Hunting Behavior

[Guest tommysmom]

I have an 8 year old fawn retired at 20 months we have had him almost 6 years. He is cat friendly, or was when we had our pet cat. We no longer have one, but see, here is the problem... Stray cat in backyard vs. Tom no competition this happened about 2 hours ago and my father was here when it happened. My father lives with us and has 2 yorkies, my dog has never shown aggression to these dogs, ever. But since this happened, he is on the warpath that my dog will kill his dogs and what he said he would do to my grey is disturbing. He is mentally ill (non violent, he has brain damage from alcohol from 8 years ago) I am his legal guardian and I know he would not harm my dog. My question is, is there something training wise to hinder this instinct, other than him wearing soft muzzle all the time he goes out or is around the yorkies? I don't want my dad to be fearful, even though he has nothing to be fearful about. He acts like Tom just flipped a serial killer switch and will kill anything under 50lbs. All dogs protect their territory, my sisters dogs bring her dead animals weekly, I have this issue maybe twice a year. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks...

[greysmom]

The short answer is no. Prey drive is innate, and all predators will display the behavior hard wired into them in some way.

 

A better choice for protecting your father's small dogs is a plastic basket muzzle equipped with a stool guard. This is a sort of plastic cup placed over the end (or inside) the front of the muzzle to prevent them from eating stool during turn outs. It will also prevent your dog from biting through the muzzle, as it's very possible for dogs to grab things in their teeth with a plain muzzle on. One of mine regularly carries balls and sticks with her muzzle on. Soft muzzles should never be used on dogs except for emergency restraining. They can overheat and not be able to breath properly. Greyhounds are very used to wearing the plastic kennel muzzles.

 

If your father won't take verbal reassurances, this will be the safest next thing.

 

FWIW, indoor cats and outdoor cats are usually seen as two completely separate entities. And outdoor cats do not in any way equal small dogs, indoors or out. Especially in regards to stalking and prey drive behavior. The dog *may* appear to be reacting the same way, but it's really a different response.

 

Indoor pets are family, pack members, and if they are tolerated, they will usually be tolerated all the time. DISCLAIMER: accidents do happen, even amongst the friendliest of family members, so it's best to be safe rather than sorry.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm really sorry about your father's issuesWhat a tough situation. Can you suggest the Yorkies be kept in one part of the house with baby gates to reassure him?

[krissy]

I'm confused. Was this your own cat outside in the backyard or a stray cat that wandered into your yard? And if it was your own cat, is he typically outside or was this an anomaly?

 

A dog that is cat safe in the house is not the same as a dog that is cat safe in all scenarios. Lots of hounds live happily and safely with cats and small critters in the house, but outdoors can be a totally different ballgame. I have 3 hounds who live with 3 rabbits (and have lived on and off with the occasional foster cat/kittens). The oldest, my retired racer, is completely small animal safe in all scenarios... he barely even flicks an ear at cars, rabbits, birds, or squirrels outside and has never chased anything before. The younger two are safe with my indoor bunnies, but have strong chase drives outdoors when they see rabbits, birds and squirrels. They would probably only chase a cat until they realized it was a cat, but I'm not going to test that theory. They are fine with small, fluffy dogs, though I generally avoid them playing with those because of the size difference.

 

Your dog may be just fine with the Yorkies. It would be helpful to know more about the situation with the cat. But if you're concerned, use a muzzle and don't put them outside in the yard at the same time since the most likely trigger for predatory behaviour is fast movement.

[Guest tommysmom]

I'm confused. Was this your own cat outside in the backyard or a stray cat that wandered into your yard? And if it was your own cat, is he typically outside or was this an anomaly?

 

A dog that is cat safe in the house is not the same as a dog that is cat safe in all scenarios. Lots of hounds live happily and safely with cats and small critters in the house, but outdoors can be a totally different ballgame. I have 3 hounds who live with 3 rabbits (and have lived on and off with the occasional foster cat/kittens). The oldest, my retired racer, is completely small animal safe in all scenarios... he barely even flicks an ear at cars, rabbits, birds, or squirrels outside and has never chased anything before. The younger two are safe with my indoor bunnies, but have strong chase drives outdoors when they see rabbits, birds and squirrels. They would probably only chase a cat until they realized it was a cat, but I'm not going to test that theory. They are fine with small, fluffy dogs, though I generally avoid them playing with those because of the size difference.

