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Post by alan on Mar 27, 2009 20:45:35 GMT -5
Suppose you have a dog who is a known cat killer. Can he be reformed and how would you go about doing it. If this is an outside dog, can you ever be sure that a cat who wonders too close will be safe?
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Post by DogGoneGood on Mar 28, 2009 12:22:01 GMT -5
No. Dogs who are cat killers shouldn't be in a home with a cat and there will ALWAYS be a risk when the dog is in the backyard that a cat could get in and be killed. Only way to keep a cat out would be to have a fence that also is covered on top. Unlike dogs, cats can get over fences pretty easy Living with dogs and cats together in one home can be disrupting as it is. Cats are small, skitterish animals (in most cases anyway) who will more likely flee from a dog than just sit there. ALL dogs have prey drive (just some higher than others) and when a cat runs it's instinct to chase. Even if a dog is in prey drive and has no intentions of KILLING a cat, but rather wants to play, there is still a huge risk that the cat can get hurt (especially if the cat has been declawed). My dogs have been taught to respect the cats, and one of my cats loves dogs. She rubs up against them and will lick their faces (Linkin is starting to understand and enjoy this more these days, but at first he was pretty confused lol Coal will actually go up and nuzzle at Daiquiri gently until she grooms his face). Even with rules and boundaries we STILL have moments where someone chases a cat. Lots of escape places should be in any home that has dogs and cats; specifically places a cat can get to that's up high as that's where they'll instinctually go and that's where a dog can't get them. So having a dog that is known to have killed cats shouldn't be treated like any other dog and there will ALWAYS be a risk the dog could kill again. It's just instinct, and there's no training that out. You can gain SOME control and prevent things from happening through containment, but there will never be a 100% solution to the problem. Huskies are actually known to be bad for this, and will chase after any small animal and kill it right away. It's just in their genes and there's no fighting that.
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Post by alan on Mar 28, 2009 14:55:51 GMT -5
None of my dogs with mess with Spooky. Edge is afraid of him. Just as an example, Edge was in this room with me once and was crying wanting to leave the room. I kept telling him it was ok to go and he wouldnt go. I got up and looked and Spooky was in the hallway waiting for him. Sometimes he chases the dogs or ambushes them from behind something.
When approached by a dog, he wont run, He looks at them and I swear you can hear him say "NO NO!" and the dogs back off. My other cat frosty they ignore. They dont seem to care one way or another what she does but they will chase her away from food but not Spooky.
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Post by DogGoneGood on Mar 28, 2009 17:40:09 GMT -5
Pokey scratched Linkin pretty good once and now he's scared of her, like Edge is of Spooky lol Pokey likes to lay on the stairs and quite often I'll hear Linkin whinning and find he's sitting at the top or bottom of the stairs and won't go up/down them because of Pokey.
For your average dog and cat it's always best to teach the dogs to respect the cat. Some dogs, like with Link and Edge, learn that specific cats will not just run away from them, and they tend to respect those cats a little more lol That being said, most cats will just run when a dog tries to chase them or even just approaches them, and with a cat killer, it's just really not safe.
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Post by alan on Mar 30, 2009 12:42:57 GMT -5
Spooky is a very smart cat. He knows which dogs he can mess with and which he cant. I dont know if I ever told you this story but once we had a rescue dog. The dog was about a 10 months old and very rambunctious. He foamed at the mouth when he saw a cat.
I went to take this dog in the computer room and shut him up in there for a minute so I could rotate the dogs around. What I didnt know was Spooky was in there. They saw each other and Spooky jumped on my head. He sunk his claws deep into my skull. He is a big heavy cat!
Meanwhile the dog is jumping at my chest. Im telling him NO and kneeing him in the chest. I tried turning my back on the dog and pulling Spooky off but that wasnt happening. As strong as I am, I couldnt get him off me. He had blood running down my face. If I were to let go of him his weight made him slide on my head and it tore at my skull. I had to hold him with both hands and I couldnt retain the dog with no hands. So luckily Daina was home.
I had to scream until she woke up and have her come and get the dog. Ive heard cats can be hell for a burglar and I never believed it. I was always thinking "Yea right, what is a cat gonna do to a human?" Well I can tell ya, Id almost rather face a Pit Bull than a pissed off Manx lol.
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Post by DogGoneGood on Mar 30, 2009 14:31:20 GMT -5
LOL! I'm sorry, and really DO take sympathy, but the image of you with a cat on your head makes me laugh ;D It sounds stupid, but I really am more scared of cats than dogs The other day I had to work with a dog that growled at me when I just tried to put a collar on it! REALLY shadey temperament. I wasn't scared for a second. However, I had to put ear mite medication in my cats ears this weekend and the whole time my heart was pounding in my chest I was never scared of cats until Faelin tore me up though. Do you remember that? Actually, I think I still have pictures... This happened in early 2007, and yes, I still have scars Linkin was attacked by a cat once too... I brought him to my friends house and she didn't tell me her cat just had kittens. When her boyfriend opened the door the cat came to the door. I was trying to get between the cat and Linkin because I was worried Linkin would pounce on her (just a tiny kitty too). Oh was I in the wrong train of thought. This little cat came FLYING out and attached itself to Linkin! Poor Linkin was so confused, he didn't know WHAT to do! Luckily he was wearing his back pack, so he didn't get scratched. My friend's boyfriend was able to "kick" the cat off him and get her back in the house. Yes, some cats can really hold their own... but with that being said, I still think all dogs should be taught to respect cats and a known cat killer can't be rehabilitated. Also, teaching your dogs to respect cats just makes life easier!
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Post by abker17 on Mar 30, 2009 21:57:16 GMT -5
Geez, whatever happened to that cat? I had forgotten about that!
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Post by DogGoneGood on Mar 31, 2009 0:12:03 GMT -5
Geez, whatever happened to that cat? I had forgotten about that! She's living in a loving home in Alberta, with two dogs whom she adores Her attacking me wasn't why I gave her up though, I never intended on getting a cat (she chose me, really)... when I moved back home I couldn't keep her anymore.
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