Chasing/Barking at Cats

Hello

We have a springer spaniel (mischevious little thing!) he is 4 months old, we also have 2 cats 6 years old. He is extremly playful and tries to play with the cats every time he see's them, obviously the cats aren't too impressed and it usually ends up with the dog chasing the cat and getting swiped in the process.

We know he is just being playful but would like to stop this asap.

Also Harvey picked up a dead frog from the garden, he was running round the living room with a frog hanging out of his mouth, when i tried to stop him and remove the frog he got very aggressive and growled at me.

Is this something i should be concerned about?

Thanks

hi hectic.i have a springer and cats too!but luckily for me i have 1 very dog intollerent cat!!a few nasty swipes by him and flossy was cured she now treats all of them respect and the distance between them they need.im not really qualified to advise you on the aggression thingy but imho i would say that the 2 issues do deff need addressing.i think the frog episode comes under a guarding /trying the dominance type behaviour???correct me if im wrong!!i had it with toys,chews and her bed when i 1st had her.but i will let some1 more qualified explain how and what to do.

My GSD, (gone now) persisted in chasing our cats untill he was a year old. My two previous dogs, (rough collies) took hardly any notice of the cats at all. I think all dogs will differ regards this kind of behaviour, but in nearly every case they will eventually settle down.

It is wise to start teaching a puppy to 'give' as soon as possible.

You can do this by swapping. The item you use for swapping games should be of equal or greater value to the item the puppy has. So, play swapping toys. Or swap toys for tasty treats. Swap a chewed bone for a new meaty bone. Your pup will learn that if he gives up what he has got he gets something better in return.

Once he has learned to exchange then you can practice getting him to give something up without getting a treat - but remove the item for only a couple of seconds and always give it back. You don't want him to think that giving up a treasure will mean that it will disappear forever. That will only encourage him to guard.

Of course, you will not always be able to 'swap' or return an item in all circumstances. But, if he picks up something dangerous or unpleasant when out a few instances when he gets nothing back should not cause the learned behaviour to diminish (he will just think you are being absent-minded )

Ha ha ha!! Sounds the EXACT same as Roxy at 4 months. Jumping on the cat and the ever so lovely dead frog incident . I had to stick a key in Roxys mouth to get that bu**er out! She was not letting go!

With the cat thing, as Roxy is getting older she is calming down. In fact yesterday, just for a brief second they actually laid on the lounge floor together whilst me and OH were having dinner, it was so lovely! So dont worry hectic im sure he'll grow out of it. If you want any tips on the 'leave' command then take a nosey at my "found roxy a puppy class" post. Good luck

I reckon she might have given up the frog for a sardine or piece of raw meat, slice of ham, tin of cat food ... You just have to find what presses the "I want" button

Unfortunatly SB, we were round the back of the houses and my OH wasn't within calling distance, I was scared that if I ran back into the house for a treat or something she would have swallowed it. My fault though for not having my usual packet of treats to hand

I have found they seem to "grow" out of the great interst of cats!!
Florrie was a demon for chasing and pouncing on the cats when she was a pup...now she just doesnt care and sleeps with them, licks them ,plays with them, eats their food etc.
Ralph (springer) couldnt care less-at all!!! Far more intersting things in the world than cats for Ralphy-like his tennis balls!

I always have dogs and cats together ,and as always the pup learns quicker when the cat takes over the training but really i think all you can do is keep saying firmly NO and praise when they stop,but must add that dispite the fact that we always have dogs and cats together in harmony i've yet to own a dog that will tolerate a strange cat in the garden .as for the frog thing , dont think im quailfied to advise on that ,good luck .