Jump to content
BC Boards

Cat chasing


Recommended Posts

Does anyone here have some advice for me, my BC's will bug my house cats, but they will literally kill my barn cats if they enter the yard. If I happen to be there I can stop an attack from happening, but the problem comes when the cats enter the yard while I'm not looking. Several cats have paid the ultimate price for their "mistake". Has anyone here ever trained a dog(s), I have five so pack mentality also plays a part I suppose, to not chase/ kill barn cats? I like ky barn cats and they do a very good job of keeping my fruit trees bird free if given the chance, but that's the one thing the dogs don't give them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Tessa was a stray before I adopted her, and she was seen killing a cat when she was living on the streets. She had a very strong drive to chase the barn cats when I first adopted her and she could not be trusted at all.

 

I have very successfully trained her to ignore cats by playing the Look at That Game with her on a consistent basis. She basically learned that when she sees a cat, her default is to disengage from it and not bother with it.

Also, I built a very strong whiplash turn (tons of reinforcement) for those times when the do pique her interest.

 

Our neighbor has barn cats and sometimes they are in our driveway when Tessa and I come home from training class in the evening. She sees them out there, but never tries to chase.

 

I was fortunate to train at a dog training facility that has a resident cat that actually lives in the building. That gave me a lot of opportunity to practice with her.

 

But the same could be done right at your home.

 

I wish you the best with it. I can attest, though, to successful training through these methods. No more cat killer.

 

If you are interested, I recommend getting hold of "Control Unleashed the Puppy Program". You will find instructions for training, and using, the Look at That Game in the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate to be the party pooper here, but if you've got a pack dynamic with five dogs involved I think you're going to have a really hard time stopping it. I've seen some of my dogs who wouldn't normally chase join in with abandon when another one started it. And that's just 2 dogs.

 

I've seen the same with dogs who get into fights with other dogs, too. I had a bitch once who was bound and determined to clear the area of any dogs who weren't part of her pack. My other dogs who'd dream of leaving the property or fighting with another dog went to her defense id she was involved with another dog. Obviously we had to to put an end to that immediately, both by putting up a fence and rehoming the offending dog, but it really drove home how differently dogs will behave when there are several as opposed to just one or 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to be the harsh one. I know I'll get flack for it, but so be it.

 

Keeper would have a shock collar on before he even knew what happened. I'm usually very positive in my methods, but killing cats is beyond not okay in my book. It's just me, but killing cats is on the same level as killing another dog. A dog that were a danger of killing my cats would find itself rehomed very quickly if it didn't respond to any correctional methods, I don't screw around with that stuff. In my house, all animals have equal rights.

 

I'd also guess that if you have 5 dogs actively participating in the slaughter, you're going to have a hard time changing the group behavior. One on one training might be possible, though I don't have any idea what that would involve, other than aversive methods. I imagine others might have +R methods though. I have a hard time believing that you could get 5 experienced cat killing dogs (who behave when supervised but revert to predatory behavior when left alone) to abandon the behavior without some serious intervention. One dog is very different than a pack.

 

The fact that your dogs live peacefully with indoor cats might be a good sign that they could be taught to generalize that behavior to the outdoor cats. That, or you have an accident waiting to happen indoors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to be the harsh one. I know I'll get flack for it, but so be it.

'snip'

The fact that your dogs live peacefully with indoor cats might be a good sign that they could be taught to generalize that behavior to the outdoor cats. That, or you have an accident waiting to happen indoors.

I thought of saying it but didn't for the same reason. I agree with everything you said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if you went the shock collar route, how would that work with 5 dogs? I wouldn't be averse to it for cat killing, but the logistics boggles my mind.

 

If you were to buy 5 shock collars, how would you manage to use them all at the same time? You'd have to have 5 people, all with impeccable timing, to make it work.

 

I spoze you could utilize one collar on one dog at a time, but I don't think you'd ever be able let them out together again until each one was thoroughly trained not to chase. And if one was tempted and broke training, I'm guessing that would end it all for the whole group again.

