Originally Posted by
Labradorks
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.