Puppy chasing cat

[Kim-and-hugo]

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Just looking for some advice. Hugo is 9 weeks on Monday and at first he would play with the cat and the cat would play too. But now it has turned more into a chasing game and I'm just worried he will eventually hurt her as he is a staff x english bull terrier so he's going to get quite a bit bigger then the cat.

Although she doesn't help matters as she is only 1 year old and wants to play she will start it just as often as him. When he is falling asleep in his bed she will sneak up bop him on the head and start the game.

We have obviously been keeping a close eye in them and just been removing hugo when we feel it gets too boisterous and allowing him back in the room once he's calmed down.

Am I handling this in the right way?

Thanks in advance for any replies x

 

[gypsysmum]

Yes, you are handling it well. They should be good friends in time.

In the mean time you could do some training with Hugo so that you can control him around the cat.

Put the cat in a cat carrier. Put the cat carrier out of reach of Hugo but where he can see/smell the cat. Teach him to come away from it when asked. This could be just looking away to start with and progress to coming away. A word like "leave" can be added once you can lure him away with a treat.

Progress to bringing the cat carrier closer and closer to Hugo. Stop for a while at each move to make sure that Hugo fully understands the training.

Once the carrier is on the floor and you can control Hugo around it, move on to the next stage.

Put Hugo on a lead and bring the cat into the room. The cat should have somewhere high to retreat to.

Train Hugo to "leave" the cat and reward him well when he does so. This stage is very hard for some dogs. Keep persevering with rewarding just a look away at first and then ask for slightly more.

Movement will trigger the chase instinct so it will be much more difficult if the cat moves. At first you could have someone hold the cat to help Hugo learn to leave it.

All through the training you need to set Hugo up for success in responding to the "leave" command. If you know he is not going to respond then do not use it. Just control the situation better next time.

Finally you could put Hugo on a house line. This is a long piece of rope that he can trail around after him and will give you control of him when needed. The more often you succeed in getting him to leave then the sooner Hugo will respond.

 

[Kim-and-hugo]

That's great thank you I will keep doing it as we are as he seems to be getting the idea. (Most of the time) he still tries every now and again but he is getting there x