My dogs have suddenly turned on our cats

IrishHomer

Just want to share our story and perhaps some advice would be great.

We have three rescued cats in our home for the past three years and also a German Shepherd for the pas two years. The German Shepherd came as a ten week old pup originally and he has always got on fine alongside the three cats.

Two weeks ago we took in a rescued young male German pointer and within the past week the two dogs are attacking the three cats and the German Shepherd loks fit to kill. The geman shepherd appears to be the ring leader in the assaults on the cats and not the new dog as the shepherd can reach high ledges and knock the cats down from high perches.

The three cats have vanished from our home and garden most of the weekend and my partner and kids are upset.


Has anybody ever seen this sort of sudden behaviour?

Should I try and look for another home for the German Pointer I rescued?

kylith

If there was no problem with the cats before he arrived, it's possible that he started harrassing them, and the GSD is just following his lead.

You may wish to get a behaviourist in, but be prepared for the fact that the pointer may never be able to get on with your cats, so you may have to look at finding him a more suitable home.

Did you get him from a rescue? If so, were you told that he was cat friendly?

seamus

Unfortunately it would not be uncommon for a single dog to act more like a pack when you introduce new ones.

A bit like when kids get new friends, they can be influenced by the new member of the group into doing things they weren't interested in before.

I've relayed the story here before of a friend's Red Setter who was a generally placid and pleasant dog, but living outside of the city it was basically allowed wander around. One week they were looking after her parents' lab, who got along with the setter but they hadn't been together for an extended period before. The two dogs would hang around together all day roaming about the place. After a couple of days, a farmer knocked on the door with the two dogs, shot dead. They'd been out killing sheep.
The red setter had previously never been in any trouble locally for the 2.5 years they'd owned her.

As kylith says, the first thing to do is to get a good behaviourist in to see how you can get on top of this.

IrishHomer

kylith wrote: »

If there was no problem with the cats before he arrived, it's possible that he started harrassing them, and the GSD is just following his lead.

You may wish to get a behaviourist in, but be prepared for the fact that the pointer may never be able to get on with your cats, so you may have to look at finding him a more suitable home.

Did you get him from a rescue? If so, were you told that he was cat friendly?

I didn't get him from a pound. he strayed into my home i contacted all the local pounds and local radio etc but never found his original owner.

He is a lovely placid dog (german pointer) i have spent a lot of money on him with the vet already as he was in very bad nick when he came to my place.

kylith

IrishHomer wrote: »

I didn't get him from a pound. he strayed into my home i contacted all the local pounds and local radio etc but never found his original owner.

He is a lovely placid dog (german pointer) i have spent a lot of money on him with the vet already as he was in very bad nick when he came to my place.

I understand that you don't want to rehome the dog because you've invested so much of your money time and love in him.

Would it be possible to set up some baby gates in your house so that the dogs and cats are kept seperate? That way the dogs can't chase the cats and the cats could get some peace and quiet. If that's not possible, you may have to make some hard decisions if the pointer can't be made cat safe.

Kitiara

Pointers are hunting dogs.I have seen the same kind of behavior when i am introducing a new dog into my pack of 5.If the new dog does not mind cats, all will be fine. If he does, they will all turn on them. I have 12 cats.It is absolutely important to make sure the new guy does understand the cats are 'part' of the pack. You cannot watch the dogs all the time. If you cannot train the dog to leave the cats alone, you will loose them eventually.
An idea is to figure out what your pointer does hate (splash of water, loud noise, clap of hands) and execute that every time he even so much as looks at the cats. Do the same with the Shepherd.But act quick. And, if all else fails, you may have to re-home the pointer.