help please with my new rescue dog

[hushpuppy]

Background

Ruby is a GSD, aged about 18 months, who has been with me for 3 weeks. Her story is that she is believed to have been abandoned from a car on the M1 and lived wild in a field by the motorway for at least 6 months.before being caught. Some women were putting food down for her but couldn't get near her. They contacted GSD Rescue who caught her within 12 hours and she then went to be fostered with one of their volunteers, 6 other German Shepherds, a Jack Russell and two cats. She was there for 3 months then I adopted her. At that point she had little or no training, had not been walked on lead as the foster lady has loads of land the dogs run about on, she didn't even know what the garden is for but picked that up in a couple of days.

She is a lovely dog, very affectionate and loving, really clean in the house, walks nicely on the lead and has been quite responsive to the limited training we have done so far.

Problems I need help with

Ruby has settled well in her new home and is gaining confidence every day. Trouble is, she is gaining it a bit too quickly and getting a bit to big for her boots!

Although she lived with cats in her foster home she seems a bit too full on with mine. I don't think she means to harm them, just wants to play but they don't understand that and Calamity, the younger cat, is quite scared of her. Ruby has picked up on this and chases her. Charlie, the older one, stands his ground and spits and swipes at her but that just seems to goad her into barking and snapping at him. Both cats have grown up with dogs but I have always had older ones in the past and the cats are used to dogs that don't really show any interest in them. I have been using the 'leave it' command with a reward when she obeys but although she obeys at the time she keeps repeating the bad behaviour, it just doesn't seem to be getting through to her.

Initially when out walking she was quite nervous and would hide behind me when we saw other people and dogs. In the last few days she has started barking and lunging at people/dogs. I'm in a bit of a catch 22 situation. I think she needs to run and play a bit more then she is at the moment (I'm walking her on an extendable lead and she gets about 2 hours exercise a day) but I daren't let her off so soon. When nobody is about she is attentive with me and I have been practising recall on the lead and she always comes when called but I'm worried that she'll run if something spooks her and not come back and also worried that she might harm a person or dog. I can't tell whether the barking/lunging is aggressive or playful.

She is displaying typical GSD protective traits in the house and barks and growls at people who come in. I have been doing my best to socialise her but I live alone and don't have many visitors. However sometimes friends and relatives come to stay and I don't want them to be too intimidated by her so the visits stop.

End of story

I already love her very much and she has bonded well with me. I don't want to give up on her and I don't want to let her down by getting things wrong. In the house she is really good apart from with the cats, and she has the potential to be a lovely dog. Any hints/tips will be gratefully received.

[Jindo]

I think this post would do better if it was moved to the dog training advice section.

[Ari_RR]

I would agree with Jindo

But re: Ruby and cats - you can find videos on YouTube of dogs and cats hugging each other and playing happily together.
I think this is like stories of mail room clerks one day becoming CEOs of the complany, or a waitress becoming a Hollywood star. I am sure such cases exist, but for every mail room clert turned CEO there are millions other clerks who stay in mail rooms forever.

Same with dogs and cats. Let's face it - the odds are that they will never live in total peace and harmony.
We've had a large breed dog and a cat for over a year, and only now they are starting to be able (on occasion, far from all the time) to be next to each other without the dog wanting to play/chase and the cat running away in panic.
So - give time, it may get better, cats are smart. Our cat figured out that the slower she moves - the less likely to be chased. So if she wants to get by the dog - she walks very slooooooowly, while he looks at her.. and then she makes a mad dash to the staircase, the dog immediately jumps after her, but she is much faster running upstairs and usually escapes to safety..

In the mean time, I would recommend making sure that cats always have an escape route. We have doggie gates with little cat doors which are always open, for example. I would not want the dog to actually chase and catch the cat.
By the way - in our case its the dog who is in danger. He just wants to play and wouldn't hurt the cat, but if the cat decides that her life is threatened, she may defend herself for real.

[ladybug1802]

Hushpuppy posted this in the Training section as well....so it is on there already with posts!