Bernie's Dog Training and Pet Care Services

Does your dog want to eat your cat? With time and patience you CAN socialize your dog and cat. Every dog is different (as well as every cat!) so the period of time it will take varies greatly. Keep the faith…it can be done!

Before attempting to modify any behavior, you must have some basic leadership skills in place. Consult a local trainer to teach you, the human, how to be your dog’s leader. If your dog pulls you down the street by the leash, you are not the leader…he is in charge. Behavior modification will not be effective in this case. Once you have established your role as the leader of the pack (all humans in the household, including children, should be leaders of the dog) you are ready to socialize your dog and cat. There is no “cookie cutter” approach to any kind of training or behavior modification, but I will attempt to walk you through the steps as well as offer alternative techniques.

First, drain your dog’s physical energy. Take him on a very long walk, or ideally a long run. Play ball with him. Go to the dog park. Make sure your dog is really well exercised and tired. This is important, so don’t skip this step. You should be doing this every day anyway to avoid other unwanted behavior. A tired dog is less likely to bark, chew, dig or CHASE THE CAT!

Next, put your cat in a small crate or cat carrier in a room with a door. Close the door and leave the cat in the room in the crate. Attach a leash to your dog’s collar and approach the closed door. The dog must approach in a calm manner. Do not open the door if the dog is pulling or acting excited. He must sit quietly by the door before it is opened. If he is unable to sit quietly you must practice this step over and over until he is able to sit by the closed door calmly. It make take one try…it may take a week or months. Do not walk through the door with an excited dog! Practice every night until your dog approaches the door calmly and patiently waits for you to open the door. When your dog is calmly sitting and awaiting your next move, open the door and walk through with the dog following behind you. If he attempts to pull you through the door exit the room, shut the door and make him sit quietly again. Practice this until he can walk calmly through the door BEHIND you…he should follow you through the door and not vice versa. Remember to remain calm. Do not keep the leash tight…the leash must be loose and you must be relaxed. If you are frustrated or fearful, the dog will remain excited and possibly aggressive. If you feel yourself getting tense or frustrated, end the exercise until a later time when you are more relaxed. Anticipate the outcome that you WANT and not what you EXPECT. Positive thoughts will help tremendously! Keep talking to a minimum. Talking will increase the dog’s excitement and our goal here is to increase calmness. Do not use the dog’s name. A firm “no” or “leave it” and sideways leash snap will suffice when needed…but nothing else. Consult your dog trainer on the proper technique for a leash snap. Lead the dog to the cat in the crate…do not let him lead you. If the dog approaches the crate calmly with his nose pointing toward the cage allow him to sniff the crate. If he is still excited and pulling or barking, leave the room and begin the exercise again. If he remains calm, put the dog in a down, lying next to the crate but facing away. He should lie next to the crate in a relaxed manner, if not, leave the room and begin the exercise again. A leash snap and firm “no” will often cause the dog to refocus on YOU and not the cat. Practice leash snaps through all these exercises.

When your dog is able to lie next to the crate in a relaxed manner, you are ready to switch roles. It is now the dog’s turn to be placed in the crate and the cat should be allowed to roam around in the room and explore the dog’s smell and sounds. This does not have to be done in the same training session. Most likely, it will take days or weeks or even months to get to this point. We want to avoid the instance where the dog goes nuts in the crate. There is no way to correct this behavior as he is in the crate and you, the human, are not. While the dog is in the crate, if he acts in any way but curious about the cat, he is not ready for this step and you must go back to the instance where the cat was in the crate and the dog was on a leash in your control. If you have a calm cat who is not fearful of the dog, the socialization will work faster. If your cat is fearful and vocal and runs at the site of the dog, the dog’s prey drive will kick in and he will chase. Socialization will most likely take longer in this case.

When the dog is able to remain calm with the cat in the crate and when the dog is in the crate, you are ready to allow both cat and dog to be in the same room without a crate. The dog should still be on a leash in your control. Repeat the same exercises with dog and cat, but without a crate. Remember to remain calm and to use leash snaps accompanied by minimal vocal commands. The dog should remain calm, if not, return to the last exercise where he was able to behave without excitement. If you are sure your cat will not tear your arms to shreds, you can carry the cat to the dog while someone else keeps control of his leash. Allow the dog to sniff the cat’s butt. Do this only if the dog is calm. Please note that just because a dog is sitting without making noise or movement, does not mean he is calm. Look for a tense stance or a fixated glare. These are signs of excitement or aggression toward the cat. The dog can be curious…but not fixated. If the dog is still relaxed, you can allow the cat to sniff the dog’s butt.

Keep exposing the dog and cat to each other’s presence daily until both animals can remain calm and relaxed. I recommend leaving a leash on the dog at all times. He can drag it around the house and you can grab it whenever you need to correct him with a leash snap. If the dog seems too interested in the cat, you can snap the leash before he begins to chase. The leash is a good insurance policy. The cat should not hiss or strike out. If he does, he should also be corrected with a firm “no” and a tap on the flank. I use one finger to firmly poke the cat on the flank. Do not strike or kick either animal. Using your best judgment, a baby gate can be used to block a doorway so the cat has an escape route. Remember that just about any dog can jump a baby gate or knock it down…so this step can only be taken once you are sure the dog has become used to the cat’s presence and you have followed the steps above. When the dog shows no interest in the cat on the other side of the baby gate you can allow both animals to roam the house freely.

I strongly recommend NEVER leaving dog and cat alone in the house without supervision even after they seem like the best of friends. Dog and cat may never be best friends and sleep cuddled up together…but if you spend the time on the steps I’ve outlined, you can have peace in your home without having to keep dog and cat segregated for the remainder of their lives. Keep in mind that this may take a long time…or it may happen quickly. You must remain consistent, patient and committed. It is worth it in the end!