April 12, 2011
My 8-month old dog will chase and kill cats. What should I do?
Full Question:
Hello from Michigan.I am hoping you can answer a question for me. I have researched a lot of German shepherd information and recently purchased a female. I did not find your site until afterwards though, and I am hoping I am not sorry. I am so amazed and impressed with the information you make available. I will be ordering a video shortly. My question is, my female Sire: Addi von der Gundorfer Hohe and Bitch: Gini vom Merlin, is a very intelligent dog. But we do have a slight problem...Sasha LOVES to kill cats. She seems to take great pleasure in it in fact. Is this normal? My obedience instructor says that is aggression. Do I have a problem? I really don't see it anywhere else. She is 8 months old, 65 lbs, and 23" at withers. I know you are very busy, but I'm looking for help.
Thanks so much for your time.
Teri
Ed's Answer:
Your obedience instructor needs to go back to school. Feel free to tell her I said this. Your dog kills cats because of prey drive, not aggression. Aggression has to do with protecting one’s self. Prey drive has to do with chasing and killing things that run away.
You correct this by teaching the dog that cats are no longer prey items. This is done with a shock collar and obedience training. When you use a shock collar for this the intensity of the shock is as high as it can go. This falls under the category of one or two good corrections are better than 1000 nagging corrections.
Take the dog out on a long line in an area where there are cats. Watch the dog closely. The instant the dog goes for a cat, shock it. It's not necessary to say anything, in fact it's better not to. The dog must learn on it's own that cats are no longer fun to chase. We do not want the dog to think that you are part of this process. If it thinks that then it may think that it can get away with chasing a cat when you are not present. Whereas if you do this work without saying a word, it does not matter if you are there or not. I would also recommend a remote collar for this work.
You correct this by teaching the dog that cats are no longer prey items. This is done with a shock collar and obedience training. When you use a shock collar for this the intensity of the shock is as high as it can go. This falls under the category of one or two good corrections are better than 1000 nagging corrections.
Take the dog out on a long line in an area where there are cats. Watch the dog closely. The instant the dog goes for a cat, shock it. It's not necessary to say anything, in fact it's better not to. The dog must learn on it's own that cats are no longer fun to chase. We do not want the dog to think that you are part of this process. If it thinks that then it may think that it can get away with chasing a cat when you are not present. Whereas if you do this work without saying a word, it does not matter if you are there or not. I would also recommend a remote collar for this work.
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