dog dominating cat problem

Jotter

Hi All

smee again, more questions! We have 2 cats and a pup. All were getting on ok or so we thought. One cat ignores pup, pup chases him but if he gets too close he gets a swipe and pup is back in his place which is fine. The other cat however is giving us cause for concern.
He was a rescue cat and is a lovely friendly guy. He gets on with everyone and everything and is a real crowd pleaser. When pup was introduced we tried to do it slowly but cat no 2 was in sleeping with him in the first week so we thought happy days, all is well.
Trouble is the pup is a dominent little fecker and spends his days standing over the cat, if the cat goes to move away the dog stands on his face or bites his ear. We had asked a trainer about this and she said the cat would swipe if he was being hurt or didnt like it and its up to him to put the dog in his place. This cat isnt very cat like though, he doesnt groom himself, doesnt jump doesnt hunt and very rarely swipes at dog and even when he does he doesnt go for him the way he needs to, just gives the tinest little miaow. The cat will still hang around the dog so we thought they were getting on ok despite all this, until yesterday, I noticed a big patch of hair missing from the cats fur. Its coming out in clumps and I can only assume its stress caused by the dog as hes defleaed and wormed every month and its never happened before. He also appears to have lost weight although hes eating ok. Were bringing him to vet on mon to rule out anything medical but does anyone know how we can get the dog to back off a bit as hes very big and musclely already and I dont want him to end up hurting cat badly even if he is just playing about.
This is a very wilful little pup, hes good for us and the kids only bec we try to stay on top of his manners 24/7 but as far as other animals go its a different story, hes a little brat.
Any advice appreciated, thanks.

peasant

Very, very simple ....don't let him.

Your house, your cats, your rules ...not his ...he needs to be made understand that.

Jotter

yes but how!! We did the feed the cats first before him but this doesnt work. We tried giving out to him and he backs off for a bit then hes off again. We tried with the lead, walking him to cat then praising when hes good and taking him away if he goes for cat. We tried ignoring it and he goes to town. We used those discs to distract him when he makes a run for it, now he doesnt bat an eyelid at them. We tell him to sit and stay when cat enters room, which in fairness he does, only if we stay there watching but as soon as he gets out the back with the cat hes dancing all over him. Im running out of ideas but will try ANYTHING!!

fits

I'm no expert at all... but I think I would tell him off with a strict no, and if he doesnt stop I'd put him out of the room.... let him back in after a little while and if he starts again, he's out. He'll learn quickly that he cant be with his 'pack' unless he leaves the cat alone.

peasant

You're basicallly doing all the right things already.

Forget about leads and disks, just tell him "NO!" every time he gets too much.

Let him know you're watching him, tell him "NO!" before he is about to go for the cat..

Interfere physically, if needs be, i. e. pull him away (swiftly and decisively, no wrestling matches please)

This will teach him the rules and tell him that the cat is under your jurisdiction and not to be messed with

If he gets really nasty or doesn't heed the "NO!", pull him away and separate him from the group for a few minutes (put him in another room/outside on his own ...somwhere where can "cool off" safely without needing supervision ...because supervision = attention and that's what you want to withdraw as punishment)

This will tell him that disobeying your rules is swiftly followed be exclusion from the group (which to a dog is a very undesirable punishment)

Keep at it vigourously and consequently, the message will sink in after a while.

You might not get instant success (he's only young and still learning) but you you should see improvement over a few days.

Remember ...every time you let him get away with being nasty to the cat you can basically start from fresh again ...so be vigilant at all times.

Even later, when the message has sunk in, he will probably need to be reminded from time to time.

as you learn to read your dog, you'll be more and more able to catch him BEFORE he gets nasty, which in turn makes it easier for him to stop doing so and over time an occasional "don't even think about it" should be enough.


EDIT:

or just do as fits said

fits

peasant wrote:

EDIT:

or just do as fits said

Well you put it so much more eloquently!

Jotter

thanks guys will give that a go, like I said hes going to be bigger than most boxers so if I dont nip this in the bud now the poor cat will lose more than his fur!