I may have to rehome my Theo.
We knew when we took him in that he didn't get along with cats - he thinks they're his super-special squeaky chew-toys. We have 4 cats.
First thing we did when we brought him home (long story - he came into the shelter I volunteer at as a stray, my neighbor who has lots of Shepherd experience adopted him, but then the neighbor bought a new business and didn't have time for him, so one day when the dog wandered off and the sheriff picked him up, the neighbor called me and said, "Do you want my dog? He's at the dog pound, you can go pick him up - I'm done with him"
) was to call a professional dog trainer and get him into obedience lessons. We talked about the cat thing and asked if there was any hope of him ever living in harmony with the cats. Because he isn't aggressive with them, he just wants to play too roughly, the dog trainer (who breeds, raises, and trains the most beautiful German Shepherds) told us there was definately hope if we were consistent and put a LOT of time into it.
So, that's what I've been doing. He can be in a room with a cat now (on-leash), look at it and ignore it as long as the cat is not moving. If the cat moves a muscle, he lunges after it and starts throwing a "hissy fit" that he can't get to it. And this is after 6 months of training.
He took to all the other training perfectly - he sits/lies down/stays on command, he automatically lies down during feeding time while I'm pouring his food in the bowl and waits to be released to "Go Eat". He's reliable off-leash - actually, he sticks to me like velcro and doesn't go more than 50 feet away from me when we go on our long off-leash romps around the property. Even if he sees a deer or a squirrel and takes off chasing it, all it takes is a word to bring him running right back.
But he can't concentrate when he's around the cats in the house. He's a good boy, but I swear he has ADD. Any training suggestions from all you Shepherd experts that could make it work? I'd hate to have to force the poor boy to adjust to a whole new home all over again (he's very closely bonded to me, and we just finished sorting out some separation anxiety issues he's been having), but right now, it's looking like the only option.
We knew when we took him in that he didn't get along with cats - he thinks they're his super-special squeaky chew-toys. We have 4 cats.
First thing we did when we brought him home (long story - he came into the shelter I volunteer at as a stray, my neighbor who has lots of Shepherd experience adopted him, but then the neighbor bought a new business and didn't have time for him, so one day when the dog wandered off and the sheriff picked him up, the neighbor called me and said, "Do you want my dog? He's at the dog pound, you can go pick him up - I'm done with him"
So, that's what I've been doing. He can be in a room with a cat now (on-leash), look at it and ignore it as long as the cat is not moving. If the cat moves a muscle, he lunges after it and starts throwing a "hissy fit" that he can't get to it. And this is after 6 months of training.
He took to all the other training perfectly - he sits/lies down/stays on command, he automatically lies down during feeding time while I'm pouring his food in the bowl and waits to be released to "Go Eat". He's reliable off-leash - actually, he sticks to me like velcro and doesn't go more than 50 feet away from me when we go on our long off-leash romps around the property. Even if he sees a deer or a squirrel and takes off chasing it, all it takes is a word to bring him running right back.
But he can't concentrate when he's around the cats in the house. He's a good boy, but I swear he has ADD. Any training suggestions from all you Shepherd experts that could make it work? I'd hate to have to force the poor boy to adjust to a whole new home all over again (he's very closely bonded to me, and we just finished sorting out some separation anxiety issues he's been having), but right now, it's looking like the only option.
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