Dog attacks the cats when I tell the cats off??

puddy

Sometimes, the cats will jump on the sofa and then try and drink my tea, or like has just happened, Ive been eating cereal and the emptyish bowl is next to the sofa and the cat has just jumped up to try and lick the bowl out.

Whenever I say (and it doesnt have to be loud or angry), 'get down' or 'what are you doing' to the cat, the dog goes bonkers, he will often come up and snarl at the cat, then I tell him to get back, then he'll do it again, by now the cat is trying to run off and he will attempt to chase them.

Today's has been worse, she was licking the empty cereal bowl, I looked at her and said 'what you doing', he runs up to the sofa, she jumps off and he chases her growling. The other cat (who is his sworn enemy) then obviously hears this and comes running in from the garden, attacks him, spitting, scratching etc, he is growling at her. So I calm it down by talking to him to make him back off, its calmed down a bit and then she goes for him again and it all starts again.

Why is he doing this when I tell the cats off, its very difficult because they often jump on the table and work tops and I have to tell them to get down, which he always hears and interferes with.

Is it because he thinks he is protecting me? How can I stop it?

Mutter_2

I chuckled all the way through that. I can just picture the scene.

Sounds like the dog has a seething, covert resentment for the cats and as soon as he hears the tone of your voice, he's given the green light to gang up on them. :rotfl::rotfl:

Can we see them on youtube please?

bethie

sadly I have the opposite problem!


The moment I try to give any attention to the cats, the dog butts in and tries to play with them and me!


sadly the cats do not appreciate this, so they retaliate with growling and hissing, which only makes my dog more excited and tries even harder to get them to play with her!


the only way i've managed to solve this is to carry a brush when I want to pet the cats, and if the dog comes over when I am talking to the cats hold the brush up and the dog runs away!

Fang_3

Do you live alone? It sounds to me as if your dog has taken the role in the pack as the number two, the fighter, protector and enforcer of your rules and as such is doing it. Unfortunately I have no idea what to suggest other than replacing him in the hierarchy with another human if there's one convenient. If not, then you'd be better off getting a behaviourist to give you advice, and depending on your insurance provider, it might be covered.

puddy

no, its me and my partner and im never sure who he sees as the alpha. he is very willful and i am very strict with him. he appears to obey me and listens to me, however if my partner is around its much harder to get the dogs attention, he sits there staring at my partner like a long lost lover and if my partner is eating and the dog is hanging around and i tell him off, he sort of looks to my partner for reasurance or for him to be allowed to stay there looking for food. my partner is not strict so doesnt enforce what i say until i say 'tell him to go away' then its a struggle to get the dog to move away.

when my partner pretends to tickle me the dog will go to attack him, if my partner is in a bad mood and comes storming down the stairs moaning about something, the dog moves to my side but im unsure if he is trying to protect me or whether he is worried

Mankysteve

Don't bother telling you cats off since it doesn't work, they cant understand you and for some reason it winds your dog up. Simple pick them down off the tops/sofa if you don't want them on there. Surely this would solve your problem. If you don't want them licking empty cereal bowl don't leave them lieing around. I'm afraid cats don't respect property and will pretty much go where/do what they like.

Sounds to me that you may be a bit ott with both the dog and cats. I'm not a soft touch when it comes to looking after animals, maybe a more of a carrot approach with the dog as instead of the stick would be help.

reward good behaviour and ignore the bad is usually much more effective than telling a dog off. i.e trying using treats to reward good behaviours from the dog when moving cats on from doing something you don't want them to do.

When he tries to play/gets aggressive with the cats distract and reward the dog rather than telling off.

sarabe

Completely agree with Steve.

Absolutely no point in telling dogs or cats off as it leads to confusion and avoidance behaviour.

Lift the cats down quietly and without fuss and don't leave your cereal bowl lying around if you don't want the cat to lick it.

The dog gets upset when your husband tickles you because he thinks you are fighting I expect.

You don't need to worry about heirarchy either because it all means diddly squat to the dog.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die


.

Fang_3

puddy wrote: »

no, its me and my partner and im never sure who he sees as the alpha. he is very willful and i am very strict with him. he appears to obey me and listens to me, however if my partner is around its much harder to get the dogs attention, he sits there staring at my partner like a long lost lover and if my partner is eating and the dog is hanging around and i tell him off, he sort of looks to my partner for reasurance or for him to be allowed to stay there looking for food. my partner is not strict so doesnt enforce what i say until i say 'tell him to go away' then its a struggle to get the dog to move away.

when my partner pretends to tickle me the dog will go to attack him, if my partner is in a bad mood and comes storming down the stairs moaning about something, the dog moves to my side but im unsure if he is trying to protect me or whether he is worried

You're definitely the Alpha. He's protecting you from harm. What breed is he? I definitely think a session with a behaviourist would help, and then after that maybe a book could help you both.

Fang_3

sarabe wrote: »

Completely agree with Steve.

Absolutely no point in telling dogs or cats off as it leads to confusion and avoidance behaviour.

Lift the cats down quietly and without fuss and don't leave your cereal bowl lying around if you don't want the cat to lick it.

The dog gets upset when your husband tickles you because he thinks you are fighting I expect.

You don't need to worry about heirarchy either because it all means diddly squat to the dog.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die


.

And yet it works. Strange that.

Pixiechic

Hello puddy,

I have to agree with the comment about telling off your cat, it won't work. They just don't understand :rotfl:or care, not sure which!

It does seem that your dog feels that he is the protecter and obviously higher up the food chain than the cats!

Has your dog ever had any kind of training? How old is your dog?

Your partner needs to enforce the same rules as you, much like a child, otherwise it could be very confusing for your dog!

Mutter_2

We had a cat when I was a child. My mother trained it as a kitten not to get up on worktops etc. I never even saw it on a chair, so there must be a way to train cats.