 

I used a shock collar on a dog who was chasing cars and buses. It worked for a while. But when the dog who turned him on to car chasing was out one day and chased a car, my dog forgot all about the consequences and started chasing again. (By that time I no longer had the shock collar any more.) That's what I'd be afraid would happen here.

 

In my case it was just one dog that mine was influenced by. 5 Would be so much more of a challenge. Pack mentality is really hard to overcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^Agreed. The cats deserve better. How many need to be killed (in a particularly horrific way, no less) before something is changed? I would either make it virtually impossible for the dogs to ever come into contact with the cats (in outdoor kennels instead of loose in the yard or simply no more outdoor cats) or I'd be using aversives to teach them that cats are strictly off limits (and the complete separation thing is going to be the most likely to actually save cat lives). I would also worry about them turning on the indoor cats when you least expect it.

 

J.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone here have some advice for me, my BC's will bug my house cats, but they will literally kill my barn cats if they enter the yard. If I happen to be there I can stop an attack from happening, but the problem comes when the cats enter the yard while I'm not looking. Several cats have paid the ultimate price for their "mistake". Has anyone here ever trained a dog(s), I have five so pack mentality also plays a part I suppose, to not chase/ kill barn cats? I like ky barn cats and they do a very good job of keeping my fruit trees bird free if given the chance, but that's the one thing the dogs don't give them.

 

 

I hate to be a doomsayer, but I don't know if that's a behavior that you can fix. Not when it's 5 dogs diving into a pack-kill mode. The fact they "bug" the house cats suggests they pull their punches indoors because the cats belong inside your space and they know you only tolerate so much. But the barn cats are outsiders and they are a pack.

 

I don't know how or if one cures 5 dogs, who live and chase together, of a behavior like killing cats, particularly when they have already killed several others. The reward of the behavior already outweighs any but the most severe deterrent, IMHO. If there's a way to fence the dogs and barn cats separate from each other, that would be best for the poor cats. But keeping them separate is the only means I can think of. There's no proofing I can imagine that would prevent that split second snap that triggers them all, and there all 5 go after a cat once more.

 

~ Gloria

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dog has to wear a collar that gets a signal to shock the dogs if they cross the boundaries of a line buried in the ground. I was thinking the same thing at first as my in laws use one to keep the dogs out of the pastures with the llamas. The only issue is if they are already going fast enough or are completely set on killing a cat they would probably run through the line past the end of the shocking distance. This could work if the cats could get past the fence line fast enough, but it would be an expensive experiment if it failed.

 

Unless you're talking about the kind used to keep all life out that is an actual fence. Those have an entirely different set of issues OP would have to deal with. Including that if a cat did get in it might hesitate to leave and get killed anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I meant a regular hot wire on a fence. With a charge strong enough to keep the cats out but not enough to hurt them.

 

And underground fence wouldn't work, The cats would just walk right on in. I have a customer with one and his dogs have killed a couple of the neighbors many cats when they walked into the yard. The dogs with the collars on don't leave the area but any other animal can just come and go as they please. That's one of the big problems with those fences.

 

A fence with an angled shelf on the top might work. You angle it so the cats cat jump up.

 

I'm thinking the only way would be to just keep the barn cats someplace where the dogs aren't and that would be pretty hard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dog has to wear a collar that gets a signal to shock the dogs if they cross the boundaries of a line buried in the ground. I was thinking the same thing at first as my in laws use one to keep the dogs out of the pastures with the llamas. The only issue is if they are already going fast enough or are completely set on killing a cat they would probably run through the line past the end of the shocking distance. This could work if the cats could get past the fence line fast enough, but it would be an expensive experiment if it failed.

 

Unless you're talking about the kind used to keep all life out that is an actual fence. Those have an entirely different set of issues OP would have to deal with. Including that if a cat did get in it might hesitate to leave and get killed anyway.

 

 

Well, they said the problem is the cats coming into the dogs' yard when she isn't there to see, so the boundary fence collars wouldn't work. The dogs aren't going out, the cats are coming IN. :(

 

~ Gloria

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...