Dog And Cat Issue

[Georgia'sMum]

Tully will bark at and chase any cat she sees on our walks, even though she has her own kitty.

I dont quite agree with leaving it to them to work out. Georgia is young so still needs lessons on appropriate behaviour. And as an adolescent they are not very good at working out boundries and space and need someone to point that out. By leaving it to Oscar to work out you are kind of expecting him to change his personality rather than Georgia. Perhaps as an outside cat he has learnt not to take on anything bigger than him as a matter of survival.

So as the leader in your household if you see Georgia annoying Oscar do step in and tell her no. It may even be worthwhile to stop her before she goes after Oscar if he is showing 'anger' signals, that way she learns them as well. When you arent around just make sure Oscar has always got an excape route.

Oh I definitely step in. She knows the "leave it" command and I use that frequently regarding the cat. But sometimes she's so worked up about it, that its hard to get her attention. The truth is Oscar has been here a lot longer and he deserves to have his own space. Expecting the cat to change is just crazy, its not going to happen, its just his personality. He's like that with most people too, he loves me and our immediate family fortunately.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I firmly believe that A LOT has to do with the energy the cat is giving off. Some cats have a nervous (ie. alert) energy at all times and some are really mellow. I think the mellow ones fare a lot better with dogs.

My parent's have a dog friendly cat and I also have friends with dog friendly cats. My dogs have no issues with these cats and actually play with them, but will lunge and bark at cats on walks. Like Miko's Mom said, it probably has to do with the energy of the cats. Plus when they're nervous and run, it triggers that herding instinct, which ramps up their excitement as well.

Oh I definitely step in. She knows the "leave it" command and I use that frequently regarding the cat. But sometimes she's so worked up about it, that its hard to get her attention.

If I see the cats before my shelties do, the 'leave it' command works, but this isn't always the case. My only suggestion would be to make the 'leave it' command more valuable by giving her high value treats for listening. That way she'll want to listen more than she wants to carry on.

 

[marymrumfelt]

I have an almost six-yr-old declawed cat... she's grumpy and doesn't like other animals- no matter what species they are. Well, Theo ignores her mostly and if he gets too close Astrid will hiss, but for the most part Theo is intimidated and backs off- he's not a confrontational pup at all. Lily, however, is totally opposite. I'm pretty sure she's not being confrontational or mean, but anytime she sees the cat she runs over to her and starts wagging her tail/jumping/bowing basically anything to get the cat to "play." At first, I thought the same thing as some of you-- let them work it out. Astrid has slapped Lily hundreds of times, hissed, growled, but nothing works... Lily never gives up. The more the cat slaps, the more Lily bows and jumps and even whines at her. I've been trying to work w/her and get her to sit calmly when she sees the cat. Astrid shouldn't have to hide or be forced to play if she doesn't want to! Lily hasn't shown much progress, but I'm holding out hope....as a little pup she would bark at her, and she's quit doing that. so, maybe it will get better!