshly, chasing of course! That I mark with a negative - eh, or walk the puppy away from the cat. I try to build it to the point where that won't happen but with Rocco...well...it's been quite an experience! 

So sitting quietly near, laying down near (and working from an outer distance to closer) looking at the kitty then looking at me, softly touching (they love to smell their butts of course), all of those things get rewarded with praise and great treats - kitty only treats. These are special treats that they only get near the cat by being nice to the kitty. 

This can backfire - I had a foster who when adopted would not leave the cats' side, waiting for her hot dog.  But better that than the other. 

When you have a more intense dog, it takes longer but you can see them trying to pull back and that's progress. With a puppy, it's very difficult for them to control themselves. 

So I do all that positive stuff, and also like the Leerburg cat - dog article as a balance. 

Good to kitty = wonderful treats and praise
Bad to kitty = verbal and being removed from the cat

Your mileage may vary!


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