Japanese Akita eats cats

1sue23

Hay wrote: »

EASY????Are you BEING serious??

Rehome 5 cats?That we've had for 10 years or so?
Or shove yet another poor staff into a rescue home/shelter to face being put to sleep?
Excuse me but when I took my pets on I made a commitment to each and every one and I'll sort this out without dumping a family pet or 5 :mad:

No not easy but hardly fair on the cats is it .I have a friend who owned a lovely golden retriever ,one day she came home from shopping with her 5 year old daughter on entering the kitchen blood every where and a headless ca,t one very traumatised child .
My friend did the right thing she got a new and caring home for the dog in a cat free home .

Swans1912

1sue23 wrote: »

I do have experience of this and have owned cats and dogs for years and the chase instinct is one of the most difficult things to address in a dog, and a dog that will chase and kill is not a good combination ,and as this has now happened 3 times proves the problem should have been dealt with before now ,how would you feel if this was your cat or if a child witnessed this, the way this dog is behaving is not acceptable and as the dog is elderly I feel that little can now be done .

Having "experience" is one thing, but are you really qualified to make these suggestions? I'm not saying that what the dog has done is OK - of course I would be devastated if it were my pet, but I dont think its too late to find a solution to the problem, dogs are clever creatures, they do learn even if they are a bit old. I don't think it should be a matter of "oh well, the dog has behaved in an unacceptable manner, I should get rid" the OP is trying to act responsibly by seeking help rather than offload their problem to the local pound

1sue23

If the garden cannot be cat proofed and if the dog can get out when the gate is left open, how about building a large run in the garden with a kennel that way secure dog ,piece of mind and happy cats .

Hay_2

1sue23 wrote: »

No not easy but hardly fair on the cats is it .I have a friend who owned a lovely golden retriever ,one day she came home from shopping with her 5 year old daughter on entering the kitchen blood every where and a headless ca,t one very traumatised child .
My friend did the right thing she got a new and caring home for the dog in a cat free home .

Ummm that's not as easy as it sounds you know.
Staffs will end up in pounds facing death or with saddos who want to boost their ego.I'd rather keep him here where he's loved and look for another solution.Meanwhile my cats are all upstairs snoozing on my bed behind 3 dog gates whilst the Staff is asleep on my knee.
We are trying to "manage" the behaviour rather than offload the issue onto someone else

orlao

Interesting ideas on cat proofing a garden, most of them I'd never thought of!!!

OP, as your dog is now 11 years old it will not be an easy habit to lose and I don't know if I'd go down that route but a behaviourist might be able to help with kind and effective deterrants or getting her used to a muzzle?

1sue23

Hay wrote: »

Ummm that's not as easy as it sounds you know.
Staffs will end up in pounds facing death or with saddos who want to boost their ego.I'd rather keep him here where he's loved and look for another solution.Meanwhile my cats are all upstairs snoozing on my bed behind 3 dog gates whilst the Staff is asleep on my knee.
We are trying to "manage" the behaviour rather than offload the issue onto someone else

Why does the dog have to go into a pound ,could you not try to find a good home for him yourself ,a dog that attacks cats will always attack cats and as cats can live for many years and accidents do happen ,a gate left open is all that it will take .

Little_Chicken

Once a dog has shown this kind of behaviour, I'm afraid it's more than likely it will happen again. I hope both of you with the dogs that are vicious towards cats don't experience anything 'worse' such as one of your children being seriously injured, or killed by your pets. It's naive to think that it won't happen, people often say that their dogs were placid up to the attacks that have killed people. I think it is very selfish not to consider putting an animal like this down. Imagine if it does go on to injure someone else's child.

Sorry - I know this goes against most of the other posters, but I would be horrified if one of my animals harmed someone elses child/pet, and if I couldn't ensure it would NEVER happen again, it would have to go. Sorry, but it really would.

ann_marie77

OP, just do what the others have said above and prevent your dog from getting out your garden ever again. If people are leaving your garden gate open you could try a spring on the gate to ensure it shuts behind them. IMO, while this is distressing, if it happens again while in your garden, you can claim the dog was protecting it's terrority as before. But you do need to ensure it DOES NOT happen again outside your property.

IMO, to be honest, it is the responsiblity of the cat owner to ensure their pet is safe. I hate to get into the whole debate about cats and their right to roam, but it's not the OP's fault if the cat roams into her garden, you could even agrue it's the dogs nature to attack the cat, as many people will argue it's the cats nature to roam.

Before someone thinks I am a cat hater, I am not, my sister has 3 delightful cats but they are house cats. They go outside in the yard but came straight back in, it's just a matter of how you train them from kittens.

UKTigerlily

Hay wrote: »

Ummm that's not as easy as it sounds you know.
Staffs will end up in pounds facing death or with saddos who want to boost their ego.I'd rather keep him here where he's loved and look for another solution.Meanwhile my cats are all upstairs snoozing on my bed behind 3 dog gates whilst the Staff is asleep on my knee.
We are trying to "manage" the behaviour rather than offload the issue onto someone else

I understand how difficult it must be, i'm thinking from my situation tho i'd literally just got my dog, so she'd not have settled in or anything. If i'd had the dog many years & the cats & had the bond with her I do my cat it'd be different of course. Mine's a Staff x & there were like you say many of them in the Rescue I got her from. With me i've had the Cat almost 9yrs & the dog almost 4 weeks, if she was to attack the cat so the cat was scared to be here, it'd be similar to if I had a child & moved a b-f in who hit him. I couldn't have her scared in her own home after 9yrs.

It sounds with you like the dog can't get to the cats so in that case you're managing it, I don't also have a house so they're both in the same room all the time, so again this affects what i'd have to do. I hope you & the OP can work things out

Ruffles_2

Little_Chicken wrote: »

Once a dog has shown this kind of behaviour, I'm afraid it's more than likely it will happen again. I hope both of you with the dogs that are vicious towards cats don't experience anything 'worse' such as one of your children being seriously injured, or killed by your pets. It's naive to think that it won't happen, people often say that their dogs were placid up to the attacks that have killed people. I think it is very selfish not to consider putting an animal like this down. Imagine if it does go on to injure someone else's child.

Sorry - I know this goes against most of the other posters, but I would be horrified if one of my animals harmed someone elses child/pet, and if I couldn't ensure it would NEVER happen again, it would have to go. Sorry, but it really would.

There's a fair bit of difference between a dog following a natural instinct to chase or kill a prey animal and turning on a child. I don't see your logic here?