Guest 2houndsmom Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 (edited) Help, I adopted a female Greyhound that I was told was cat safe but appears not to be in my home.I've had 3 greys in the past that have been fine with the cats so I haven't run into this before.I'm curious to know if she can grow out of this or not. She does some stalking behavior and barking, chasing with hackles up. My cats are very used to dogs but they won't swat at her. I am using a kennel muzzle and crate with her as well as a squirt bottle. She is very smart and now waits for when I am not looking to make her move. I have only had her a week and am hoping I can work with her.She is ok with small dogs. Edited February 1, 2010 by 2houndsmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieProf Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Are you doing "No kitty!" or "Leave it!" in the scary Voice of God when she shows interest in the cats? Can you get her to redirect her attention from the cat (and rewarding her when she does so)? That said, I would never trust the safety of my cats to a grey who stalked or chased them... cat testing is certainly not foolproof. Quote With Cocoa (DC Chocolatedrop), missing B for Beth (2006-2015)And kitties C.J., Klara, Bernadette, John-Boy, & Sinbad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harry702 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Can you describe her behavior in more detail? Does she do this whenever she sees the cats? Only when they move quickly? What about body language? Can you distract her by calling her name, or using "No Kitty," or even a loud noise (hand clap, coins in an empty can, etc.)? From what little information is provided, you may have a trainable dog on your hands, or you may have a not-ever-cat-safe dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2houndsmom Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Are you doing "No kitty!" or "Leave it!" in the scary Voice of God when she shows interest in the cats? Can you get her to redirect her attention from the cat (and rewarding her when she does so)? That said, I would never trust the safety of my cats to a grey who stalked or chased them... cat testing is certainly not foolproof. I Do praise her when she redirects and I use a very firm voice. She will respond to me when I tell her " leave it" or " no cat". The cats do have safe zones in the house.I don't want to have to return her ,but like you said I don't want jeapordize my cats. I am hoping she will settle down with more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greytmiles Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 (edited) Are you doing "No kitty!" or "Leave it!" in the scary Voice of God when she shows interest in the cats? Can you get her to redirect her attention from the cat (and rewarding her when she does so)? That said, I would never trust the safety of my cats to a grey who stalked or chased them... cat testing is certainly not foolproof. !! LOL !! Voice of God! I didn't know that's what it was called, but I definitely know what you're talking about!! Edited February 1, 2010 by greytmiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greyt_dog_lover Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 One simple question, can you break the stare with a word or spray of water? If you can, she is workable. If you cant, she will eat the kitty. The level of workable is a different question altogether. If she is "workable" then you will have some training to do. I foster with my 2 cats, the level of workable has varied greatly. The stalking behavior usually will go away within a few days to a week, the chasing, that should be something you work on immediately as to not allow to happen. Each time she chases, she is being rewarded by the stimulation of the chase. With time, the reward for chase will be better than the negative reinforcement that she receives from you. Work with her on a lead. Have one person bring the cat into the room, break her stare with words (this is not the time for squirting), when she looks at you, treat. Repeat until she will look at you every time. Once you have this down, then have the other person let the cat go, give the cat a little push so it runs, then try to use words to break the chase, if you cannot, use the water now. This will be something that you have to repeat a bit. You will know when it is starting to sink in. As far as the hunting behavior, make sure to redirect her with something when you see this happening, try not to correct her when she is doing this, just redirect her. It sounds like you can make things work, as long as you answer yes to my first question. Good Luck. Chad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2houndsmom Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 One simple question, can you break the stare with a word or spray of water? If you can, she is workable. If you cant, she will eat the kitty. The level of workable is a different question altogether. If she is "workable" then you will have some training to do. I foster with my 2 cats, the level of workable has varied greatly. The stalking behavior usually will go away within a few days to a week, the chasing, that should be something you work on immediately as to not allow to happen. Each time she chases, she is being rewarded by the stimulation of the chase. With time, the reward for chase will be better than the negative reinforcement that she receives from you. Work with her on a lead. Have one person bring the cat into the room, break her stare with words (this is not the time for squirting), when she looks at you, treat. Repeat until she will look at you every time. Once you have this down, then have the other person let the cat go, give the cat a little push so it runs, then try to use words to break the chase, if you cannot, use the water now. This will be something that you have to repeat a bit. You will know when it is starting to sink in. As far as the hunting behavior, make sure to redirect her with something when you see this happening, try not to correct her when she is doing this, just redirect her. It sounds like you can make things work, as long as you answer yes to my first question. Good Luck. Chad Yes, I can get her to look away from the cats with a word or water and I always praise her when she turns away.Thank you, you have given me hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harry702 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Greyt_dog_lover has given good advice. I'd also add that, if it were me, I'd keep her confined to the crate while the cats are loose until you make significant progress. I'm a bit of a toughie on this issue... with foster dogs who show interest in our cats, we'll only let the foster out of the crate to hang out if the cats are confined somewhere else in the house. Otherwise, we do all our training while the dog is in the crate... until he or she can ignore the kitties while in the crate. Then we'll move up to leash + muzzle. Once we conquer that hurdle, it's on to muzzle only, etc. In a sense, that turns good behavior (ignoring kitties) into the means to a reward (freedom!). Some dogs progress through these steps in a week or two... others might take months. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greyt_dog_lover Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Thanks Harry, forgot to add the separation part. Chad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sheila Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 When I adopted my Sammy I was told she had lived with cats and was very safe. She was a 7 yr old bounce and I trusted this to be true. The first thing she did when walking into my house was chase my cat into the basement. She continued to chase the cat for 2 wks. Luckily the cat is very spry and has a hidey hole in the basement ceiling where there is a tile missing and no dogs can reach her there. After about 2 wks Sammy stopped bothering the cat and they have lived in peace for nearly 3 yrs. The cat lays next to Sammy on the couch now. I think for Sammy it was always about the 'thrill of the chase' and she never truly wanted to hurt the cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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