CollieChaos

Thankyou everyone for your constant judging, and close minded behaviour. This will be my last post on this forum. I will not update you on his progress, all I will say is that the trainer we have seen today is going to help us in correcting his undesirable behaviour. I will never get rid of him, or any of my animals for behaviours that can be corrected with time and patience (or for any other stupid reason you might come up with). This forum has never been helpful for me at all. No threads that I have made have helped answer any questions I have had in a productive manner. You have all made assumptions on my character, and my animals based on no solid information. I was warned to stay away from this forum because of the nasty, judgmental, non-progressive ways, and I wish I had of listened. Maybe if some of you pulled the stick out, you would learn that not everyone has the same set of ideals for their animals, and that not everyone wants their animals to act in the same way. Some people find different behaviours unacceptable. Also, Keetamouse, if you read back in the thread, there are several references of human behaviors for the dogs made by other members, but none by me.

Please read the whole thread before making a comment. I didnt realise that not wanting my dog to behave aggressively meant I was stubborn, that must be a new trend...

I'm not ignoring it, I am listening to it, but not utilizing it, there is a difference :) Its nice to hear your Bull Terrier is chilled out, most of the ones I have met have been untrained and not easily handled. The last one I walked with jumped up and bit me on the face (playfully of course) when I bent over to pick up her poop lol

As you wish! :D Raikou; Fearless protector of the kitchen and keeper of the sacred tea towel

Thanks for the well wishes Persephone, I outlined my wishes,and aims for Orion, and the trainer said that she has some techniques which may help. I will definately keep you guys updated on the results, and how things pan out over the next few months with his issue, and the hopeful eventual resolution of this undesirable (for me) behaviour.

Wow Juice, take a chill pill....youve been spending too much time with your bull terriers. And for the record, the total number of incidents is 3.

As I have already stated, I want my cats to be safe around my dog when he is eating. Some people may not agree with me wanting to control my animals behaviour, and thats fine, you don't need to loose sleep about it. I have made my decision on how I want my animals to behave and I am consulting with a trainer tomorrow who thinks they can help us achieve that goal.

The incident which prompted me to post this thread, there was only a snap, no growling, and no other warnings, instant snap when the cat came into his bowl. I have said many times I do not encourage the behaviour with the cat, and I shoo him off if I notice him being a seagull. The dog has a "fenced" (a fence of cardboard about 3 foot high) area in my bedroom where he sleeps (in a crate) and eats. He has always had this area, but Raikou jumps it as he likes to play with Orion.

I dont think i have ever said that the behaviour my cat was displaying was ok. If you can find somewhere where I have said that, please correct me. I have owned staffies in the past, so i do have knowledge on what that side of bull breeds is like to own. I have worked with countless bull terriers, and i know what they can be like as well, hence why I wouldn't ever own them. Orion has met my rats (and my other species of animals) and is ok with them all. I dont ever let my rats interact with him unsupervised as he tries to play with them and they dont exactly play the same way.

I'm not a fan of common names like Charlie, Bella, Molly, Max etc I don't mind matching names too much. I've had a "Barra" and "Kuda" pair of staffies. My current pets are called: -Orion (Border Collie) -Cougar (DSH Cat, not named by me, she was a rescue) -Raikou (Siamese, the name is a type of Pokemon) -Primrose (Scottish fold rescue) -Tilly (DMH cat, not named by me, shes a rescue) -Helga (Rabbit, rescue) -MacGyver (Rabbit, daughter of Helga) -Checkers (Rabbit) -Bishamon (Rat, the name is a japanese god) -Barely (Rat, named because he barely has a blaze) -Boney (Rat, named by a friend who wanted to call him Boner) -Blizzard (Rat, named because he is all white) -Boycott (Rat, leftover from a litter, named because nobody wanted her) -Bacci (Rat, named for her kisses) -Barika (Rat, her name is an anagram of a prior rat, Bakari) -Blandfordia (Rat, named for her Aunt, Bland, and is a type of plant) -Boronia (Rat, sister to blandfordia, also a type of plant) -Banksia (Rat, sister to Boronia and Blandfordia, also a type of plant) I also like hilarious random names, for example, I know a rescue dog who was called fluffy, but is now War Machine. I also know a cat whos dad had the choice of naming the cat, or naming the daughter. He decided to call the cat Madame Whiplash...thank god he didnt name the daughter! We have a client where I work with a dog called D4, he corrects you if you pronounce it "deefa" and tells you no its "D-four"....

Juice, Rats and Cats are a much loved and important part of my family, please think about how comments like that may hurt the feelings of those people lucky to have them in their lives. I could just as easily say bull terriers are horrible dogs that are always neurotic, aggressive, and not safe to own by using media generalisations. However, I know better than that because I don't believe everything the media tells me. For the record, I love bullies (but wouldnt ever own one), just needed to use an example that was close to your heart, as you did to me. Just because an animal is small, or considered vermin, it doesnt mean they can't love, or be loved.

