New Hound Barking At The Cat

[Guest OPointyDog]

We just adopted our new boy on Sunday, so I realize things are early yet, but I'd like to nip this behavior in the bud, so to speak! Bear with me while I set this up.

 

We have a 3-year-old female, Zoe, was adopted in April and who tested as cat friendly, but turned out to be cat correctable. Over time and with a lot of work, she's become very good with them, and one of our cats (we have 2) now even sometimes grooms her head! We supervise all interactions and Zoe is crated when we're away. Three rooms in our house are separated from the rest of the house with baby gates at all times, and the cats are free to go back and forth under the raised gates, but Zoe stays in those three rooms (living room/parlor/office).

 

We adopted our new guy (yet to be renamed) on Sunday, and he also tested as cat friendly, and even came over for a visit with his foster mom before we adopted him and he paid no attention to the cats (even when they were held, on the floor, running, etc.). He's 4 and has been bounced twice (no fault of his own), and has even lived in a home briefly with a cat. He's friendly and has a LOT more energy than Zoe (who admittedly, is a slug in a greyhound suit).

 

We've been cautious and kept him on a leash or behind lowered baby gates for the last few days. He did dash after one cat the first night when the cat came into the living room, and I corrected him immediately, saying "NO CAT" in my deepest angriest voice. We've repeated this every time he gets interested in one of them. Unfortunately, several times in the last two days when he has seen a cat through the baby gates, he has started barking at them. Not really a friendly bark, but a "HEY THERE'S AN INTRUDER" bark. He seems to only do it sometimes, and sometimes he pays no attention to them. We walk through the mud room on our way out on a walk, and the cats will come down the stairs and one even walks past him (brave!) on his leash, and he doesn't pay any attention to them.

 

We've been trying to constantly correct him with "NO CAT" and also praise him when he ignores them. It seems like the barking is escalating, though, and I'd like to stop the behavior. I do realize it took several months to get Zoe to the point where she wasn't chasing the cats, so I get that we need to be patient and vigilant. Any thoughts on how to handle the barking? Are we creating a "cat tease" by allowing him to see them through the gate? Anybody else go through this?

 

sleeping hounds

[a_daerr]

I'm hoping Chad will chime in here because he has a very helpful set of steps in relation to cat training. It sounds to me like you may be going too heavy on the "correction" side and not enough on the positive reinforcement end. You want your new guy to associate positive things with the cat. Only use correction (verbal, spray bottle) if he tries to advance or chase. Reward him for being calm and looking at you when the cat is in the room. Also, please make sure you MUZZLE and SUPERVISE for at least the first few weeks. Greys can cheat on their cat test! I fostered Henry's littermate earlier this year, and it was months before many of his true behaviors came out (and we realized he was definitely not cat safe). It's good that you are addressing the issues now.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Thanks, Alicia, that's very good advice. We have been petting, praising and treating him when he's calm around the cats, and when he looks away when we say "NO CAT", so we'll continue doing that and try to focus more energy on that.

 

At this point he doesn't have the ability to chase, since the cats are on the other side of the gate. I'm wondering if some deliberate work with the cats with him on a leash and muzzled might be good. Right now the cats are so freaked out from the barking that I don't think they'd cooperate, but maybe in a day or two.

[a_daerr]

No problem! Good luck, and please let us know when you decide on a name

[Guest mld]

Were the cats out when he arrived home for the first time?

Muzzle until he is cat safe

[Guest OPointyDog]

Yes, the cats were hanging around on the stairs when he first came home (muzzled) and he ignored them.

 

I had him in the living room on a short leash when one walked in the first evening, and he chased after it (didn't get far due to the leash). He is always either separated, muzzled or leashed, and always supervised.

[Koyotekyle]

Sam (8) could care less when the cat comes by. Mimi(6) on the other hand mostly ignores the cat but periodically shows interest and barks. I don't know what sparks the bark and interest. Usually a firm NO stops her. I think it is "play" or curiosity, but we can't be sure. She doesn't seem to want to chase or harm the cat. It has taken almost 3 months for them to accept each other. The cat was the difficult one to accept the new family. We didn't separate them or keep them muzzled or leashed after the first few days. Mimi also when we walked her would react to every neighbor yappers, but now has almost stopped that barking too. My guess it is safe exposure to get them used to each other, then they calm.

[Guest SpicyMom]

Also, cat safe in the house and cat safe outside are two completely different things. I have no worries at all in the house but they cannot be outside together. The dogs just can't resist chasing and they lose their heads. I have no doubt they would kill the cats without thinking.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Yes, thanks for the reminder. Our cats are indoor-only, so not an issue, and we always take the dogs out first on a leash before letting them loose in the yard, just to be sure there are no critters out in the yard.... Learned that the hard way with a squirrel.

[Guest cwholsin]

Just keep doing what you're doing! You can also do something with him when he's getting agitated over the cat. Call him over, teach him to go lie down on his bed, or practicing obedience training could help to get him to forget about the cat for a bit. It can take some time, though. Our borzoi puppy used to get crazy excited by our cat and it took a good 2-2.5 months of working with her to where she doesn't care about the cat anymore.