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Hello Pet Island. My dog Gee is a jealous dog. She's a toy red poodle and is well trained in every other way. She asks for permission before getting in my lap or any furniture, she walks well next to me instead of pulling, sits, stays, etc. Good dog. Now we have two cats, and Gee doesn't want to let them get near me or my fiancee. If a cat is in my lap, she constantly is hopping around and whining and making little growls. If Gee is in my lap and the cat walks under my chair, she freaks out and jumps down. She does not attack the cats. She's snapped at them once or twice, usually after I pick them up and/or put them down. But mostly she just invades their personal space until they leave. So she's blocking them from getting near me, and goes crazy when I pick up a cat or the cat gets in my lap. The cats are super laid back but they don't like my dog getting so uppity. We want to train the cats to sit near us or on us, but it's impossible with this hyper dog leaping around and making scary noises. So I can't have a dog in my lap and I can't have a cat in my lap either. This is unacceptable. Any pointers for how I can get my dog to chill out? I've tried re-directing her energy at other things like her toys, but if she is in my lap already that doesn't work, and if it is the cat usually I am busy doing something else (such as taking the cats to a new location.) So maybe I am missing something.
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Apr 27, 2015 05:08
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:14 |
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a super soaker filled with cheap tequila should do the trick.
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Apr 28, 2015 02:36
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Honestly, just spunds like a snappy toy breed problem. Keep the dog and cats as seperated as you can to avoid future issues.
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Apr 28, 2015 17:26
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How much do you coddle the toy poodle and how much do you let her get away with? A lot of dog owners are more permissive of undesirable behaviors like jumping and growling when small dogs do it. There's an article about this phenomenon. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/smalltoydogs.htm Pixelated Dragon fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Apr 28, 2015 |
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Apr 28, 2015 19:15
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Yeah I know about that. I don't let her jump and I don't let her growl unless she's playing with her toys. Other people (coworkers, fiancee, etc.) are less strict and let her jump when she shouldn't, but overall I don't really coddle her. She's not allowed in my lap without permission, not allowed on furniture without permission, she doesn't growl at or bark at guests (she barks at the door before it opens but that's OK really). She growls and barks at other dogs but I always discipline her for it. (Stern remarks, make her sit, calm down, reward when/if she cools down.) She walks next to me or behind me on walks, I don't let her get ahead, and she doesn't sleep with me except maybe once a week, and she's never allowed on the pillow. She's not allowed on the bed without my permission. The behavior does seem to be somewhat protective in nature, but beyond letting her sit in my lap (again, with my permission only) I am clearly the alpha dog in all other aspects of our relationship. She does get separation anxiety when she knows I'm going to leave the car, but not in other situations. When I leave the house she gets sad, but doesn't bark or get anxious. She just mopes around a little. Also, she can't leave or get in the car without my permission. Good article though, thanks for sharing it.
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Apr 29, 2015 04:40
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Actually, for the sake of argument, let's say Gee thinks she is dominant and is claiming me, and thus doesn't like other animals getting close. What should I do to remove that claim, specifically?
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Apr 29, 2015 04:54
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^^^ not exactly. If you can get a helper to distract your dog with treats while you give attention to the cat, and keep doing it regularly, she will start to transition from a high anxiety reaction to you interacting with the cat and start feeling like amazing things are about to happen because cat!!! A dog person can explain this better than me, paging a life less to thread!
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Apr 29, 2015 19:14
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I had a similar problem once with a Schipperkee-terrier mix I had, it was overwhelming. Honestly sometimes you just have to give up the animal and move on, for your sanity's sake. What can you do  
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Apr 29, 2015 20:04
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Honestly, I think you just have to redirect and manage her better. Set up an exercise pen or gate. If she's on your lap and makes even an iota of a fuss with the cats around, whoops, lap privileges revoked immediately. React calmly (and without anger) and set her on the ground or behind the gate for a time out. You're showing her that guardiness results in the opposite of what she wants. At the same time, provide her tasty treats for when she's hanging out with the cats. Maybe give her a bully stick to chew on on the floor while your cats enjoy lap time. You want to make non-lap time pretty loving awesome for your dog. Praise/treat when she defers or entertains herself. Praise/treat when she's on your lap and doesn't react to the cats' approaches. Basically you'll be punishing bad behaviour by removing what she wants, and rewarding good behaviour by making it more valuable. It's super simple. Where the complexity comes in is that you need to be consistent in your rules. It may take a while to break her of her crappy habit since she's had a while to cement it into her behaviour patterns. From personal experience, little warnings of "hey cut that out" with the dog on your lap when it growls at a passer by are of no use. I find the immediate revocation of the lap much more effective.
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Apr 29, 2015 20:10
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:14 |
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Thanks, I've already started implementing your suggestions. I appreciate the feedback!
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Apr 30, 2015 02:11
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