Greetings - this is my first day on the forum--so hello to everyone! Have also posted this situation on the animal-to-animal agression thread and this is our basic dilemma: We recently adopted a beautiful 13-month 55-lb. Smooth Collie/Australian Shepherd mix. We currently have a very stable and happy group consisting of 13-yr.old male Beagle, 8-yr.old 10-lb. female Miniature Dachshund and two domestic short hair cats - 7 yr.old male and a female almost 2 years old. Very happy group, everybody gets along superbly - they are all neutered/spayed. The cats never go outside.

We got Blue (the Aussie Collie) as a companion/protection dog for our daughter who will be living at college in an apartment come August (she is in a dorm now or we would simply send the dog to live with her now). This is a gorgeous dog who mind-melded/bonded with my daughter immediately upon meeting. We've all seen this happen - and this is the perfect dog for our daughter in her apartment. Our first question to the shelter personnel was "Does this dog get along with cats?" We were told cats had been in the previous home.

We took Blue home, with the cats put in a separate room beforehand and spent three days at home with Blue, keeping the cats in their room and exchanging scents between Blue and the cats by petting each, etc. Blue got along fine with both of our other dogs and so on the third evening we let the cats out, with Blue on the leash. (I now realize Blue should have been in her crate.) Upon spotting our male cat, Blue immediately lunged for him, almost knocking me over (she was attached via leash) and our kitty was up on top of the kitchen cabinets with dishes flying everywhere. This happened so quickly. I am sure that had Blue not been on a leash our male cat possibly would not be with us today. Then Blue remained very agitated and kept looking back and forth between me and the cat and licking her chops. It was very obvious Blue sees our cat as prey. We are so sad about this. We would never have brought Blue home had we thought she could not live with cats. It was our first question to the shelter, before we even allowed ourselves to look at her.

Here are our questions: Are electronic collars useful in this situation? Ideally, we want to use this time before August to get Blue obedience trained and well-socialized, etc. This is why we got a dog now, instead of waiting until August when our daughter will move into her college apartment. What we are wondering is, will the collar eliminate Blue's desire to chase cats in the first place and also will the collar eliminate it to such a degree that Blue can go live for two/three weeks in our daughter's apartment and then come back here for weekend visits periodically and still not chase the cats? And, will our dogs see Blue chase our cats and then get the idea to also chase our cats - although they have never showed the slightest interest and in fact our female cat and doxie are playmates?

On the animal-to-animal aggression thread I received a couple of very helpful assessments which we greatly appreciated: one, to simply keep Blue and the cats always separated (which we can do but accidents always occur and could of course could be deadly to the cats) and two, that Blue is displaying a strong cat agressive tendency which is not usually successfully eliminated and we really should return Blue. Before we do, we want to know we have fully explored all possibilities - and the electronic collar seems to have the greatest chance of success, if in fact, this cat aggression can be overcome. Has anyone had any luck using the collars to end cat aggression?

Many thanks to you all for any suggestions/help --

Read this article and the questions and answers that follow

Thanks very much -- have just read the article and q&a all the way through. In two or three places Ed mentions use of the e-collar specifically for cat/prey instinct, with the collar on the highest setting and the dog receiving stimulation for just looking at cat. I will try to work up my courage and try it. I will first keep Blue in her crate and let the cats walk past her for several weeks, only letting Blue out with the e-collar on when, as Ed recommends, Blue has not reacted to the cats while in her crate for a full week. Although my first instinct is to simply return Blue, and that may happen, as well.

How long do you think the e-collar treatment would last - would we, by mid-summer or so, get Blue trained to live with the cats only to have Blue forget everything when she goes to live with our daughter and only comes back for weekend visits every two/three weeks?

Much simpler to get another dog - but our daughter needs one that is easy to train yet looks intimidating when she is out jogging, walking around campus, etc. Are all collies and australian shepherds prone to having a strong prey instinct? And we can't get a puppy, as most apt complexes won't take dogs who are less than a year old. Blue is perfect in every way except this - but this is a huge, overwhelming, deal-breaker of an issue. Thanks for your help --

Hi Virginia,

Ed's e collar DVD is great and I strongly urge you to watch it before buying and using an e collar. The Q & A section is very helpful but the DVD really takes you through the steps...especially with the kind of problem you have.

Good luck

Virginia,

My rescue Malinois also has preditorial aggression. At the sight of a cat, he would not bark/growl at it, but he would bolt towards the cat. At the beginning, I bought Ed's Basic Obedience and Dominant/Aggressive Dogs DVDs. I have to say that while the Basic Obedience DVD does work hand in hand with everything else, the Dominant/Aggressive Dogs DVD was the one that helped me in keeping my dog's prey instinct under control. After I got the hang of the prong collar, I decided to switch to an e-collar. I purchased his e-collar DVD, along with a Dogtra 1500. Prong collars do wonders, and I like them. However, I came to find that the use of an e-collar is much more humane, and it also speeds up Basic Obedience training. Like Sarah had said, get Ed's e-collar DVD, because it contains some important steps that you have to take before you even start pushing those buttons. Also, Jason's advice about reading Ed's Q&A section will give you an insight of what you should be doing about this problem. If you get the Dominant/Aggressive Dogs DVD, together with the e-collar DVD, you cannot go wrong. If you haven't gone through Ed's site, read his page about the theory of corrections, I put the link on the bottom. Reading this article will also help you understand the why's, when's, and how's about corrections. When you view Ed's DVDs, and have already read some of his articles, everything will come to together like a puzzle.

http://www.leerburg.com/corrections.htm

Oops, I got all caught up and forgot to give a direct answer. =p Yes, e-collars can work for your problem. My Malinois is a real knucklehead, and he respects the e-collar.

If you do end up needing to surrender Blue, I hope you will not return her to the shelter, but will find the poor dog a loving new home without any cats...