This post’s sojourn is into dogs chasing cats and a little tip on how to stop it!

Fabulous Katie, how do I stop my dog chasing my cats?

Put your dog on a lead. No seriously, management in the form of your dog being on a lead when the cat is around is one of the best ways of preventing the rehearsal of cat chasing! And ensuring your fur god has plenty of exit points and places she can perch up above head height will help the cause too. This applies for indoors and out, by the way!

Sounds a bit too easy Katie, what do I do then?

Excellent question. If you want that magic relationship between your dog and cat it does require some changes from the humans involved. You need to teach your dog how they should behave around cats by capturing calm behaviour around the cats and in general, focus on you and making better choices.

This does involve some input from you, and some time figuring out what to reward your dog with when they make that good decision without overshadowing their focus from the task at hand to the food, and may also be beneficial to help the cats see that the dog is no longer a chase threat so they too behave in a less arousing manner around him, even more so if one of the triggers for the chase is the cat running away from the dog, so that your cats stress levels around the dog reduce. Again, figure out what will work as a reward for them in these situations. I really like this e-book for some added guidance, click here.

One of these choices can be about changes the expectations of your dog, he might be expecting to chase the cat when he sees her, but if you help him learn to go to a station such as a blanket or a mat, and stay there until he is given a release cue, this could help resolve the issue in the house. 

Click the link HERE for an awesome tutorial on this. If your dog chases the cat whilst in the garden, put him on lead to go outside and if he spots the cat call him to your side, so that in time he will learn to offer these behaviours instead. You may even be able to get him to relax in time in these scenarios. And if he chases while off lead, keep him on a long line and teach him a perfect recall, with the visual cue of the cat becoming the recall cue!

As an added 'just in case' I also teach a rock solid emergency stop.

Will I need to keep him on the lead forever Katie?

Certainly whilst in the transition and training period, yes, but not forever. I've worked with hundreds of dogs like this including foster dogs, my own rescue dogs and client dogs, and this really works. You may need to hire a suitably qualified and experienced professional to help you in the beginning stages, and I am happy to help but don't be afraid to ask for professional help, just like if you needed a plumber or a dentist.

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