Snap! Dex is just the same - when he first came here he went BESERK at a small toy that looked vaguely like a cat!

Anything that he sees that could possibly be a cat - he goes crazy.

That said, today for the first time I was able to walk him past a cat that was across the road - he saw it and would have lunged etc but thankfully I saw the cat too, so shortened my grasp on the lead. With the Dogmatic, he simply cannot lunge if I hold the lead very close to the headcollar.

I just kept on walking and he came with me - first time EVER that he has seen a cat and we have not ended up having a wrestling match!

He goes to beserk at the sight of one, that his barking disrupts entire streets - literally!

So I empathise


I tried a Halti initially, months ago - I found it stopped the pulling but it did not help me control the lunging.

i think on one of your old threads i recommended guided walking using head collar and harness, adding very very slow walking, treats, using the environment for groundwork, and drink cowboy walk.

for a couple of weeks, no other style of exercise, reducing her adrenaline levels.

If i had your dog in i would:

teach a non lunge, by my "technique" of throwing the lead at the dog, then rewarding te non lunge. it does take a while (couple of hours training) & needs a really good name response too.
Also id teach a very clear leave it & watch me

A headcollar would help ,

Could I please suggest desensitisation & counter-conditioning to cats as a possibility? And if this is not possible or practical, what about avoidance?

We all know that the more the behaviour is practised the more likely it is to recur & the more ingrained it becomes & then second order conditioning starts to take hold, as some of you are describing. So if you continue to walk your dogs in places where they are likely to see cats, or have seen cats in the past, then the chances are you are only going to be able to manage the problem by finding a device that allows you to hang on tight while your dog continues to lunge. Or a device that somehow prevents your dog from lunging because of the pain or discomfort it feels when it tries to lunge; & possibly & eventually your dog may stop lunging all the time it is wearing the device.

I know many of you will find this difficult as the behaviour is no more than predatory instinct & not easy to prevent but perhaps if you read the article by David Ryan that Wys posted a link to, or the book that SLB has, then this may give you ideas as to how to counter-condition in your particular circumstances.

Tabitha although I'm not glad you have the same problem I will say I'm glad I'm not the only one with a dog that reacts so strongly to cats.

Krusewalker I'll have a look for that thread you're talking about.

Mishflynn I'm not sure what you mean about the technique of throwing the lead at the dog, if I did that and let it go Lana would be off after the cat I've managed to stop her reacting to people walking past in the dark, bicycles and motorbikes but it's like she goes into another zone when she sees a cat and doesn't let anything get in her way.

Wilbar I've not much experience in training dogs and don't know anything about desensitisation & counter -conditioning. As for avoidance that would be impossible. I've walked Lana in so many different streets and there are always cats. We walk one way to a shop and there used to be a cat sat on the windowsill sometimes, I think whoever had it moved out months ago yet Lana still checks out the windowsill hoping to see the cat every time we walk past it.

I'll check out both the article and the book and see if I get anywhere.

How much do you do self control stuff----how much do you reinforce basic stays etc?

I like the front fastening harnesses and I find Celt doesn't lunge in one --but all dogs are different. I prefer them to a harness.

I do loads of self control, staying put in various situations, not going after a ball/dummy when it is thrown, stopping mid chase, dropping at a distance. It all helps.

rune

Not enough is the answer! obviously she will stay on command, but I definately need to work on self control more. Good point, thanks!

I wish we could avoid cats but alas, there's no way. There are several in the nearby roads to us and we have to use these roads to get to any of the local parks.

Also, Dex lunges at anything that could be a cat - so even if we managed somehow to avoid actual cats, he'd still lunge

Avoidance could definitely never happen for us either if we walk from the house rather than drive. I did a mental count of how many cats we have down my road including mine and I counted 24 of them.

Not sure what I could do with regards to desensitizing mine more to cats, considering she lives with three of them already and has seen them every day since she was 8 weeks. She just loves the thrill of chase and unfortunately there is a cat lurking under car, bush, fence...or so it seems!

I appreciate what you are all saying about the difficulties of avoidance. Obviously everyone's situation is different & some can avoid more easily than others. And once the dog is already aroused in anticipation of seeing a cat (because one happened to be there 3 weeks ago) then it's even more difficult to stop them reacting.

Another idea along the same lines (& especially if it is specific places/locations where they are likely to see cats) is to get in some basic training well before the predatory arousal starts. So for instance start in the hallway/front garden before you even start off down the street. Get your dog's attention, lots of clicks & treats, have their favourite toy to hand, whatever it takes to take their mind off cats & to focus on you. Practice loose lead walking up & down the garden path or just outside your house. It's effectively training behaviours that are incompatible to predatory chase games.

I've managed to do this with my dogs walking through a field of sheep to the extent the dogs were so focussed on me/treats/tennis ball that they were hardly aware the sheep were there. The sheep didn't move away from us as we walked through, in fact several them a bit closer ~ presumably out of curiousity? I'm not for one minute saying that I would ever trust my dogs not to chase sheep, especially if the sheep were running, so I'd always have them on lead, but it's good to know that I can get their attention away from the sheep. But, as with the cats, you have to start the process of focussing on you well before any anticipatory predatory arousal even starts. So if this means it starts when you clip on the lead, then you have to start the "focus on me" training before the lead goes on.

Haltis, head collars, or whatever won't change the dog's physiological & emotional response to cats; they can only change the behavioural response through you being stronger. more in control of the dog's movements.