AMY'S ARTICLES

CUTTING THE CHASE-STOP DOGS FROM PESTERING YOUR CAT

About 60 percent of people in the United States keep either a cat or a dog. Do you double your pet pleasure and keep both? If so, you're part of the 26 percent of US households that mix cats and dogs in the same home.

Puppies and kittens brought up together get along famously. Even adult pets can learn to live with "that weird critter" if they're introduced properly. One of the most common problems, though, involves teaching King to respect Tabby, and not repeatedly put her up a tree.

Some dogs feel compelled to chase the cat, or even eat her. Yikes! For herding and terrier types, motion triggers their inborn predatory instinct to pursue. Cats, of course, do not appreciate being turned into a windup toy for the dog's amusement, and in some cases, the "chase" becomes life-threateningly serious. Teaching King to refrain from the chase not only enforces good manners, but also becomes a safety issue.

In serious cases where you truly fear the fur will fly, a muzzle for Mookie may be the best and safest option. You can get the dog used to wearing a basket muzzle, available from pet products stores, by putting a treat inside. Hold the muzzle so the dog willingly sticks his nose inside to get the treat. Do this over and over, a dozen times, finally fastening the muzzle and rewarding him for tolerating it. For dogs that salivate at the sight of the cat, make sure the muzzle is worn whenever you can't supervise the pair.

Most dogs don't mean to hurt the cat, they just can't resist the lure of the chase. Trainers suggest a couple methods to cure this.

Place Kitty in a protective carrier, and then give the dog treats for behaving calmly. Ask the dog to sit, heel, stay, or other obedience commands, and offer the BEST treats for moving or looking away from the cat. Be aware, though, that such a situation can be highly traumatic for shy cats even if you treat Kitty as well.

Another technique works more quickly. Just as Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate when they heard a bell, you teach your dog to respond to the cat's presence in an acceptable manner other than pursuit.

Ensure the cat's safety by keeping your dog under leash control. It's important to prevent ANY chase from taking place. The activity feels so good to your dog he'll gladly ignore or give up any other type of reward, just to go after Tabby. Even if the cat instigates the session with a drive-by paw swipe on the dog's head, don't allow any chase or tag games until after the dog has learned proper manners and can control himself.

Have plenty of smelly, tasty treats handy, ready to reinforce your dog at the drop of a hat-or presence of a cat.

Every time (and I mean EVERY time) the cat makes an appearance, give the dog a treat. Offer this reward whether he's calm, excited, looks at the cat, barks, or anything else. The equation should be: CAT'S PRESENCE = DOG TREAT. Use the leash only to keep him a safe distance from the kitty, not to force his attention or behavior into what you want him to do. Let his brain process the equation on its own time.

Within a few sessions, your dog will start to look to you for a treat each time the cat makes an appearance. Rather than lunging and chasing instinctively, you've conditioned his new response to expect a reward.

Continue to reinforce this behavior for at least a week or more. With consistency, most dogs will "get it" within only a few sessions. Make sure the dog stays leashed and the pets separated when not supervised, until confident the new canine response has become ingrained.

You'll find more information on helping cats and dogs peaceably co-exist "PETiQuette: Solving Behavior Problems in Your Multipet Household."