Getting Along With The Cat

[aussiecattledog]

I'm a first time dog owner and relatively young, so I didn't make the best choice of picking out a breed to suit our home. Our dog's a blue heeler cross Kelpie, and while we've managed to take care of most of her breed traits we still have an issue with prey drive. She's generally very well behaved, very smart and obedient just like her breed is meant to be, and (thank goodness!) not very destructive any more, and she doesn't play bite either. BUT, of course like all puppies she still misbehaves.

:/ that's puppies I guess.

She's fine with the chickens, we've seperated them from each other and she doesn't even bother trying to get to them, she used to get a little annoyed when I gave them food of course but that's no longer an issue. The bigger problem was always the cat. He's an older cat, which made it harder, a and sometimes a BIG wuss, and we didn't go through introducing them very well either, all mistakes I will definately not make again in future. II shouldn't have gotten a high prey drive breed to mingle with a cat. Of course I understand it is possible for any dog breed to mingle or at least respect other species but being a first time dog owner I could have chosen an easier option.

The dog's 10 months old now and as time goes by we have had less and less issues with them and I'm sure once the dog's matured and neutered she'll calm down a lot more and hopefully get along a lot better. However I still plan to actively train both of them to co-exist a lot better. They don't always have issues, for the most of the day they ignore each other and mind their own business, the cat has his spot in the backyard and the dog hers, the cat tends to stick around the fence and sleeps most of the day or hangs aorund the chicken coop where the dog won't bother him. But the dog sometimes will bark or try to chase the cat if he tries to walk across the backyard or sticks around her bed area which is near the back door. She used to chase him over the fence heaps but we've managed to control that behaviour a lot more and the cat is learning to gain more confidence around the dog also. I'm continuing to work on that, I can call back the dog now when she starts to pester the cat, which is generally mostly friendly behaviour, like walking around him, sniffing ang wagging her tail, and hen she gets a little annoyed and starts to bark I correct the behaviour, bring her back to my heel and get her to sit-stay. Is this an appropraite method for this issue?

The main problem however is when we put the cat inside the dog tends to get frustrated and barks at him. We've been calmly discplening her when she barks and rewarding her when she's quite, or putting down the blinds and ignoring her but we haven't broken the behaviour entirely yet. I don't plan for the cat and dog to be the best of friend's but I would like some tips on how I can at least stop the dog from pestering the cat when he's inside the hosue and in view. She gets especially annoyed when I play fight with the cat, like play biting or chasing after my feet, she gets pretty worked up sometimes when he does this, she seems to think I'm in danger or something.

I'd appreactiate all advice. Right now I'm sitting beside my dog and the cat's grooming himself not far away. :) hopefully it'll be like this all the time.

[HugL]

I wish all first time owners were like you! IMO you are doing a great job and your dog is lucky to have you.

Not sure if this advice is any help but... Have you a special chew that the dog can have only while you play with the cat. She may come to realise she gets a reward that she really enjoys when you are having cat time.

We did it the other way around and our GSD raised the kitten we found. While I wouldn't say they're best mates, they do get along and have frequent play fights (usually when the dog is trying to sleep).

Good luck

[Dogsfevr]

No breed is cat guaranteed & often established cats start the issues but people see the dogs reaction more .

Our Greyhounds where the ones we trusted around cats so prey drive isn't a factor.

For many pups when they arrive a cat is like the playmate that wont play it teases them in a fashion of being there but doing nothing ,pup reacts bu there reaction is more obvious & annoying ,frustrating to the dog .

[jemappelle]

She gets especially annoyed when I play fight with the cat, like play biting or chasing after my feet, she gets pretty worked up sometimes when he does this, she seems to think I'm in danger or something.

The play biting and chasing of your feet is probably starting the dog's prey drive and that's why she gets worked up.

The best way to manage it is not to let the dog see the playing.

I have a cattle dog and his prey drive kicks in when he sees the vacuum cleaner, mop, broom or basically anything that moves. I move him away before I start the activity now and yesterday when I started the lawn mower, even though he was inside, he still barked but this time he only barked a couple of times. It's taken 12 years to get to this stage. :laugh:

I've always had cats and have cats that were here before I got my dog as a puppy, but I would never leave him with them unsupervised. I've heard too many horror stories of things going wrong.

[aussiecattledog]

Thanks for the information guys! :) Thanks HugL, i don't think I'm doing THAT well but I try my best. Before I even knew i was going to get a dog I spent most of my time researching and learning on the hope i would get one - paid off I think. I bought her a new toy yesterday actually, but I think I might buy her a raw hide chew to train her with the cat instead, she LOVES those.

I should really segregate them a lot more now that you guys mention it, we leave them unsupervised together a lot more than we probably should. I should probably have mentioned my dog's an outside dog (parents decision - but she seems fine and I practically live outside as well anyway :p ) and the cat gets put outside for a lot of the day so he can do his business - and also so we have less fur to clean up. But there are heaps of places in our backyard the cat can get to without the dog getting in (Under the decking, the chicken run, vegetable garden and side of the house). Still, I might have to make extra sure they are segregated as much as possible, I don't want a horror story of my own either

:quote:

I have a cattle dog and his prey drive kicks in when he sees the vacuum cleaner, mop, broom or basically anything that moves. I move him away before I start the activity now and yesterday when I started the lawn mower, even though he was inside, he still barked but this time he only barked a couple of times. It's taken 12 years to get to this stage. :quote: (how do you get those quote boxes?)

:laugh: I have the same with mine, she especially hates the lawn mower, but that's fear based rather than prey drive (I'm still working on that, might take me a while). She's gotten over the broom (finally!) but sometimes she gets a little excited and tries to have a fight with it - I have one broom from when we first got her thats been nibbled in three places and bents awkwardly at each nibble. :laugh: Still use it though.