can a dog be taught not to chase the cats?

[Dar]

Due to a house fire I have my moms dog. He is a great dog spoiled ROTTEN he is such a suck my parents have made the grave mistake of treating him like a child rather then a dog. He listens and is great with my dogs and my kids. To get him to eat dinner he has to sit with the rest of the family and eat he will not eat alone. I know big mistake dont get me started! I warned them.. but ITS THEIR DOG. things happened now I have custody of the dog.

He does have a few annoying habits though. He paces. I know he is doing it because this is not his house and everything is tossed in the air right now so I guess I have to be patient. He chases my cats to no end!

right now I have my cats locked up in the upper part of the house while the dogs have the run of the down stairs. When we go to bed the cats will locked in my room and the computer room. There is a door that joins rooms. During the day when the dogs have the man floor the cats can go outside so they are not cooped up.

When my moms dog hears the cats, sees the cats he looses his mind running and whining and barking. If this living arrangement is going to work we need to come to some sort of resolution! I am not asking the to snuggle or be best buds... but at least for there to be open doors and this dog not chase my cats.

My moms dog is a Chow Husky X neutered male, basic manners but the stay command goes right out the window when there is a cat involved.

I have tried to keep him on the leash and slowly walk him up to the cat but he looses his mind. 2 of my cats pull moves right out of the Matrix when they see him now because he has tormented them

this living arrangement may be for as long as 6 months until everything gets sorted out by the insurance

thanks for any advice...

 

[Katy]

That's going to be a tough mix of breeds to get to stop. My son's border collie mix was taught to sic cats by his first owner but with some work he now is very trust worthy around cats, but it took awhile.

 

[gritsar]

Try a shake can. Jax and Kane both liked to chase the cats when they were little. We introduced a shake can - a coke can filled with a handful of pennies and wrapped in duct tape.
When they would chase the cats, we would throw a shake can at them and say "nein!" (no!). We would aim to hit them; wrapped in tape the can doesn't hurt them. They learned real quick that chasing cats was not allowed.
We made several cans so we could have one handy at all times.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep to the OP's question~ and I really LIKE Gritsar's method!

My Lab mix was trained by my older Lab mix to not chase cats....single lunge and growl did the trick. All I had to do is the "aaaaaaaaattttt!" sound to get the same result. He hasn't chased one in years now.

 

[redhen]

Yup.. Gritty has a good idea!..
If that doesnt work.. you may have to keep him on a long leash..and correct him FIRMLY when he does it... eventually he'll catch on that its a no-no.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My cats actually taught my dogs to behave. All of them have their claws and very sharp teeth. The dogs still like to chase them, but when push comes to shove they will back off if the cats get cornered. I'm convinced that the cats egg them on. I have seen the cats torment the sleeping dogs to wake them up and then run away. The dogs chase and inevitably get run into door frames and walls. Sigh. You'd think they would learn.

Mine are boxers though and they likely don't have the same prey drive as the husky. Grits' shake can seems like a great idea.

 

[michickenwrangler]

We do train our dog to chase cats--mainly because they are always trying to get fish out of our pond. When the dog goes to stay at my mother's, she also encourages chasing because the cats poop in her garden and scare away birds from the feeder

However, our dog can be called off. We call her off other animals: rabbits, deer, turkeys, raccoons and she will listen. If I need to call her off a cat for whatever reason, she does respond. She will also only chase cats as far as the property line.

Consistentcy when we called her off other animals. "Blazer!" and by extension she can now be called off cats.

Small dogs are another matter, she has a very strong prey drive for small dogs, especially if they are yapping

 

[hunterjumper999]

I have pit bulls. none bother the cats except Ms. Bug. The can method has gotten her from the point where she was catching and killing to the point where she just pounces in place. She won't rip the leash out of your hand anymore and run after them. We also took her to boot camp so the thought to ever fully take the 6' of the leash never crosses her mind anymore. We worked on leash in the house for about 6 months. perhaps if he has leash manners try that.

 

[sourland]

I would never trust a mature chow/husky X around cats there is too high a prey drive there. If he had been raised with cats- no problem. It will take some serious dedicated work and help from a trainer to improve his idea of what he thinks he is supposed to do. Right now he thinks he is supposed to kill cats- not just chase them. It's hardwired into him, and it sounds like he has been in control of his previous situation.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Oh, our cats definitely egg the dogs on. For instance, another rule around here is no sniffing of kitty butts. Remember I have GSDs and they like to sniff everything. The worse it smells the better.

Jax and Kane know it's not allowed, but KiKi (the siamese) will literally back her butt up into their faces. What's a poor dog to do?? Remember the siamese pair from Lady & The Tramp? KiKi is just like that. Always out to get the dogs in trouble.