Dog chasing cats

[Blodwyn]

Our dog, adopted 9 months ago, has started chasing our cats in the house. They are terrified of course. We are looking after a kitten and the dog opened the door into the room, chased and grabbed him. He appears unhurt but traumatised and is keeping to a high shelf.

People have suggested a water spray or one of those electric shock collars, but the problem is occasional and we probably won't have the items to hand, she moves fast. Any ideas?

[Chancer]

Euthanasia or a ready supply of kittens for the dogs occasional cravings.

[Patf]

An adult cat should teach the dog a lesson itself (scratch on the nose etc.) Hopefully the kitten will learn in time.

It's such a strong instinct in some dogs, very difficult to train out of. My parents had a Jack Russel, and one day he grabbed a cat and we had to prise his jaws open.

[lindal1000]

Don't leave the cat and dog together unsupervised and make sure the cat always has an escape route. Our dog lived happily with our old cat until he died. The cat couldn't run but whacked him round the face a few times. However he'll still chase other cats, especially if they run!

[DerekJ]

More concerned about bloody dogs chasing me as a cyclist. Total pain.

[lindal1000]

We have a herding breed dog and if we let him off lead he chases cyclists..he can't help himself and no amount of training can stop it. We work on prevention rather than cure! He also barks at them out of the car window. If it helps any if you are chased the best thing to do is to get off the bike and put your bike between you and the dog. Most of them are just interested in running after something that moves.

[DerekJ]

If a dog can't be controlled it shoud be stopped from having unfettered public access.

[Blodwyn]

Thanks for helpful replies, not for the irrelevant ones! We've had dogs and cats for years with no problems. Now they are kept apart when we are out. As I said, we are looking after the kitten and he should go home in a week or so. Two cats are mostly indoors and another only comes in for meals now.

The problem is in the house when we are there - every now and then a switch seems to go in the dog's brain and she goes into chase mode. Our other dog is no problem and the cats know that but are very wary of the chaser. The house is small so it's hard to keep them apart all the time, and I like my cats around me.

[lindal1000]

Our dog doesn't have unfettered public access Derekj. He's always on his lead in public. I was offering you the advice in case you came across any that were as some people don't care and sometimes even well controlled dogs escape. I'm a cyclist myself and have often been chased and used the getting off the bike strategy myself. One of our strategies with our dog to try and get him a bit better with cyclists was to train him to follow behind me on my mountain bike. He does that quite well after his initial excitement, but unfortunately it hasn't stopped him wanting to chase after others. He also wants to chase cars as well..another reason we don't let him out on the road!

Some dogs just chase and although you can work and work on it day after day, in some the instinct is just too strong to stop. Our other dog, in complete contrast is the most incredibly docile, calm and loving dog..but she was a rescue and probably a chasse dog, and I would trust her less with a cat than the other one.

[lindal1000]

There are some training techniques you can try Blodwyn. If you Google 'dogs chasing cats', there are some videos of various techniques. If the dog responds to 'leave' and you can break the urge, get him to come to you, reward, and then keep practicing, eventually it will sink in. Chasing is really pleasurable and exiting for them so you have to try and find a replacement activity that is more exiting. After 5 years ours will respond to 'leave' for a treat providing he is close to us. You can sometimes break chasing by teaching the dog to 'wait', throwing a toy but tell him to wait..and then tell him to go a fetch it. This teaches them a bit of impulse control. Give lots of rewards when they do it. (Works great in theory).

https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-problems/dog-chases-cat/

[mogs]

We fostered a kitten a couple of years ago and was a bit concerned about how much our 6 year old dog seemed to "love" the kitten, playing what appeared quite roughly at the time, but both animals seemed to enjoy each other, and softer moments proved this.

Since then we adopted another kitten ourselves, our dog just loved him, played rough with him, played gentle with him and now 2 years on, protects him from our other cats if she thinks he's geing attacked.

My point is maybe they are just playing?

[Blodwyn]

I don't think the cats are playing! They are terrified by a heavy barking dog rushing at them. They look round before they enter a room to check if she's there. Dog is rather dim and 9 years old, but I can try teaching her to 'leave'.

[Rodrigo]

You can increase the dog’s desire to chase cats, if you become tied to a rope, while the cat will carefully walk alongside, sometimes even provoking the dog.