Just like cats and dogs...

[Jscott1]

Our doxie is just now 6 months old and we have had him since he was 3 months old. I knew that my best chance at getting a doxie to accept cats was to purchase a puppy. I also know dachshunds typically have a high prey drive and I did take this into consideration when we decided to adopt our puppy.

I know they will never be BFF's but I need to get a handle on this situation as soon as possible as it isn't fair to my cats to be chased every time they enter the same room as the dog. My cats are 7 yrs old and set in their ways so having a puppy chase and bark at them (even if he just wants to play) does not please them in the least. One of my cats will antagonize the dog, but the other will not have anything to do with the dog and will growl the low, menacing warning but the dog doesn't get it.

usually it goes something like this: dog is minding his business and one of the cats will want in another room, so they have to go past the dog. The dog sees the cat and immediately run to the cat, playbow and eventually bark and bounce around the cat. I can never catch the dog's attention fast enough to distract him, though if we are training and the cat goes by, he will only look at them, then return his attention to me. We have practiced the leave it command (he does very well with food, and in practice sessions he will listen to leave it for the cats) but in this situation where he is already set his sights on the cat, he will not/can not listen in his excited state. I absolutely can not get his attention once he runs over to the cat. I will go over to try, and the cat runs off (probably feeling overwhelmed by him and me standing over her) so I can't even get control over the situation by going over to them to try to distract him.

We do clicker training and he does very well in almost all other areas other than the cats (and jumping on the baby gates when I leave the room because he can't follow me) and I am just afraid I am making the leave it command useless by repeating it with no effect. We also use a time out (he is put in his crate) when he barks at the cat/s and won't leave them alone. I don't know how effective that is either, and I have to pick him up to put him in there, so I feel this is rewarding him with attention.

I am really just at a loss as to how to correct his behavior so the cats can come into a room without being hassled, and without him getting into an excited state over it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Please let me know if you need any other info too. TIA!

[DinosaurHolly]

usually it goes something like this: dog is minding his business and one of the cats will want in another room, so they have to go past the dog. The dog sees the cat and immediately run to the cat, playbow and eventually bark and bounce around the cat. I can never catch the dog's attention fast enough to distract him, though if we are training and the cat goes by, he will only look at them, then return his attention to me. We have practiced the leave it command (he does very well with food, and in practice sessions he will listen to leave it for the cats) but in this situation where he is already set his sights on the cat, he will not/can not listen in his excited state. I absolutely can not get his attention once he runs over to the cat. I will go over to try, and the cat runs off (probably feeling overwhelmed by him and me standing over her) so I can't even get control over the situation by going over to them to try to distract him.

Work on "Leave it" more, and make sure to up the ante by throwing the treats past your dog (after working up to it, of course). If he's already distracted by the cat, though, don't try and tell him to leave it - you have to catch him before that for it to work. Make sure to have plenty of treats, praise, etc if he does leave the cat alone.

If that doesn't work, you could try something I've seen on the show, when a dog is reacting to a passing dog. Have your dog sit and have him try to get a treat out of your closed hand as the cat walks by (at a distance). This has the dog constantly focused on getting food, rather than the passing cat. Use a high value treat if he's more focused on the cat. Might be difficult to get the cat to walk by on command though

We also use a time out (he is put in his crate) when he barks at the cat/s and won't leave them alone. I don't know how effective that is either, and I have to pick him up to put him in there, so I feel this is rewarding him with attention.

Time out should be in a place that is not his "safe spot" - use a bathroom or similar for a time out, and not his crate, as you don't want him to associate bad things with his crate. As for picking him up - can you clip a leash on him instead, and lead him to the time out? Don't say anything while doing it, just lead him to his time out, and then get him a minute or so later when he's calmed down

[leslie123]

