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 New puppy chasing cats
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| Posted by | Topic subject: New puppy chasing cats |
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Jamiya Member  Posts: 49 |
posted 09-01-2003 07:16 PM
  
Hello all. We just got a puppy from the shelter. They are calling her a 4 month old Border Collie mix, but she's more of a Heinz 57. She was a stray so they have no info on either of her parents. My best guess would be Border Collie, Aussie, Beagle, maybe Terrier? Anyway, she seems very smart and has learned to Sit and to ask to go outside in the 2.5 days we have had her. I am working on teaching her Down and then will start with Stay. I am also teaching her Come but she is not reliable at all if she is distracted. The big problem is, she is chasing my cats! They are about 12 years old but playful as kittens still. One cat hissed at her and thunked her on the nose pretty good, so she will still go try to see him but she keeps some distance. She barks at him if she sees him through the gate we have up to keep her in one room of the house. The other cat just sits there while the puppy mauls her. The puppy bites her tail and tries to wrestle with her. She is wagging her tail so I think she just wants to play. The cat makes distressed noises and sometimes hisses. She rarely tries to swat the puppy, though, and sometimes she runs so the puppy chases. What can I work on with the pup to make her understand she needs to stop? I have been told I should not scold her for being rough with the cats, but what else can I do? I hold her back and tell her no and tell her "Good puppy!" when she leaves them alone. What else should I be doing? I am hoping once I get a reliable Sit-Stay going it might help, but that will be a while coming. Thanks, IP: Logged |
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nern Member Posts: 473 |
posted 09-01-2003 09:30 PM
When my aussie x was a puppy she really used to bother the cats. When she did this I would just call her to me and occupy her with something else to play with. She was a very active puppy so I would really try and tire her out daily and this also helped her not bother the cats as much. The cats could easily jump up away from her and would also bop her on the head sometimes but sometimes she would get too rough with them and it was harder for them to jump away. I started using a noise to let her know she was doing something that I did'nt want her to do. I would say "Ewwwwwww" in a low,deep voice and I used that for anything she ever did wrong and to this day it still works no matter what she is doing. IP: Logged |
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Jamiya Member Posts: 49 |
posted 09-02-2003 04:02 AM
She's very difficult to distract! She suddenly becomes deaf and uninterested in her toys when a cat is involved. We finally had to put the gate up because we were tired of chasing her around the house, dragging her off the cats. I'll keep trying, though!
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Maisey Member Posts: 309 |
posted 09-02-2003 11:09 AM
Hi Jimya, congrats on your new pup. Nern gave you good advice, it won't happen over night though. If she is a BC or BC/mix, she will have really high prey drive and nothing you do will ever get rid of that, BUT you can modify her behavior. She is going to attempt to chase anything that runs...thats the prey drive and it's instinct. She is only 4 months old so start working on your recall now. Put a box of treats, something that makes lots of noise when you shake it, near your door. When you let her go out to go potty, stand there at the door and watch her, when shes almost done shake the box and say "name, come" in an excited voice. Coming back to you MUST offer more fun than what she gets to explore outside. If it doesn't work with treats try a toy and then play with her for a few moments when she does come to you. My Catahoula came to both but when he was really interested in something outside I used his favorite toy which is a gorilla that when you squeeze it makes a high pitch monkey noise. He can't stand for anyone to touch it but himself! Remember the idea is to make coming back to you more fun than what she is already doing. You can practice this in your house too. We taught our dogs to "check in", when we go to our barn we let the dogs loose, they will run off and play but come back to us to see what we are doing frequently. They learned this because when they were puppies we would let them get just out of sight and then whistle...when they came back they got a reward. We did this ALOT, we slowly added time, letting them be out of sight for longer bits of time. Never more than 5 minutes and this property is fenced, so they were safe. Today they both are velcro dogs and can't stand to be out of sight of us, in a familiar place such as the barn..they will wander and run and play, but only for a few moments at a time before checking in to see where we are. If they don't we whistle and they come running. We have cats at home, but they are dog wise and will not run from our dogs, and will pop them one when needed. When they encounter strange cats or anything else that moves quickly or runs, the herding dog instinct kicks in and they begin the chase. I can now recall them with a sharp "name, COME" or the whistle, and they will stop and come back to me. I do not punish for the chase, I reward them for disengaging and returning to me. Border collies have hyper focus, thats why they make the best herding dogs. Get to know and understand the breed by reading up on it, it will help you understand her and train her. Definately keep her excercised, this will take the edge off all that bottled up energy she has. Use playtime as teaching time. Work on your recall alot, it's one of the most important commands you can teach her. Also teach a "look" or Watch me" command, point to your eye, saying "look" or "watch me", when she makes eye contact, reward her. Extend the length of time she keeps eye contact slowly, this is important as well...it will help you with distraction training later. It teaches her to keep her focus on you. Consistency, Patience and Persistence...and you will have a well trained dog. IP: Logged |
