Trouble controling GSD with house cat

[mrkhann]

Hi

My 7 month Old GSD gets realy excited when he see our persian cat. He has been seeing the cat since he was 3 months but they were kept in separate areas. Now the trouble is since Simba has grown to a size where I fear he can actually hurt the cat.
When ever I take the cat out he starts jumping and tries to get the the cat. just becomes out of control.
pls advise how should i go about it so that i can leave both togather.

[wolfstraum]

you may be able to train control on the dog - but do NOT NOT NOT think you can leave them alone anytime soon......

keep the dog on a lead when the cat is in the same area and teach him "leave it"....have you done classes with him that will help you teach this behavior???

Some high prey dogs will not ever leave cats alone.....I had one dog who would never relax in the same room with a cat and would pace constantly around the doors to the safe cat room.....I ended up letting him go to a home with no cats even though I was devastated to do so.....I would never have felt safe with him in the house with a cat.

They may end up being friends down the road....but you must teach him the cat is off limits as the first step.

Lee

[llombardo]

Mine has been around 5 cats since I got her at 12 weeks and she was pretty good with them in the door. I guess it helps that they are used to dogs and come right up to them and rub against them. I think at this age(7 months), constant supervision will be needed. The leave it command works wonderful too. Is there a reason why you haven't had them together earlier?

[kiya]

Originally Posted by mrkhann

Hi

My 7 month Old GSD gets realy excited when he see our persian cat. He has been seeing the cat since he was 3 months but they were kept in separate areas. Now the trouble is since Simba has grown to a size where I fear he can actually hurt the cat.
When ever I take the cat out he starts jumping and tries to get the the cat. just becomes out of control.
pls advise how should i go about it so that i can leave both togather.

It takes a lot of time and patience to get a excited pup to be calm anound a cat, specially if they have been kept separate. What does your dog do when he "tries to get the cat"?
I would work on 2 basic commands 1) long down stay & 2) LEAVE IT.

[gmcwife1]

We have a 5 month old GSD and a 3 yr old cat. We have two baby gates up so the cat has safe places while we continue to train the pup.

So far the pup is doing really well. There are days she can just ignore the cat, but there are also days when she just can't seem to help herself and has to chase him. We are using the leave it command and she is doing really well with it.

I think sometimes the cat is quietly provoking the pup.

[TaZoR]

Tazor is 8 months and is unpredictable. we have several cats..sometimes he lays with them..they rub on him..its fine. Walks past without a glance..and out of the blue..he is off like a shot in persuit.idk when. He also swallows there heads sometimes.
.he doesnt hurt them, but my husband freaks. They actual stay tgere after he lets go. I know the sound of a cat in pain..(shreik) & it doesnt sound like silence..however, when he catches them in chase by the neck or head, im uncomfortable with that because he may apply too much pressure at some point. Overall, he is good with them, but like i say..unpredictable...

[zivagirl]

Unpredictable is the word of the day, here. We are keeping Beth on a lead always unless she is crated. Our king cat Ziggy is the only one brave enough to venture out into our living quarters during the daytime. Her reaction was to growl ad gnash her teeth at him this morning. Pulling her back wasn't very effective, so I body blocked her and walked her backwards, repeating 'leave it leave it leave it'. Ziggy just sat back and watched, non-plused,as only cats can do.

Meanwhile, I am SO glad I see the chiropractor today!

[Sunflowers]

We have the same problem.
Good thing the cat is good at running and hiding.

[onedogman]

He may not be trying to get at the cat to hurt it, but at this point it's going to be hard & take time. If the cat has claws & can defend itself it helps. They can usually escape if things get harry, as long as there is somewhere they can escape to. I had to give my cat to my sister because my pup was obsessed with her & wanted to play rough constantly.

[Yoschi's_Pet_Human]

We had the same issue with a parrot and one of our dogs,, we did a lot of controlled "socializations" etc. We really thought we had the situation under control... A whole year went by with no issue,,, we never did leave them alone, however.... One day my son went out back to play and left the parrot on his unenclosed play gym,,, he came in to a bloody mess of feathers and chewed up bird.... he cried and cried and cried... lesson learned