cat training

[lydiaer]

Hi,
I am hoping some experienced members here might be able to give us some advice (or just moral support) to help us along with cat training our greyhound Star.
She's 2 1/2 years old, never raced but was raised in racing kennels - apparently she was not a confident racer. She was cat tested by the New Zealand greyhound rehoming association (GAP) and was considered cat trainable and good with small dogs.

When faced with a confident cat at the local vets within the first few weeks of being with us she was friendly towards it (sniffed it and wagged her tail), but then hid behind me.

We have two 8 month old cats/kittens. They spend a lot of the day outside (even more now Star is here) and they sleep outside the main house in the garage.
I work from home, Star has a bed in the office.

Since Star arrived with us progress has been as follows:

Weeks 1-3 Cats are around inside a lot, Star is muzzled and on lead. When in the office with the cats she ignores them mostly and sleeps in their presence. In the evening everyone does their own thing in the lounge and she largely ignores the cats.

Weeks 4-6 Star is increasingly interested in the cats, we distract her with treats and eventually (5/10 mins) if the cats calm down and sleep so does Star. She eats a pig ear in their presence (on lead) and then will sleep muzzled with them in the room.

Weeks 6-8 (now) We are struggling to distract Star from the cats, she will eat treats/devour a pig's ear, but then watches them, and if there is movement will jump up and try to chase. Sometimes she can't be calmed and we walk her from the room and around the house, then back into the lounge where it's 50/50 if she will settle. Sometimes she will get in a state and star really heavy panting while watching them.

The weirdest thing is, outside in our fenced back garden she is off lead, muzzled, and will be tolerant of one of the cats (Tigger) who insists on rubbing all over Star (while pudging and purring). They sniff each other and seem great. Tigger can dash about the garden and Star will not chase. However, last night in the lounge, Star would not be distracted from the sleeping Tigger.

I don't know if there is more we can do with the training, something different we should be doing.... Is it simply we need to be more patient?

I try and have the cats in with us as much as possible, but the more agitated Star becomes, the harder it is for me to work with everyone in the same space! I really thought it would get better and not worse...

Thanks for taking the time to read this, we'd be really grateful of any thoughts you might have.
Lydia
 

[sassbu]

Hi Lydia

Welcome to Gap

No advice from me I'm afraid but there are lots of members here with experience of greyhounds and cats who I'm sure will be able to answer your questions later.

Sarah

[samburns]

Hi Lydia and welcome to Gap

I have four greyhounds and two cats BUT my cats are elderly and were mature when we began to home greyhounds so I can't speak from experience regarding introducing a grey to kittens.  Also, our cats came to us from a rescue and we were told that they had previously lived with dogs.  So, its very hard responding to your situation. 

I don't know if my experience is anything like that of other members who have cats and greys but my 'philosophy' on owning both is simply that they co-exist together safely and happily.  By that I mean that my cats are not best buddies with my dogs, they don't curl up together or play together.  What they do have is a healthy respect for each other. 

From the outset when introducing dogs to the cats the dogs have been taught that they are to show NO interest in the cats whatsoever.  So for example when at the beginning we have the dog on lead and muzzled and allow the cats to come into the same room and if the dog so much looks at the cat the dog is told 'leave it' in a firm voice.  In conjunction with that we use rewards - bite size treats (something like cheese or liver cake) when they ignore the cat. 

As the dogs learn to ignore the cats, the cats will tend to become more curious of the dog and come to sniff it but we don't encourage the dogs to reciprocate, they are taught to continue to ignore and receive praise/reward for that.  To be honest our cats KNOW that they are boss and if the dogs do attempt to sniff them they will usually bat the dog with their claws and warn them off themselves.  They've never ever harmed the dogs doing that but its a warning shot and usually enough that the dog won't try it again. 

