Will our dogs ever like cats?

[LindsayB]

Last weekend someone dumped 2 female cats in the dead end next to our house. Poor things were just skin and bones and apparently had just weaned a litter bc they were both drying up. I have been feeding them so for now they are hanging out around our house, which I don't mind at all. Our 2 dogs on the other hand have a huge problem with it lol. We have a full blooded german shepherd and a medium terrier mix that both love to kill things, from rats to raccoons...whenever we let them in the backyard they go absolutely crazy and chase the cats back into the woods behind our house. Ive tried putting them on a leash and letting the cats walk around them but that has not helped. Does anyone have any advice or am I just wasting my time? Will they ever be able to live around eachother? I have called 6 no-kill shelters in our area to see if they could take the cats but they are totally full.

 

[LindsayB]

okay I have 3 other post above this one...I guess it happened when the forum was having issues. Just ignore them, sorry!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Yes you can do a lot about your situation. First solution will take an emmense amount of time. Second solution is to drop them off at a shelter, kill or no ASAP.

As for getting your dogs to like the cats. It may or may not happen. If you have your dogs already well trained you can use thier obedience to teach them to leave the cats alone. If they have little or no training or are unreliable then you have months of work ahead of you. It will take concentrated, consistent obedience and leadership training for both of your dogs. First, separately, then together. They need a solid "no", "leave it", "quiet" and "down" commands. "Come here" is always very useful as well.

Your dogs are not going to get to "like" the cats on their own. You have to step up and show them that aggression to these new pets is unacceptable and teach them what IS acceptable. Good luck

If you want to go the training route I would hire a trainer or to go an obedience class.

 

[SmartyChick]

My dog doesn't "like" my cat but respects it. If the cats are adults and somewhat strong I think they can fend for themselves. I waited til my cat was settled in then made sure he was in an area where he could hide/escape and let my dog loose. After a few snarls and hisses and swats they now respect each other and can co-exist. Just keep an eye out and make sure the dogs don't gang up on the kitties.

 

[Akane]

The best way to teach a dog not to chase a cat is to never let them do it in the first place. Pretty much for every time they get to chase the cat it takes 10 more times of reprimanding them before they'll give up the behavior. If they never get the opportunity they never have the fun and soon enough they forget about the cats because nothing interesting happens when they are around. That means though that unless you have them trained to stop the instant you say something you will have to leash them every time they go outside with the cats around until they have forgotten about chasing them and you have trained them to stop when you say so. This could take months for some dogs.