I'm working on the same thing with my 4 month old puppy. Emma had reccomended a multi pronged approach in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7860
He had developed a very bad habit of not only bouncing all around them with his play bows, but barking as well. It actually only took one Isession of doing time out to stop the barking, which has been great. We just walk him into a bedroom, say nothing wait 10 seconds and go back to the cat. When he's calm he gets lots of praise and so does the cat. We're also still doing the "feast" sessions Imentioned in that thread where we get both cats and Sulley and get them all close together, some toys and lots of treats and praise. I had also been worried that "leave it" would lose its effectiveness because like your dog he seemed to ignore that if the cats were around, even though he will listen with other things when we say that. My thought was that the cats are a moving object, so maybe I needed another moving object to reinforce the command so I use a fuzzy floppy toy and actually throw it past him. I've seen Victoria use rolling balls for this too. I say "Leave it" just before it leaves my hand. I try to keep the leave it as non emotional as possible at all times and I *try* not to repeat it too much. The toy I use is the cat's toy so he never gets it. Leave it means leave it forever, its not for you to have. I do have special training toys that come out as jackpot rewards after training. There is an episode of IMOTD where Victoria had to deal with a pack of poo eating pugs. She talks about how to use your tone when you say leave it so that the dog knows you mean business. For me its so easy to let my voice escalate the more times I say something and even more so if I'm agitated at not being listened to. If you can see or have seen that episode, its so helpful. I'm working very hard at attempting to control my emotions when trying to communicate and work with the dog. Its really true that they feed off our energy. A calm, but assertive manner does wonders in how the dog responds!
We are seeing very small glimpses of progress. One cat, who has always been more laid back anyway is doing very well around him. He has actually learned to walk slow, not dash through the room. Don't ask me how, he just did it, lol. The other cat has taken the very assertive back off approach. She actually chases him away which only makes him more excited of course. The sessions of getting them close with treats and not reacting is really good for her to learn she doesn't have to chase him away, at least thats the hope. The other thing we added for the dog is learning "turn". Since I couldn't seem to get his focus off the cat, I needed something to say, just look the other way. We practice this with treats and toys. I started off treating for just moving his eyes away, then he had to turn his whole head away. We're now trying to get him to actually take one step to the side also. That part is taking longer. I'm really really happy to say that JUST this morning he finally showed he could do it. The cat walked in calmly, Sulley started to take a step toward him. I said "leave it" and he stopped, but kept watching him. I asked him to "turn" and he did it!!! I had no treats handy but I threw a praise party and grabbed a nearby toy and played with him for a bit, giving him lots of good boys. He quickly forgot all about the cat.

[Jscott1]

Thank you both so much! I will be reading that link and re-thinking some of my approaches to the situation. I don't want my pup thinking the crate is a bad place, but it is hard to get him quickly somewhere else due to the way our house/baby gates are set up. At any rate, the cats deserve to be able to come and go as before without being hassled, and the dog needs to learn control.

I have been slacking with the training on a daily basis so maybe this is my wake up call!

[Jscott1]

I have tried some things with little success. I will see a glimmer of hope, and then just as quickly it is gone once the dog chases one of the cats. I have to be honest and say I have not tried the time outs to the degree that I need to so this is my next step. I have a question or 2 first though - he is a doxie, so obviously low to the ground and wily, I have tried (very unsuccessfully) to body block him when he starts one of his barking at the top of his lungs cat assaults. How do you body block a small dog? He just sees this as a challenge to get past me to get the cat, and he does because he is small.

Do I even need to do this anyway? I assume if I am leading him to a time out, then that is the consequence - not being blocked. The other important question is since this happens randomly, I can't really keep a leash on him can I? He would be dragging a leash around all day - or should I keep one on him to grab once he needs a time out? Or should I just keep a leash in each room to grab when I need it? He is pretty good otherwise, he has a few issues that I have posted about, and we are working to get them under control. The cat issue and the grouchy growling are the main ones at this time, but man some days I just wanna throw him in the snow!! Which with it being cold and snowy here, we can't go out and walk safely so I know the lack of exercise has some to do with it, but these issues were present (especially the cats) even with plenty of exercise. (mental and physical)

[***Melissa***]

Body blocking -
get him a harness (not a collar), leave the harness & lead on him in the house. When you need to body block - get between dog & cat, grab the lead (so yoy have more control over him), but continue to block with legs. It's a bit like doing a really funny dance I have a doxie too - you will get the hang of it after a few times

Time outs -
Never the crate (or his bed/similar) for time outs. I use our bathroom. Time outs should only be 10 seconds. What works about time outs is NOT how long they last, but consistency (meaning he has to have a time out EVERY time), and it should be IMMEDIATELY (or else he won't know what the time out is for).
If you don't give him a time out EVERY TIME he will learn that sometimes he gets a time out, sometimes he gets away with it, and that will only motivate him to try harder. For the first day or 2 you will feel like the ONLY thing you are doing is giving time outs - don't stop, just continue with it.
It will get worse before it gets better - he will try harder (like pressing the buttons of the remote harder when you know the batteries died)
But, just push throuhg - it will help

[Jscott1]

thanks Melissa, yeah I have done those funny little dances too many times to count! I am prepared to spend my entire day giving him time outs for a few days (if not more - man, those doxies are a stubborn bunch - but I knew that!) I have to keep in mind to not let him get away with it even once. He already has a harness, so no worries there - I just wasn't sure if I should keep the lead on him all the time or just keep it in the room so I can grab it when I need it. The bathroom is the time out room, and I have already told hubby and DD that 10 seconds (or until he stops making noise, if he does) is the limit.

