Any tips for dog and cat getting along

[GSDSadie]

A little mishap this morning. The dog saw the cat at the window before I had closed the blind (whoops!) anyway, her behaviour was a lot better. At first she did rush up to the window and the cat hissed and growled and then Sadie just watched her, no barking or whining or scratching, turning her head sideways looking at her. She didn't have a stare on, she was just looking but I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination lol.

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE SUPERVISED! I want this clearly expressed. I will never trust a big dog with cats, just the way I am (quite paranoid about situations like this).

So does this sound like some sort of progress?

[kiya]

I think you might be on the right track, sometimes just the slightest improvement in behavior will lead to bigger improvements.
When Kiya was in the sunroom and saw the kitty in the kitchen, she would pound the glass door and of course leave scratch marks on the wood and glass. I had to put a sheet over a folded up xpen and use that as a screen to block her view.
Needless to say how hubby felt about that.

[RowdyDogs]

Originally Posted by RocketDog

I just wanted to comment on something that each "success" story has in common: a cat willing to stand its ground and whap the dog. One of my two cats is declawed and HE will whap Rocket, but the other one won't. WILL NOT. Very frustrating. It's taken me a long time and the cats, who are outside cats anyway, still can't really come inside to visit. They do occasionally, and if Rocket has a bone he will leave them alone, until they start to move. Sigh.

Patience.

So my GSD got whapped, but I've trained other breeds (with equally high prey drives) to accept cats using my method, even when the cat was fearful and prone to running. It's easier with a brave cat, but I don't think that's necessary.

OP, as far as corrections go, I usually just do a "bad" noise (I do a sort of sharp nasal "enh-enh") and immediately get the dog's attention back on me. If they'll listen to a cue, then I just do that, but sometimes you might have to back up or otherwise move and make the dog follow you. As soon as the dog's attention is back on you, praise. I clicker train so I click the moment the dog's eyes come back to me.

I don't like doing big corrections in this situation because I don't want the dog to associate the cat with bad things. My goal is to keep the session as positive as possible.

[Olivers mama]

Originally Posted by kiya

When Kiya was in the sunroom and saw the kitty in the kitchen, she would pound the glass door and of course leave scratch marks on the wood and glass. I had to put a sheet over a folded up xpen and use that as a screen to block her view. Needless to say how hubby felt about that.

I can't say here what my hubby said when Ziva was jumping at the back slider door - either to come in or to lunge at the cats. It's an 8-ft door & she broke the seal between the 2 glass panels. Now I need a new door.

Thankfully, she stopped that. We have 1 cat (the youngest @ 6) that bounces on her hind feet back & forth along the other slider door --- with Ziva doing the play-bow outside. Too cute: a big GSD & a tiny tortie coming as close to playing as ever. We'll get there...

[GSDSadie]

Originally Posted by RowdyDogs

So my GSD got whapped, but I've trained other breeds (with equally high prey drives) to accept cats using my method, even when the cat was fearful and prone to running. It's easier with a brave cat, but I don't think that's necessary.

OP, as far as corrections go, I usually just do a "bad" noise (I do a sort of sharp nasal "enh-enh") and immediately get the dog's attention back on me. If they'll listen to a cue, then I just do that, but sometimes you might have to back up or otherwise move and make the dog follow you. As soon as the dog's attention is back on you, praise. I clicker train so I click the moment the dog's eyes come back to me.

I don't like doing big corrections in this situation because I don't want the dog to associate the cat with bad things. My goal is to keep the session as positive as possible.

Ah ok, thats nice and clear. I am doing clicker training (which she is doing great at!). I'm hoping if she knows I have treats it will be easy to get her attention heh

[GSDSadie]

**Todays Update**

I had the cat and dog in the same room right next to each other without any problems.

It started off with the cat having a nosey at the dog training. So I quickly went and put her lead on. The cat gradually moved to the couch, then so did me and Sadie whilst still training. Cat then gradually moved to the hutch and so did we (still doing training). Most of the time she did concentrate on me but when the cat was moving Sadie would just stare at her, she did whine a little.

Should I be concerned about her staring? I couldn't get her to look away from her with any commands. She just eventually did it herself and we carried on with training until the cat moved again. When the cat was still she would stare at her but I could get her attention very easily and carry on training. It went very well I think

[RocketDog]

Originally Posted by RowdyDogs

So my GSD got whapped, but I've trained other breeds (with equally high prey drives) to accept cats using my method, even when the cat was fearful and prone to running. It's easier with a brave cat, but I don't think that's necessary.

OP, as far as corrections go, I usually just do a "bad" noise (I do a sort of sharp nasal "enh-enh") and immediately get the dog's attention back on me. If they'll listen to a cue, then I just do that, but sometimes you might have to back up or otherwise move and make the dog follow you. As soon as the dog's attention is back on you, praise. I clicker train so I click the moment the dog's eyes come back to me.

I don't like doing big corrections in this situation because I don't want the dog to associate the cat with bad things. My goal is to keep the session as positive as possible.

Oh I totally think your method is right on.

[RowdyDogs]

I didn't mean to be aggressive about that, just wanted to say that I still think it's possible to do with a fearful cat. I also definitely agree that it is much easier with a cat that will stand its ground!

[GSDSadie]

Originally Posted by RowdyDogs

I didn't mean to be aggressive about that, just wanted to say that I still think it's possible to do with a fearful cat. I also definitely agree that it is much easier with a cat that will stand its ground!

I think our cat did very well She didn't try run away and was even closing her eyes as if to nod off at some point

[Kyleigh]

Originally Posted by GSDSadie

**Todays Update**

Cat then gradually moved to the hutch and so did we (still doing training). Most of the time she did concentrate on me but when the cat was moving Sadie would just stare at her, she did whine a little.

Should I be concerned about her staring? I couldn't get her to look away from her with any commands.

Yes, you should be concerned, but it's definitely not panic time! Progress has been made, and it's not going to happen over night (as you have discovered!)

What I quoted and bolded ... THIS is what you need to work on. She's made progress, and so have you and that's awesome ... but you need to break the focus so it doesn't go to the "next level" (chase / pounce).

Now that you know you can't YET stop her from staring, work on it without the cat and get a solid "leave it, look at me" whatever you are working on, and then go back to it with the cat.

Kyleigh LOVES to chase my cat and London (who's 14) won't stand his ground. I didn't let her "chase" him until she had a solid leave it ... and now they have some fun running around the living room. London also likes to teach the heck out of Kyleigh, so I keep a very close eye on them to make sure that it doesn't go over the top. And London has lots of "high" places to go to where Ky can't reach. They are NEVER left alone unsupervised.

The other day Kyleigh was laying on her dog bed and London pranced over to see what the dog was doing ... he sniffed her tail, her back legs - Ky's watching, but hasn't moved yet. London makes his way up closer and then he's sniffing her nose. She doesn't move and then just as London's about to move on she jumps up and holds him down with a paw and suddenly London is getting a bath. I have to admit it was pretty funny, but I don't think the cat appreciated it so much. I was able to call her off him, and the cat took off under my bed LOL

I got Ky at 9 weeks. She pretty much ignored the cat until she was about 7 or 8 months old and then decided she was going to chase it. (This was the same time she decided that my parrots would be fun to chase too!)

The next couple of months were difficult in trying to manage dog time / parrot time and cat time.

You've got lots of great advice and you're definitely on the right track! Just a bit more training, practice and patience, and you'll be there!