herding cats-strong herding instinct.

[Estella'smom]

It is day three of life with Estella and she is turning out to be a marvelous girl. She sleeps all night in her crate without incident. She is beginning to present herself at the back door when she needs to go to the bathroom. She is very sociable and has made friends with every human she has met. Frankly, I am head over heals in love.

She does , however, seem to have a strong herding instinct. The only time she barks is at the cats. They have accepted her and even had a nap a few feet from her. When she is awake and powered up she will give little barks and jump from side to side to tell the cats to move. This makes them hiss.

I am trying to tire her out with long walks and ball games in the back yard. The cats like to come out and watch. Just now, I called her to come in the house with me and she would not leave the yard until she had gotten the cats herded into the house with her jump and bark routine.

The cats do not seem traumatized. They just look annoyed but they do what she says. Should I look on with amusement or try to intervene?

 

[Jess041]

Honestly, I would just let them work it out for a bit. Those cats will tell her when they've had enough of her herding (if they ever get to that point). My dog likes to play with my cat when she gets bored and does little jumps and barks and likes to put her butt up against him like she's going to sit on him. She doesn't hurt him, but I can tell when he's getting annoyed and trying to retreat, so I call her over and offer her a toy to play with.

I would not let her dictate when she gets to listen to you, as in, if you're calling her but she won't come until she has the cats, no way. It's ok to bark and herd the cats, but she needs to listen to mom too.

 

[Lunatic59]

While it's cute behavior in a pup, she's far too young to be making the decisions about socialization. She could easily get a little too frisky with an adult animal and end up on the wrong end of a cat (or another dog). Supervised play is the key.

Don't worry if one day she seems to forget all her manners and have accidents in the house, ignore anything you have to say and fight the crate. She's going to test both her and your limits to figure them out. I'm not saying it will happen that way, but it's up to you to keep in control. If you give it to her, she'll take it.

 

[mellie]

Well, I think it is convenient to have a cat herder around !! I agree, let them work it out and just watch to make sure Estella isn't too rough with them. Cats will usually make it pretty clear if they have had enough of it.

 

[Katagaria]

How do the cats react? Do they run? Bat your girl with their paws?

We had four cats when we first got Cosmo, he wasn't quite sure what to make of them, but they soon put him in his place if he got too curious. Though there was one cat we have in particular that is terrified of everything and would run off, meaning Cosmo would chase after her.

Not long before Jet arrived, we got a kitten (our 5th cat) who was the same age as our puppies. So they grew up together and became great buds who often stick to each other. I found that Garfield's presence with our shelties calmed them a lot when it came to their thoughts of cats. They no longer find themselves in the position where they get swatted at, and they rarely chase, only calmly follow the cats around.

I do find that the cats will sort out the relationship between them and your dog out. If they don't like something, they will tell your dog (usually with a hiss or a bat with a paw). Our boys react totally differently to each cat based on how they are treated in return. With Garfield (who they grew up with) they manage to play and get close without worrying about his reaction because they are familiar with each other. With Sox (our top cat) they have the utmost respect for him and give him space.

Also, I found Cosmo had a lot of pent up energy and no-one to let it out on, so he let it out on the cats when we didn't yet have Jet around. Be sure to play with your dog, let her get out all that mental energy she has and she won't feel such a huge urge to interact with the cats.

Just my experience with shelties vs. cats.

 

[Laddie's Mom]

My Laddie tried and still does try, to herd our cat, Robbie. LOL, Robbie just looks at him and tolerates it and then, when he has had enough, he runs away. They seem to really like each other however, I love watching them.

 

[corbinam]

Unless you see one party being bullied, I would let them work it out. My dogs herd my cat and I think he secretly enjoys it. He instigates them to chase him, and he chases them, too!

When he has had enough he knows the places to go to get away.

 

[Tagg]

The cats were there first and they know too well how to show displeasure. If they can't stop the dog expect them to take it out on you. A favourite thing to do is stop using the litter box. They have to feel safe going in and out of it and if they think the dog is going to trap them - get ready for extra cleaning.
Usually, if the cat is not the type to run, it will scare the bejeepers out of the pup when it has had enough. If it is a runner, then you have to take over for it and stop the pup from disturbing the cat. Our dogs do not chase the cats - ever! However, only their cats - which includes out barn cats - are left alone. If a stray comes into the yard they are after it and ignore me completely.
Tonight I have my daughter's two shelties for a 3 day visit. They don't chase their cat Flitt, but won't leave mine alone so I have rigged a barrier so they can't go upstairs and moved the kitty food, water and litter up there wo the cats can have a quiet upstairs to themselves. Even so, one of mine didn't realize the "cousins" were back and it was game on. I scolded both dogs and sent them to the kitchen. I'm sure that the next time I will have to remind them that cat chasing is not allowed here but they stopped dead when "grammy" asked them in a louder growly voice "what do you think you are doing?"