 

Your dog may be just fine with the Yorkies. It would be helpful to know more about the situation with the cat. But if you're concerned, use a muzzle and don't put them outside in the yard at the same time since the most likely trigger for predatory behaviour is fast movement.

This was some stray cat. Never seen it before. The neighbors like to feed the strays, however they assure me this is not one of theirs that they have fed. My grey has before maimed one of their strays that came in our fence about 3 years ago. The cat had to be put down. Our fence is 6' high privacy for a reason, and they now know that. He has grown up since I have had him with these yorkies and never shown any prey drive towards them at all. We have a female shepherd chow mix who went into her first heat a few years ago and at the time he had a male yorkie who went running after her in the yard, my grey did pick him up and shake him and drop him but did not hurt him. I would be willing to bet it was because Skye was in heat and Tom felt like she was his. But never other than that. He is actually scared to death of small dogs we had a small Havanese that used to attack him, I sent the Havanese to my ex-husbands house so there was no more conflict.

I'm really sorry about your father's issuesWhat a tough situation. Can you suggest the Yorkies be kept in one part of the house with baby gates to reassure him?

They are kept in his own room. He is worried about bathroom time and them being in the yard at the same time. Which there has never been an issue.

[NeylasMom]

This is not territorial aggression, its predatory behavior. So you need to dispel all these other ideas of why this behavior is happening. I would not have him loose in the yard with the Yorkies, or leave them unattended in the home together. Those are good safety precautions to take and should reassure your father, especially if you explain that the behavior is predatory and often something that is triggered outside only.

 

They are kept in his own room. He is worried about bathroom time and them being in the yard at the same time. Which there has never been an issue.

You just said above there was an issue. My guess, the yorkies don't run around the yard normally but that time did. This means that in the future if something causes a yorkie to start running, the same thing could happen. I don't think youre being realistic abiut the risks.

[GreyTzu]

Exactly who is freaking out, your Father or the greyhound when the small dogs are around him?

[sobesmom]

This was some stray cat. Never seen it before. The neighbors like to feed the strays, however they assure me this is not one of theirs that they have fed. My grey has before maimed one of their strays that came in our fence about 3 years ago. The cat had to be put down. Our fence is 6' high privacy for a reason, and they now know that. He has grown up since I have had him with these yorkies and never shown any prey drive towards them at all. We have a female shepherd chow mix who went into her first heat a few years ago and at the time he had a male yorkie who went running after her in the yard, my grey did pick him up and shake him and drop him but did not hurt him. I would be willing to bet it was because Skye was in heat and Tom felt like she was his. But never other than that. He is actually scared to death of small dogs we had a small Havanese that used to attack him, I sent the Havanese to my ex-husbands house so there was no more conflict.

They are kept in his own room. He is worried about bathroom time and them being in the yard at the same time. Which there has never been an issue.

So don't let them out at the same time. Not because I in any way think the grey will go after the Yorkies. It does't work that way. Just because this is a dad issue, not a dog issue, so you have to do what you have to do to keep dad reassured. It sounds like you won't be able to educate your dad, so accommodate him.

[GreytHoundPoet]

Prey drive is not the same as aggression. Prey drive is innate and focused. A stable dog can have strong prey drive and not attack other dogs. Also, outdoor prey animals are different from indoor family members. Many cat "safe" dogs are fine with their indoor feline friends but view strays as fair game.

 

That being said, if your dad is that concerned about it do not let the dogs outside together or invest in a basket muzzle just in case. I can tell you though, damage can still be done with a muzzle on so it is not an excuse to leave the dogs unsupervised. Education is always my priority but if he is not receptive to that you can accommodate him fairly easily.

Edited November 17, 2017 by GreytHoundPoet