I think I will have to begin again with crate training. Since I am not working right now, he doesn't go in his crate unless I leave to do errands, and he throws a fit about it. He is fine at night, not usually even a peep - but he hates going in there if I leave during the day. He makes so much noise that I fear if someone hears him, they will call someone on me - it sounds like he is being tortured!! I did crate train him from day one, but since he doesn't go in regularly during the day, I messed it all up. He goes in willingly on his own sometimes to chew a toy, but he usually just tears his bed out of the crate. (I don't know why he does this - he usually doesn't even lay on his bed, he just takes it out of the crate)

[***Melissa***]

I think it's easier to leave the lead on him, bc it's then easier to get hold of him & do his time out (you want to do his time out as soon as he reacts). When he has learned what you wanted him to learn, it won't be necessary for the harness & lead anymore

Crate training - i think leave his crate open during the day, let him go in & out of his crate as he pleases. Give him treats, toys, or whatever else he likes in there - it must be the best place EVER to go to. Also, let the crate be his safe place - meaning when he is in his crate NO ONE in the household is allowed to bother him (and put his crate away from the cat too). He will soon associate his crate with good stuff & feeling safe Only when he is totally happy to go into his crate you can start to close the door (for short periods at a time, and build it up gradually to longer periods).

Making the noise - could be maybe have a little seperation anxiety? Do a search on the forum on sep anx, and read especially Emmabeth's posts - there's really good info in there

Tearing of the bed - could he be bored?
Do you clicker train him? (Great way to exercise the mind, which tires them out A LOT, and only 10 mins or so is necessary at a time)
How long is he walked for every day? Doxies are small dogs, and one wouldn't think they require much exerrcise, but they are a hunting breed and requires more exercise than most people realise. My Doxie gets 2 hours of physical exercise a day (broken down into 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour late afternoon), AND mental exercise, AND just general playing (like tug) during the day. He's pretty beat most of the time - never has the energy to get into mischief With my other dog Bibi (jack russel cross) it's a different story - I'm convinced that you can't tire out a Jack Russel

[***Melissa***]

For the crate (and a little mental stimulation) -
Leave him with a kong toy in his crate. You may have to make it really easy at first and use super yummy stuff, until he gets what he's suppose to do, then make it more difficult for him to get the food out, even up to the point where you freeze his b/fast or dinner in the kong and give it to him. It will keep him busy for quite a while, and he have to concentrate to get the food out, which tires him out too

[Jscott1]

It is cold and the snow is pretty high here since it snowed (meaning, if we go outside anywhere even on many sidewalks, he would quickly be lost in the snow - taller than he is) so our normal walk is out right now. We would be gone for about 1/2 hour to an hour when we went. I have been searching for other exercise for him that we can do inside, but we have a tiny house (hide and seek is out). He does get kongs, bully sticks, and he is fed from a buster cube twice a day. We do clicker training, but I think I can up that considerably. We mainly do refreshers right now so just a few minutes a day. I need to think of some more ideas for things to teach him.

His crate is open and available for him all day and he goes in occasionally to chew a toy for a few min, but he sleeps by me or by the heater. I think I need to back up a bit, and toss some goodies in there every now and again, then slowly build up the time he is in there. We don't bother him if he is in the crate, other than to tell him good boy when he goes in there during the day. The only time we mess with his crate is to move it from bedroom to living room and to open the crate in the am for his morning potty break when we get up. The cats don't usually go near his crate either.

the other thing about the crate, the door is only shut at night, and when we leave. Like I said, he is fine at night, but I think he is just not liking being in there and us leaving, instead of getting to go with us. That doesn't make it better, and I want him to be comfortable with us leaving. I think I will also work up to having him in the crate, and me leaving for a minute, then coming back - and then working slowly up to more time. I know it was my fault for not working on this more with him earlier. I want to eventually let him have some freedom in the house when we leave, but again this will be a slow process - first maybe the kitchen and for a few minutes at a time. For now though, he has to be crated when we leave. I will make sure he has a kong when we go, he gets a toy but he would do better with a kong I think.

As for him taking his bed out, he is super weird about it and takes it out, then just leaves it there. he doesn't really chew on it, he digs at it sometimes but mainly he just takes it out of his crate and walks away! LOL

Thanks Melissa for taking the time to answer my questions!!

[emmabeth]

Do a search on youtube for 'jesse clicker training terrier' or something like that - maybe someone will find a link but hes a little jack russell type terrier who has been taught some fabulous tricks and that might give you some inspiration!

Trying to play with the cats the way he is is very exciting for him, so the more you can offer him that fulfills his needs to play and behave in certain ways the better - the other thing I would highly recommend you look at is Control Unleashed - its a book and i think dvd set, and I believe there are some bits of it on Youtube, but it can show you how to be in control of the exciting stuff and teach your dog self control adn when he can go giddy adn silly and when he cant.

[Jscott1]

Thanks Emmabeth! I will search for both of those!! He is a good boy, and can control himself in other situations, but the cats are just too much fun for him! Although the cats would disagree!