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Maisey Member Posts: 309 |
posted 09-02-2003 11:15 AM
One more command....."leave it", use this for anything you want her to leave alone, you will be surprised how much you will use this one. I also use "enough", when I want them to stop something. They learned these very quickly. When she is going after the cat or even if she just looks over there, tell her "leave it", if she is already playing with the cat and becomes too rough...tell her "enough". Remember this though...if you say the command four times before you actually get up to remove her from the no no...she will quickly learn that she doesn't have to actually listen until the 4th time you say it. Say it once and mean it. (Yes I do think my dogs can count!) My husband has to say "come" at leaste twice before they come running...I only have to say it once. IP: Logged |
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lucidity03 Member Posts: 71 |
posted 09-02-2003 11:33 AM
Maisey, great advice! We're also working on a slightly different cat/dog situation. The leave it command works very well for us when it comes to the cats (now the cats have to learn to stop hiding since the dog won't bother them... but that's another story). We have a lot of work on recalling the dog. He does it every time in the house but NEVER outside. We've tried treats and it doesn't always work. But, using a toy is a great idea for us to train him with. He has a furry squeaky toy that I call his security blanket. I think I'll start to take it outside with us. Jamiya, I think that time, training, and patience will work well for you. Your dog is young and you seem to be on the right track! IP: Logged |
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Jamiya Member Posts: 49 |
posted 09-02-2003 11:47 AM
Thank you! Can you give me any tips on teaching Leave It and Enough? I know I read about how to do it, but I'd like to hear from someone who did it and had it work! Leave It required telling her to leave a ball alone....but I am teaching her to fetch - won't that be confusing?!
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Maisey Member Posts: 309 |
posted 09-02-2003 12:28 PM
LOL...not confusing because you will add in a release command. I know...ALOT of commands. But the bigger the dogs vocabulary, the better you communicate with them. If you are teaching her to leave the ball, tell her leave it, in the start hang on to her collar or place your arms around her chest to keep her from getting it. Don't expect her to wait for too long...keep it short at first. Watch for the hesitation...when you say leave it and she hesitates, tell her "OK" and BIG REWARD. You can do it with anything. Practice practice and more practice. Keep in mind she is only 4 months old, so keep training sessions simple and short. IP: Logged |
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lucidity03 Member Posts: 71 |
posted 09-02-2003 12:32 PM
The class I took taught us the leave it command with a treat on the ground (if your dog is tempted by treats). We walked (on leash) by the treat. When the dog would go down to grab the treat, we'd sharply say, 'leave it', yank on the leash and once their attention was away from the treat on the ground, we would praise the dog (like it was the best thing in the world) and give the dog a treat (NOT letting them have one on the ground since that defeats the purpose)... we'd give them a different treat. It worked well for us. Repitition is the key and we practiced it a great deal. But, my dog responds well to the leave it and the cats. We didn't do enough in class, but I do use it at home. Actually, I didn't do much to teach that one. Once he followed my enough, I praised him. He may have been taught by the owners before me. IP: Logged |
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jeminn Member Posts: 52 |
posted 09-03-2003 08:11 AM
Lots of good advice here. I have an Aussie that is almost 5 months old and one thing I would recommend is to not put your dog in a situation set up for him or her to fail. When I am outside with my aussie she is always on a long 12' lead so she can wander around while I go about what I am doing. Every few minutes or so I will pick up the lead, and say "JULES, HERE" (or "come"- whatever command you are using). And I real her in, have her sit at my feet. Then I reward her with lots of praise and a treat. They I tell her to "Go play" and let her explore, and repeat the whole thing about 5 minutes later. She is not the type of dog to go off too far, yet if she sees a bird or something very interesting to chase, then I can immediately recall her with the long lead. I am getting to the point where I have my children run off to play at the neighbors house, and as she begins the chasing game, I recall her with her long 12' lead and it works like a charm. I am setting her up for all the things that she will be exposed to when she is finally off the lead, hopefully. Birds flying that she wants to chase, dogs walking down the street, bikes riding by- I use every experience I can to teach her to come when she is called in a somewhat controlled environment. I am beginning to use the whistle now because we live in the mountains and I want her to be whistle trained for hikes etc. When you work with your dog, try to keep the whole experience praise driven and controlled so she cannot fail at this stage and age. As she matures, you can set her up for some more independent trials, but the more rewards, praise and good behavior your can bring out during these puppy months the easier her obedience training will be as she matures. IP: Logged |
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