Our dogs do not have the run of the house, they do not go upstairs so upstairs is somewhere the cats have to themselves.  The rooms downstairs all have boltholes for the cats as it is incredibly difficult due to the layout of our house to completely separate them BUT the very best advice is to never ever leave cats and greys together unsupervised.  We are hyper-cautious about letting the dogs into the garden as they will chase the cats (although our cats are canny enough now to not run but to stand their ground) but we get other cats come into the garden occasionally. 

Just to comment on something you described - when Star wagged her tail at the cat at the vets I would say that that is NOT her being friendly, a dog wagging its tail can indicate both excitement and hositility.  Its a behaviour that I would not want my dogs showing towards my cats and as above I would be training her with a 'leave' (then reward when she stops and calms) if she exhibited that with your own cats. 

I can see that you have an incredibly difficult job on your hands because unlike me you don't have two calm and wary cats, it sounds like you have got the exact opposite.  Even though Star may be a 'failed' racer the jerky, speedy, whizzy play of young cats I would imagine is stirring what prey-drive she has and I think that's potentially a dangerous situation especially as what you describe sounds like an escalation in her excitement towards the cats.  Its possible that Star's initial lack of interest in the cats may be in part due to the fact that the environment was very new to her so she had a lot to take in, but as she has settled in she has become more confident. 

There are lots of fact sheets on the internet about cat/grey introductions which explain probably better than I have the method we use but I think its important that you use small high value treats so that she gets the association of reward for wanted behaviour (ignoring).  I'm sure she's loving the pigs ears but while they distract her for a while I don't think you're building that association in her mind.  So I'd suggest a back to basics approach and please, please, please don't drop your guard and keep the cats safe. 

[lydiaer]

Thanks for taking the time to post. Rest assured I'm super cautious. Inside, Star is muzzled and on lead when the cats have access. We have a baby gate to allow the cats access to the living part of the house, they then come and go through the baby gate and their own cat flap to the outside way away from us/Star, and not into the part of the garden fenced for the dog. Outside Star is muzzled.

It's interesting that you suggest we work on getting Star to ignore them completely, this is something I wasn't too sure about, my gut was to let her look, but will give a go and see if persistence pays off. I reckon we definitely need to work on the leave/ignore command! I have been endlessly using 'look' to get her to eye contact with me, then a treat until she's tired of sitting up/not interested in the cats and she lies down. This method has been working less lately though and a few times I've resorted to walking her out of the room and around the house for a min before trying again.
Oddly it's outside that she displays the behaviour we're after - she won't look at the cats and tries to walk away when Tiger rubs on her legs (unfortunately for poor Star, Tigger the cat will pursue her around the garden!).

Thanks again.

[mtbbuxton]

I'm the same as Sam and have taught my dogs that they're not even allowed to look at the cats.  You may have more success teaching Star a leave it command.  When we first got Mayo lurcher, he was a rather nervous boy due to lack of socialisation and would spin onlead if we met another dog.  We saw a Behaviourist who suggested we teach "leave it" as a catch all command that would bring his attention back to us.  Place a small treat on the palm of your hand, let Star see it and say "leave it"  If she goes to get it (as they usually do) gently close your hand and say leave it again.  Once she moves away, open your hand and let her see it again.  Repeat the leave it command and usually after a few goes they get the idea.  The moment she hesitates and doesn't try to get it from your open palm - even if it's only for a second or two - say "take it" let her eat the treat and give lots of verbal praise.  Repeat as often as required until Star understands that if she leaves the treat alone, you will let her have it.  If she's on complete kibble, you could use some from her meal so as not to over feed. 
You can then apply the leave it command to your cats.  As soon as they enter the room tell Star leave it.  Once she looks at you, treat and praise.  We used this method on Daisy whippet, who decided that our new cats were the enemy and needed to be eaten  and within a week she was 90% there.  Daisy had lived with cats previously, including with us, but our current cats are a bit of an oddity as despite growing up with dogs from birth, they won't swipe or spit at them and think running is a better form of self defence   Over a few weeks you can reduce the times you treat but keep up with the praise and fuss.

Good luck,

Moira x