Dutch Shepherd Forum

the above smilie is exactly how my kitty looked today when I dropped the leash (by accident) and Odin took full flight after him. OMG - did I panic. Cats are fast, but let me tell you so is Odin. I have never seen a dog move as fast as he chasing kitty in the basement. I was screaming - (ahhh, like that helped) for him to come or stop (his recall needs work, no?) ha-ha. The whole thing was a blur and when I finally was able to step on the leash, I was crying and laughing at the same time.

ekkk! Do you think Odin was trying to play or was he trying to get a bite to eat?

Yep. And the FUN begins. Before he was casually comfortable....bidding time...checking things out...now he's "at home." Whoo-hoo!

How traumatized was the cat? Do you know yet?

kchristy wrote:ekkk! Do you think Odin was trying to play or was he trying to get a bite to eat?

Can't tell if it's play or he wants to eat one. He isn't allowed off leash yet and when he gets close to one he stares and then lunges really fast, so we now tell him "leave" it and then recall him before he lunges. so far so good. Except, when I was not paying attention and dropped the leash.

Raven wrote:How traumatized was the cat? Do you know yet?

Kitty is fine, but he hid for about 40 min.

Oh No !!! How many lived did kitty loose ???

Is he only making a move when the cats move or can just the prolonged sight of one make him react?

I hope you will have better luck with yours...mine still wants to chase the cat. At times they tolerate each other and its all good, but there is something about the cat that she wants to chase/play with (or eat?)

Hope your poor kitty settles down and gets over it soon!

Poor kitty cat! I hope he learns to leave the cats alone soon. We were fortunate that Zodiac learned quickly to be nice to our cat and the ferrets but I know not all Dutchies end up being good with smaller animals. Good luck!

Dutchringgirl wrote:Oh No !!! How many lived did kitty loose ???

Kitty lost about 3 lives.

Raven wrote:
Is he only making a move when the cats move or can just the prolonged sight of one make him react?

Raven, it's both. But, there are times when on leash in the house he sees them and does nothing. I have 4 cats, so in time we are hoping he gets used to them. Progress is being made though. I have one cat that talks alot and i mean alot (so annoying) - Odin used to go crazy barking in crate at the sound, and now hardly a peep from him - too bad, because the talking cat was being so quiet for a while.

felixone123 wrote:He isn't allowed off leash yet and when he gets close to one he stares and then lunges really fast, so we now tell him "leave" it and then recall him before he lunges.

Don't allow the stare it either, that's the start He must ignore them at all times, make him go (use the leash and bring him) close to the cat and ignore. Crate a kitty if you have to, and make him lie down and look away from it. YOU must tell him to ignore these animals. The staring is too much already

Barbara, I understand that feeling of panic, crying and yet laughing at the same time, when some near-disaster happens with the dogs. Your heart tries to beat out of your chest and you cant catch your breath. Glad that everyone was ok. Whew!

Thanks guys.

Marjolein wrote:

felixone123 wrote:He isn't allowed off leash yet and when he gets close to one he stares and then lunges really fast, so we now tell him "leave" it and then recall him before he lunges.

Don't allow the stare it either, that's the start He must ignore them at all times, make him go (use the leash and bring him) close to the cat and ignore. Crate a kitty if you have to, and make him lie down and look away from it. YOU must tell him to ignore these animals. The staring is too much already

Marjolein, I think I will try the cat in crate. Duh.....don't know why I didn't think of that. thanks.
Not sure how to get him close though on leash and not stare. His "leave" it is a work in progress right now, so it's hit or miss with it. Yes, I agree, it's the stare......

Marjolein wrote:Crate a kitty if you have to,

Oh great, the poor cat already went through 3 lives

Barbara, in addition to "leave it," you should have a separate focus cue, for direct eye contact. I use "eyes," lots of people use "look," and the specific word you use is irrelevant, as long as it's a cue used only for that behavior. And, I like to define "leave it" as stop doing whatever you're doing, come to me, and give me eye contact. I don't know how you're defining leave it for him, but think about how you want that to look. (When you have a string of behaviors that will end up in one overall cue, like how I do "leave it," then you cue each behavior until the whole string becomes part of the definition of the final cue.) It's OK if you have to remind him of the separate pieces .

So, before you do the cat in the crate thing (reminds me of Dr Seuss ), make sure you've got a solid eye contact/focus cue. LOTS of high value rewards while you're training these things, and for performing the behaviors when you move on to using them around the cats.

It's only 2.5 weeks . Have faith and keep at it, with the cats. When Geyser was a baby, she was way too interested in the cats, so they were 100% off limits, period. Now, with her at 19 months. they all lie on the bed together at the same time...not cuddling, but in the same vicinity, and everyone is copecetic. (I"m not saying it's certain you'll get to this place, but if you're diligent, and like Marjolein says, make the cats totally off limits...no staring, no nothing, for now, you'll get much farther than you are now ).

Also, it's only fair that he be protected from the cats, too, just in case you have one that's into teasing the dog or anything like that.

leih merigian wrote:Also, it's only fair that he be protected from the cats, too, just in case you have one that's into teasing the dog or anything like that.

Good point. There is nothing more pathetic than watching my cat pick on Zodiac

Some owners have problems with getting cats to go in crate/cats have problems going into crates. If this is the case, will this present a bigger problem of crating the cat when you really need to, especially if the dog decides to lunge (whatever) at the crate? Any animal can feel trapped, not just dogs. Just sayin'....

leih merigian wrote: Also, it's only fair that he be protected from the cats, too, just in case you have one that's into teasing the dog or anything like that.

Leih, thanks for your input about "leave it" and "eyes". We do have separate cues for these and after reading what you wrote, it became more clear to my husband and I how we need to break this down for Odin. I guess seeing it in written form became clearer to us. - does that make sense?

Odin and the cats are very well protected from each other. The cats still have free reign, but we make sure no one gets teased. The cats stay far away from his crate.

So, for now, no cats will be crated.

Sounds like you've got it under control, and a Plan. Gotta have a Plan . (And, I need to see things in writing, too...you should see my training nots and log )

felixone123 wrote: So, for now, no cats will be crated.

The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of using the crate this way, period. Unless you can make it a very high value place for the cat, much like one can for a dog (are you familiar with the video Crate Games?), it just reeks of unintended consequences for the cat.

I have a cat who happens to be fine in a crate, but that's because he lived in a Great Dane sized one for the first 6 months of his life. He had a sleeping sling, fuzzy bed, litter box and lamb skin rug flooring and was fine in there, and even when he was fine in the house during the day, I felt better about spending the nites in there, so he wouldn't inadvertently mess with my GSD, who was adapting to having a prey animal as part of the family at the age of 7. Eventually, he aged out of sleeping in there, and even now, he'll walk into Geyser's crate and sit and turn around, expecting some kind of treat . If you had a cat like that, it would work fine, but most of us don't.

You keep him on lead anyway, so you'll still be able to work with him and the cats.

BTW, if one of your cats is into training (I clicker train mine, and one shows up every single time I'm training Geyser), you can always get it to hang out on a chair or stool or table, and work Oden around it that way. Just an idea...

If you happen to have a hamster, put it in its ball and let him roll around. When I was training Ring, thats what we used, it was a riot, It would roll up to the dog look at it and roll away. It really worked great.