Dogs and cats. Eternal enemies, right? Through proper home obedience training for dogs, you can teach your animals to live together.
The first mistake most pet owners make when introducing their dogs and cats is allowing them to make their own introductions. This is a mistake! As I said earlier, these two species are eternal enemies. You can’t just place one close to the other and expect great results. (Okay, I know it can and does happen, but my job here is to teach you about dog house obedience training. My version of training requires prevention with dogs and cats rather than creating a problem and then being forced to fix it. As Mom used to say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure). There is a great deal of prevention that should be used before allowing your cats and dogs to coexist.
Whether you are introducing a new cat to a home with a dog or vice versa, I want you to start the same way. Start by using your trusted dog crate. Put your dog in the crate and allow the cat to be in the same room. There are several possible results of this action:
1. Your dog shows complete indifference. This is ideal. If your dog behaves like this, he will have a quick transition.
2. Your dog shows fear. This is not ideal, but it will ease the transition than other results.
3. Your dog shows nervousness and anxiety. He whines, walks in the box, kicks the box door, etc. This behavior tells you that he wants to go out. There is something about that cat that is exciting and wants to know what it is.
4. Your dog shows overt aggression. Bark, claw at the box door, and you know exactly what you want to do with that cat. This will be the hardest dog to train, but it can be done.
For the first few days, keep your cats and dogs out. Keep the dog in the crate. This does not mean that you should keep it in the box 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you want him to come out of the cage, make sure your cat is locked in another bedroom to avoid contact. What you hope to accomplish with this action is to train your dog to be indifferent to the cat. You want your dog to see the cat as “background noise.” The cat is inconsequential, the cat does not matter, there is nothing interesting or exciting about the cat. In other words, your dog is safely hidden in the cage and casually watches the cat move around the house. For categories 1 and 2, this will be straightforward. It won’t take longer than a day or two for your dog to think of your cat as just another “thing” in the house. Categories 3 and 4 will require more training and time.
For categories 3 and 4, you must attach a negative association to show the cat’s aggression. To do this, get a spray bottle. Fill the bottle with plain water, water mixed with lemon juice, or for very unruly dogs, vinegar water. At this point, your dog is still safely hidden in the crate. The next part of the training will take place while you are sitting near the box, ready for action. Tea moment your dog shows aggression (barks at the cat, has claws on the door, moans in frustration, etc.) towards the cat spray it in the face with your spray bottle. Every time he shows aggression, spray him with the bottle. When he’s not showing aggression, praise him gently, “Good boy.”
Make sure your dog Never has a chance to show aggression towards the cat without having a bad experience. This means that you should always be ready with the spray bottle or make sure that the cat is not near the dog. If you are inattentive and your dog has a chance to display aggression without adverse consequences, you are training him to display feline aggression.
If you are consistent with this exercise, you will soon notice that your dog will show less and less aggression while in the crate, it just isn’t worth the face squirt for him. You are on your way to getting your cats and dogs to coexist.
When you are comfortable that your dog is indifferent to the cat, proceed to the next step. Like I said, for categories 1 and 2, this is probably a day or two after starting cage training. For categories 3 and 4, take your dog to the point where he is indifferent and maintain that attitude for several days, if not a week.
The next step is to get your dog out of the cage and get those cats and dogs together at last! However, you are going to move slowly. Put the collar and training leash on your dog and make sure they always wear it around the house. Keep your dog close to you and allow your cat to be in the room. If your dog makes a move to chase the cat, bark at it, or perform any of the stereotypical behaviors that cats and dogs do, give it a very strong correction with the leash. You want this strap fix to be very memorable, so it needs to be very strong. You want to form a very negative association with aggression from cats.
Be consistent with this training. If you do it correctly, you will notice that your dog has less and less urge to chase or bark at the cat. As you notice your dog changing his behavior, give him more and more freedom by allowing him to be closer to the cat and further away from you. Over time, you will gradually eliminate the use of the dog training collar and leash.
Even if your dog does not show aggressive tendencies, Never let him chase the cat around the house, even playfully.
Even some of the most difficult dogs to train will respond to the above method. However, there are certain dogs that have such a strong prey drive that only drastic measures will cure them of their desire to chase and kill cats. For these dogs, I use an electric dog training collar.
Read the instruction manual on the proper fit for your electric dog training collar. With a stubborn dog in need of an electric collar, the method is simple. With the collar on the neck and turned on at a high level of stimulation you will correct your dog each time he even looks at the cat. While your dog is even peeking at your cat, press the button to make the correction. Don’t say ‘no’, don’t react in any way, just correct it for looking at the cat. Do this as many times as necessary. Let’s examine this from your dog’s point of view. He wants to get to the cat, he wants to chase him, he wants to kill him. But just looking at the cat causes him pain. You don’t say anything to him so that he doesn’t associate the correction with you. You will soon learn to believe that the cat is “evil” and it is better that you not even look at it because the act of looking causes you pain.
As with all workouts, you must be very consistent. Your dog should never have the opportunity to chase or want to chase the cat. However, be consistent and soon your dogs and cats will be able to coexist.