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I have a 3 year old cat and a four year old dog. They are both rescues, but we have had the cat for longer- since she was a kitten. They get along well, I've trained the dog not to chase the cat or go in the cat's room. However, the cat sometimes causes issues.
She constantly goes in the dog's crate, for one thing, and so I constantly have to get her out. The dog doesn't chase or bite her, but I'm worried one day she'll get fed up and chase the cat.
The other issue is that she will "ambush" my dog. She sits on the back of the couch, and when the dog isn't looking at her, she either jumps onto the dog's back or grabs her tail and starts biting it. Other times, she hides around a corner and jumps at the dog's face when she walks around the corner. She generally does it when I'm doing training or nosework with the dog, but she also sometimes does it when the dog is just lying down, sleeping. This is just the cat's play style, and the dog is very patient, but I don't know how long it will last- and if the cat startles her too badly, she might bite reflexively.
The cat also steals the dog's toys a lot. The dog usually just takes the toy back, but once she chased the cat away. I don't want to encourage the chasing, but the cat needs to learn to stop stealing toys. (it wasn't a real chase, she just sort of "faked her out")
How can I teach the cat to stop this behavior? Or is that not something you can teach to a cat. If my dog does chase the cat out of her crate, should I let her? Or does the no-chasing-kitty-whatsoever rule still apply.
She constantly goes in the dog's crate, for one thing, and so I constantly have to get her out. The dog doesn't chase or bite her, but I'm worried one day she'll get fed up and chase the cat.
The other issue is that she will "ambush" my dog. She sits on the back of the couch, and when the dog isn't looking at her, she either jumps onto the dog's back or grabs her tail and starts biting it. Other times, she hides around a corner and jumps at the dog's face when she walks around the corner. She generally does it when I'm doing training or nosework with the dog, but she also sometimes does it when the dog is just lying down, sleeping. This is just the cat's play style, and the dog is very patient, but I don't know how long it will last- and if the cat startles her too badly, she might bite reflexively.
The cat also steals the dog's toys a lot. The dog usually just takes the toy back, but once she chased the cat away. I don't want to encourage the chasing, but the cat needs to learn to stop stealing toys. (it wasn't a real chase, she just sort of "faked her out")
How can I teach the cat to stop this behavior? Or is that not something you can teach to a cat. If my dog does chase the cat out of her crate, should I let her? Or does the no-chasing-kitty-whatsoever rule still apply.