Thats if your dogs actually get any breakfast :p rats are quick and smart ;)

@sheena, actually yes i do feed them together/have them interacting on a regular basis. @juice, i do understand exactly what everyone is saying, im not simple. I just dont agree with it in context of my animals/my ideals :) The cat is indeed a siamese, he doesn't learn very quickly though like most siams lol he's a little special in the head. Squirt bottles are basically the only thing that makes him move away from whatever undesirable behaviour he chooses (his favourite activity is bread stealing if we happen to leave bread out.....worst carnivor ever!)

Thanks for the well wishes Haredown. No I have never owned horses, they are a creature I will always admire from a far. Theyre beautiful, but not for me. You don't need to worry about the cat punishment, he knows the sound of the squirt bottle all to well. Most of the time you just need to shake the water bottle and he will run off/stop doing whatever he is doing. My other 3 cats are "angels" compared to him lol!!

Show dog, I am INCREDIBLY offended by your post. How dare you make assumptions on myself, and the way I raise my animals, and that I would make my animals suffer because I expect them to behave appropriately. How would you know what his patience level is like? You havent even met him, or seen what he does. Assumptions are a dangerous thing. Dogs are a domestic animal, and in my eyes, no domestic animal should show aggression, ever. Natural or instinctive aggressive behaviors are not acceptable for a domestic animal, hence why breeders "test" the temperament of their animals. I breed rats, any rat that shows aggression to myself, or another rat, or is overly skittish without handling from a young age is promptly put to sleep. Now obviously I am not going to do that with my dog, hence why I have asked for help. People on this thread have done nothing but tell me I'm wrong, and that I'm not doing the right thing and that what my dog is doing is ok, and that I should separate them whilst they are eating, which to me, is just a band aid and does not address the problem at its source. I do not encourage the behaviour at all, I try to keep my cat away from him at feed times (mostly because its dog food, not cat food), but I do NOT want to spend the next 15 years on my toes around feed time for something that should be addressed now, when he is still young enough to correct the issue. For the record, there has been no incidents for a few days now, the cat has come close to him whilst eating, but not eating from his bowl (because I have caught him early enough) and there has been no reaction. Obviously, by the standards of some people on this forum, food aggression from dogs towards animals is ok. I have no idea what would make any one think this.

Woah ok this is the last time I come asking for advice. Sorry if what I want from my animals, doesn't match what others want. I'm not trying to argue that others methods are wrong, or dont work, just that they dont match my ideals for my pets. I will continue to just read threads and be in the background, instead of trying to be part of the "community". Sorry.

How am I supposed to know that they are a dog trainer? My aim with my dog is obviously different from the ideals that are held here, which there is nothing wrong with that, it just doesnt suit what I want from my dog, and I do not think my expectations are unrealistic, and I do think that he can be helped, its just a matter of finding someone who can help us and at least trying :) Here they are playing together, just because I like to show them off :p

Thanks for your input. I am going to consult a professional instead.

Whilst I do appreciate the advice, I am after methods for training him not to snap at my cats, not reasons for why it is ok for him to do this. I would rather a fix, than a bandaid (like putting him in his crate). I don't want to end up with an adult dog (he's a border collie) that might attack my cats if they come near him whilst he is chewing a treat, or eating his dinner. Typically the cats are fed first, then him, and it is done in seperate rooms, today however he was fed a little later than the cats, hence why the siamese came wandering. I don't want him to share his dinner, as the cat has cat food for a reason, I just don't want him to snap at the cats if they happen to wander close without me noticing.

My new puppy (well he's 4 months old now, so not so new anymore), has been exhibiting food aggression towards one of my cats. It's only ever been when he has been eating and my Siamese (the most confident of my 4 cats, and his BEST friend) comes over to eat some of his food with him (not something I encourage, I do try to get the cat away when he comes to scab food). Orion, the puppy, will growl at the cat, and this morning I gave him some wet food (more high value), and he snapped at Raikou (pronounced rye-koo, the siamese) when he came over for a bite. This is totally unacceptable in my books, and have been giving him a stern NO and taking the food away.....what else can I do? I don't want my cats to get hurt just because he is being a jerk

Poor Bones, she's just misunderstood!! ;) (I'm BarraKudaRodentry from the rat forum :p )

We have a dog at work who was a rescue who was called Fluffy, the new owners didn't like it so change his name to War Machine lmao he's a little maltese cross type thats sweet as a button!

Very interesting concept. As a rat owner, I know what its like to have everyone consider your pets vermin, I wish them luck in achieving their goals.

*bump* he is getting his second vacc tomomrrow, I will mention it to the vet to see if they have any suggestions *goes off to vacuum some more*

I bought one of the animates ones from pet barn for my border, it seems pretty sturdy to me, but he doesn't chew on it so I can't say how well it would stand up to Roo jaws.