I introduced a rescue pit mix to my household about 4 weeks ago. One of the reasons I chose this dog was his disinterest in feral cats outside of the shelter. There were 5-8 cats within a few feet of him and the dog took notice of them, but kept his focus on me and getting pet. He couldn't care less about the cats.
When I brought the dog home, he initially had the same level of interest in my cat. We've established that he can not go upstairs or downstairs, so the cat has a couple of safe havens and is free to be a kitty at night.
The problem is....within the last week or so a game of "chase kitty" has begun and doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The cat will try to join us in the living room or lay in his normal spot on one of the chairs and the dog will almost immediately get up to chase him into one of the stairwells. If the cat is laying at the top of the stairs the dog will bark at the bottom of the stairs which is startling when your relaxing in front of the tv and a piercing bark comes out of nowhere. The interest in the cat doesn't seem to be aggressive more playful. He just doesn't get that the cat doesnt want to play.
So what should I be doing to stop the chase game? I was telling the dog "leave it," but that isn't working entirely. If the dog is laying on the couch and the cat comes into the room he immediately springs off of the couch so even if I stop him, he still succeeds in chasing the cat out of the room.
Your thoughts please :wave:
When I brought the dog home, he initially had the same level of interest in my cat. We've established that he can not go upstairs or downstairs, so the cat has a couple of safe havens and is free to be a kitty at night.
The problem is....within the last week or so a game of "chase kitty" has begun and doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The cat will try to join us in the living room or lay in his normal spot on one of the chairs and the dog will almost immediately get up to chase him into one of the stairwells. If the cat is laying at the top of the stairs the dog will bark at the bottom of the stairs which is startling when your relaxing in front of the tv and a piercing bark comes out of nowhere. The interest in the cat doesn't seem to be aggressive more playful. He just doesn't get that the cat doesnt want to play.
So what should I be doing to stop the chase game? I was telling the dog "leave it," but that isn't working entirely. If the dog is laying on the couch and the cat comes into the room he immediately springs off of the couch so even if I stop him, he still succeeds in chasing the cat out of the room.
Your thoughts please :wave: