Cat Reactive

[Herman's Human]

How can cat-reactive dogs be trained to accept cats?

[JudyN]

With difficulty...

Is this a cat in the home, or cats seen out on walks?
What breed is the dog in question, how old, and how established is the behaviour?
Does the dog seem to just want to chase/hunt the cat, or does he react aggressively?
Does the dog redirect onto the person holding him?
How easily distracted is he in general with e.g. high value food?

[Herman's Human]

Herman was an American Pit Bull Terrier, he was clearly aggressive toward cats but NEVER redirected toward a human. Herman was NOT the least bit human aggressive. Treats had little to no effect. Herman stayed briefly at a home with a cat but he was so aggressive toward the cat that he could not be in the same room. I stopped taking Herman into pet supply stores because of cats being groomed or rescues having adoption events.

[JudyN]

Ah, here we go - there's a related thread here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16519&p=121383

Jasper hates cats, despite the fact that we have one, whom he just really wants to play with, but the cat won't cooperate. Any cats we see outside the house will have him staring, pulling and lunging and if we get to near he'll turn aggressive and will redirect (which is why I asked, as it's a safety issue).

He is getting a little better in that we can get reasonably close without him throwing a wobbly. I say 'leave' and also 'not for you' which is a cue I've introduced for anything that I want him to disregard (it sort of evolved but it's a bit less 'commanding' and directive than 'leave', if that makes sense). Ideally I'd distract with food but it's not always possible if I'm hanging onto the lead for grim death to keep him under control, so mostly he gets rewarded heavily once we're far enough away for him to switch off a bit. The key really is to keep him at a distance where he doesn't lose control and try to maintain control, but it's not easy when cats can appear in any driveway.

[Herman's Human]

Thanks, that's good stuff. Herman scared me around cats. I stopped bringing him into a pet supply store where he was a staff favorite when he went red zone on some cats there. That was hard for me because of his gentleness with humans. The store manager once remarked that she had never seen a dog accept a treat from her with such gentleness. The staff came out to our minivan, aka the "Hermanmobile" to say hi and interact with him but it wasn't the same.

[Herman's Human]

With difficulty...

Is this a cat in the home, or cats seen out on walks?
What breed is the dog in question, how old, and how established is the behaviour?
Does the dog seem to just want to chase/hunt the cat, or does he react aggressively?
Does the dog redirect onto the person holding him?
How easily distracted is he in general with e.g. high value food?

If my reply rambled I'm sorry. Cats: None were in our home at the time. Aggression: All cats. Breed: American Pit Bull Terrier. Age: Nearly 2yrs when adopted, behaviour firmly established upon adoption. Reaction: Aggressive. Redirection: None. Hope this helps. Thanks again.