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Thread: Puppy and cat

  1. #21
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmathers View Post
    She just said to avoid food at this point. She said to let them interact for a bit and pull him away when he gets too hyped up. I’ll ask her on Monday about the food reasons.


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    Weird advice.

  2. #22
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmathers View Post
    Thank you for this advice. I am going to try it. I have been avoiding using food because the trainer said not to introduce food at this point. But that was a few weeks ago and I like your explanation a lot. And you also made me feel much better with what you said about how "most puppies grow out of cat chasing" -- boy do I hope that is the case with Diggity! He just LOVES everything and everybody he sees and charges in full speed to play. You're right that it is impulse control and we are working a lot on that right now. Just doesn't seem to be working with the cat yet.
    All my dogs learned not to chase our own cats. Visiting strays, even the cat next door that my dogs knew, were another story. They got chased. Well, most of them. JOey formed a bond with Oban before he ever trusted us and learned not to run. But most visiting/stray/feral cats will run and the dog will chase.
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  4. #23
    Senior Dog bmathers's Avatar
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    I talked with the trainer about introducing food and she said if Diggity enters the room with the cat nicely, that is a good time to give him treats. However, if he is jumping at the cat and I call him away, I should not treat him because he will think the reward is coming from a "chained behavior" -- jumping at the cat and then coming to me. I have been giving him treats when he stops jumping on the cat and comes to me. He is very quick to disengage from the cat to come to me for a treat. But, he does go right back to the cat after he gets his treat.

    Thoughts?

  5. #24
    Senior Dog bmathers's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    A training trick helped with one of our cats. Our trainer said use your second dog to help get faster responses from puppy. SIT. Too slow, puppy, cat gets a free treat. We only had the one dog, puppy Oban, so I used Sadie cat. It worked two-fold, not only did I get a prompt sit the next time, Oban regarded Sadie in a whole new light. I think he believed Sadie had as much control of the treats as I did.

    I do have to confess though, that we had three cats, all used to a well behaved older dog, Jet, who had passed away. Ginger would tolerate Oban and give him some well deserved swats once in a while. No claws though, at least I never heard him yelp. The third cat, the one who was closely bonded to Jet, hid for a year. Bitty and Oban became friends but it took a year.
    How did they become friends over the course of the year?

  6. #25
    Senior Dog bmathers's Avatar
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    They get along swimmingly when they’re both asleep!




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  8. #26
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmathers View Post
    How did they become friends over the course of the year?
    The dog was now trained to LEAVE IT. The cat seemed to observe other cat interactions and began to put in more of an appearance. I have to guess maturity on the dog's part was the biggest factor. They did not become BFF but they would share space on our bed, not touching.
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  9. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmathers View Post
    I talked with the trainer about introducing food and she said if Diggity enters the room with the cat nicely, that is a good time to give him treats. However, if he is jumping at the cat and I call him away, I should not treat him because he will think the reward is coming from a "chained behavior" -- jumping at the cat and then coming to me. I have been giving him treats when he stops jumping on the cat and comes to me. He is very quick to disengage from the cat to come to me for a treat. But, he does go right back to the cat after he gets his treat.

    Thoughts?
    You wouldn't wait for the dog to jump on the cat. You would interrupt the behavior and teach the dog to predict that when the cat runs or when he thinks about jumping the cat - food is thrown. I dog sat an adult Lab who chased my cat and it took just a few hours for the dog to run to the fridge for cheese whenever she saw the cat. When she noticed the cat - and I could tell by her body language - I said, "let's get a cookie". That said, if you miss the opportunity and the dog is already chasing or all over the cat, throw food and use your cue anyway. It's not going to train the dog to chase or jump the cat. This is not a precision exercise, you simply don't want the dog to chase the cat and you want to reward the dog for removing himself from the cat. The better your timing is, the better it will work, and when the dog sees the cat and looks at you instead, waiting for the cookie, you better react and make a big deal over it. The worse your timing is, the worse it will work, especially if you allow the dog to continue self-rewarding by chasing or jumping on the cat. For a dog that grabs the treat and goes back, then you need to give him multiple treats, sort of rapid fire one after the other. That's why I like to throw kibble as it gives me time to pick up the thing I asked the dog to drop, leash him up, give the cat the ability to go away and it provides the dog with something else to think about. Taking a cookie from your fingers takes zero thought or effort on the part of the dog. The dog has to search and pick up each little bit when you throw food and ten pieces of tossed kibble lasts awhile!

    I get this information from Hannah Brannigan who is a genius when it comes to this stuff. Her podcast is Drinking from the Toilet and the last few episodes were great for puppy owners. I really loved watching her at a seminar called "stop sniffing" where she brought tupperwares of smells dogs love such as chicken poop, sheep poop, bitch in season and a few other (gross) things. Basically, you open the tupperware and when the dog sniffs, you use a clicker then reward when the dog comes back (obviously, these dogs are already clicker trained) and within an hour the dogs would think of sniffing and instead go to her their handlers for food. These were dogs that had issues with sniffing (beagles, intact young males, etc.). I do something similar with Presto with visiting. He goes to visit, I click and he comes back for a reward. So now, he thinks about greeting and interrupts himself to focus on me because I have taught him that going to visit means a reward. Does that make sense? Most trainers would totally freak out, but it takes the stress and conflict out of the behavior and replaces it with positive feelings and the dog redirects on his own.



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  11. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    You wouldn't wait for the dog to jump on the cat. You would interrupt the behavior and teach the dog to predict that when the cat runs or when he thinks about jumping the cat - food is thrown. I dog sat an adult Lab who chased my cat and it took just a few hours for the dog to run to the fridge for cheese whenever she saw the cat. When she noticed the cat - and I could tell by her body language - I said, "let's get a cookie". That said, if you miss the opportunity and the dog is already chasing or all over the cat, throw food and use your cue anyway. It's not going to train the dog to chase or jump the cat. This is not a precision exercise, you simply don't want the dog to chase the cat and you want to reward the dog for removing himself from the cat. The better your timing is, the better it will work, and when the dog sees the cat and looks at you instead, waiting for the cookie, you better react and make a big deal over it. The worse your timing is, the worse it will work, especially if you allow the dog to continue self-rewarding by chasing or jumping on the cat. For a dog that grabs the treat and goes back, then you need to give him multiple treats, sort of rapid fire one after the other. That's why I like to throw kibble as it gives me time to pick up the thing I asked the dog to drop, leash him up, give the cat the ability to go away and it provides the dog with something else to think about. Taking a cookie from your fingers takes zero thought or effort on the part of the dog. The dog has to search and pick up each little bit when you throw food and ten pieces of tossed kibble lasts awhile!

    I get this information from Hannah Brannigan who is a genius when it comes to this stuff. Her podcast is Drinking from the Toilet and the last few episodes were great for puppy owners. I really loved watching her at a seminar called "stop sniffing" where she brought tupperwares of smells dogs love such as chicken poop, sheep poop, bitch in season and a few other (gross) things. Basically, you open the tupperware and when the dog sniffs, you use a clicker then reward when the dog comes back (obviously, these dogs are already clicker trained) and within an hour the dogs would think of sniffing and instead go to her their handlers for food. These were dogs that had issues with sniffing (beagles, intact young males, etc.). I do something similar with Presto with visiting. He goes to visit, I click and he comes back for a reward. So now, he thinks about greeting and interrupts himself to focus on me because I have taught him that going to visit means a reward. Does that make sense? Most trainers would totally freak out, but it takes the stress and conflict out of the behavior and replaces it with positive feelings and the dog redirects on his own.


    This makes a lot of sense. I’m going to try it. Thank you!


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