Please help save the family cat!

[PeachChardonay]

I just rescued my second rott from animal control. The first, a large female, came into my home very well behaved and is the perfect pet. My new male has presented me with a problem that I have not had the pleasure of addressing before.

All I know about Oliver is that he was removed from someone's backyard because they could not feed him. At 18 months old, his head is larger then my 6 year olds but he weighs a whopping 80 pounds. It is going to take some time for him to understand that the waterdish doesn't dissappear and he will get fed everyday.

He doesn't like small dogs and would love to catch one of the family cats. Since my daughter is quite fond of her cat, I need to teach him to leave the cats alone. I live in a mobile home and often take my female to see my mom and her fenced in yard for some excercise time with her dogs. She has a standard poodle, a greyhound and a yorkshire terrier. This means that Oliver will not be invited over until he can figure out the little dog thing.

Any advice on how to get him past this would be appreciated. He is a beautiful dog with the greatest temperment.

Thank you,
Sandi

[anna&jacksmom]

Have you tried putting a lead on him when he will be around the cat and correcting him for lunging at it? Maybe if he is food motivated you could put a lead on him, correct him for lunging and when the cat walks past and he doesn't lunge you could give him a small treat so he will associate leaving the cat alone with good things. I am not an expert but I do have two dogs and two cats who have learned to live peacefully in our 3 ring circus.

[kaiser's mom]

I agree with Anna&Jacksmom... train reinforce postively that there is a reward for leaving the cats alone...though this can be more difficult in our 'herding' breeds...
I introduced my cats slowly to my rottie... I put the dog in the bathroom and let the cats come up and sniff under the door...
we did this for a week...and slowly..ever so slowly did the intro's on lead with the positive training..(helps if someone else can hold the lead ) petting the cat as the dog is held on the lead and talked to saying these are his pack of friends.. etc... we heavily supervise their interactions and make sure the rottie knows to be gentle... ( He has caught on fast.. He knows thinks cat toys are awesome! tries to play with the mouse chase ring..)

They sleep on the same bed together and eat next to each other..
This worked with my first rottie for 13 yrs..and now training my 4 mos old rescue rottie... I think he is starting to Purr!!
One happy rottie in a pack of 4 bengal cats..all indoors!

keep us posted on your progress...

[pride-and-joy]

Here's a story I posted on another site. It turned out to be a very long post (sorry;)), but hopefully you will get some ideas and also be aware of the risks.

I have 4 cats and 2 Rottweilers. Overall, they all cohabitate harmoneously but it is definately not a perfect world.

We've gotten to the point where if a cat trys to sneak past a dog lying on their place blanket...I can say, "Leave it!" and dog doesn't launch. Cat can be on top of counter or table and dog doesn't go batzo, if given the command.

Here's where the problem comes in. If a cat sneaks past and I don't notice it...dog is put in a position to make its *own* decision. Prey drive kicks in...mommy didn't command otherwise and they will launch.

Just last night that very thing happened. Both dogs launched into full drive onto Daisy the cat when I was turned around loading the dishwasher.

Before I even knew what was happening, they had Daisy cornered under the kitchen table. Chairs knocked over, dogs pawing, nipping, cat screaming and fur flying. At that point they were so reved up that I couldn't call the dogs off...so I reached into the mix. (NOT a smart thing to do...but I didn't like the alternative).

Surprizingly enough, the dogs were using a "soft" mouth on Daisy, which I felt when my hand made contact several times. That gave me a slight bit of relief that they were still playing...but very rough and wreckless.

Anyway, I grabbed collars and somehow managed to get Daisy away. I screamed, "NO! LEAVE IT!!" and they settled down.

Poor Daisy was physically unharmed but sopping wet from slime and had pooped and peed all down the front of me. I got her cleaned up and settled in the bathroom with some yummy food sprinkled with kitty calm herb. She is doing just fine today and is very resilliant. Boy was I scared. *I* should have been the one who needed to check her shorts!

Anyway, I've said all that to say this...Don't kid yourself. Be careful and dilligent. A large breed dog with a high prey drive and incessant interest could intentionally or unintentionally kill a cat in about 2 seconds flat.

Give the cats plenty of off the ground walking and perching places. They need to have their own haven. Mine are allowed to walk on the counters, furniture, etc. They perch on the top of the fridge and top of the upper cabinets. I actually have cat beds up there.

I also have their food and litter boxes upstairs where the dogs usually do not go.

Work on "Leave it" and keep working on it. As my story shows, it is an ongoing process. And everytime there is an "episode" such as I had last night...you take many steps backward in the process *sigh*

And finally don't turn your back and watch like a hawk.

This all may sound dramatic and extreme, but I had a big reality check last night...and still shaking.

One final thing. All my cats wear bells on their collars. Yes, the dogs can hear them coming, but so can I. I command, "Noooooo, Leave it" as soon as we hear a bell coming. This way they are making the association just for *thinking* about a cat.

Good luck!

[merlin1118]

I am not an expert and we are still working on this but I will tell you what I have done. We brought Phaedra (2 yr old female) home 2 1/2 weeks ago. We have 3 indoor cats. At first we locked the cats up in the bedroom except for "social hour". Social hour was when after dinner and everyone settled down my husband put Phaedra on a lead and let the cats out. Phade had to sit by us and was told to "leave it" if she showed to much interest in the cats. The cats were allowed to come to her as they felt comfortable and leave if they wanted to. Well after a couple of days of this my husband noticed that she was not paying too much attention to the cats when they were around and wanted to try leaving her off the leash. So he rigged up the bedroom door so that it would only open enough for the cats to come and go and Phade could not chase them in there. It worked after a couple of days of this she did not pay them much attention. So we started leaving the bedroom door all the way open and telling Phade that the room was off limits. She has picked that up well. She only tries to sneek into the bedroom if I am in there and when I say out she goes. Well Phade sleeps in a crate in the living room and the cats are out all night and it doesn't seem to bother them. I will say that they are still never left unsupervised together (and probally never will be) and that if we are not home either the cats are in the bedroom with the door closed or Phade is out in the fenced yard.
Maybe I am just lucky or maybe she does not have a high prey drive.
This is what has worked for me and it has only taken 2 1/2 weeks.

Jennifer

[PeachChardonay]

Just wanted to update. Oliver is settling in well. He is crated when we can't keep an absolute eye on everyone but he is in the computer room with me every evening. Most of the time the cats are left alone but if they move too fast, he is off.

I must assume that he has no formal training, most of the time sit is beyond him. Leave it is meaningless if he is after the cat. We are working on this daily also.

My older rott is not prey driven at all, she never bothers the cats, is more apt to cry if they don't want to play.

I have a e-collar that I have been using in the evening after the kids go to bed. This has been effective so far. Oliver is a very smart guy, just an ooffa butt puppy. I am sure he will figure this out but it will be some time before he is home alone out of the crate with the cats.

Sandi

[emorgan49]

My late rottie rescue knocked over the dryer the first time she saw the cat and in six years never got much better. The cat, however, got very smart. She tapped on the cat door before she came in, just to test the waters. She never ran, walked verrrry sloowly, stayed up high etc.