How To Train To Stop Hitting The Dog?

[FlawlessImperfection]

Our kitten Buttercup was rescued and a feral at first, and had lots of foster attention and I do all I can also. She is cuddly now and so sweet tempered, just very jumpy and doesn’t like company. Yet, No matter how scared she was, she never bit or scratched, she would just cry to tell you “I’m scared!” She took to our Shih-Tzu Vadar right away. He’s only 11 pounds and very sweet and rambunctious, and I knew he would be great because he doesn’t focus on her and scare her. All was progressing well, until we sat for our older Shih-Tzu Chewbacca, who now lives with my ex-husband. Chewbacca fixated on her and scared her, he has a high prey drive and though he wouldn’t hurt her, he would harass her if I’d not stopped him. I know he did it one night when I wasn’t there to police it. Since then she will hiss and smack poor Vadar. I don’t think she uses claws or hurts him, he just looks so sad when she does I feel so badly for him! (And her too! I want her to feel safe, loved and to play!) Since then she is short with Vadar, and in his typical Shih-Tzu way, he stares with giant loving eyes into her soul to show her how much he loves her.....and then of course *smack*! They don’t speak the same language! He speaks gentle deep eyes of love, she sees direct stare. The last few days she has been warming to him again and trying to cuddle, but now he’s afraid of her. She will hiss if he surprises her around a corner, over food, that type of thing, and she play stalks him through the house to attack his fluffy tail. I tell her “no!” When I catch her hissing or smacking him, and I try to give treats and pets together. It’s nothing too bad, it’s just they really liked each other at first and I want them to enjoy each other and play! Any ideas on how to foster that? Thank you!!!

 

[di and bob]

Leaving any sized dog with a 'high prey drive' is not a good idea, the next time keep the poor cat in a bedroom. My little 4 lb Yorkie killed squirrels and rabbits, so a kitten is too enticing and vulnerable.
Since they look alike, she will be scared of your poor dog now for a long time. she still likes him, but she is unsure now and is warning him to stay his distance. If she was truly afraid she would avoid him or attack with deep scratches and bites. Just let them work it out for now, I agree that any harassing should be stopped with a stern NO.
Your little girl is still very much a kitten, she will chase and harass the dog, that is what kittens do. She has almost no impulse control at this stage so toys and playing with a wand will tire her out. I would get a kickeroo on Amazon and throw it towards her if she is stalking, it distracts them very well. They both need lots of reassurance and love from you right now, try to have them both by you and give them equal attention. Time is what you need, it will take weeks or even months, but they will become pals eventually.

 

[ArtNJ]

I would treat this like a cat-cat situation, because it basically is. Meaning it is your cat that has the problem, the dog is chill. From this perspective, this is a standard cat-cat issue where redirected aggression causes a problem in an otherwise solid relationship. This means that when a cat gets scared by X, he lashes out at Y. Its normal, and in some cases it can sour a relationship for a good while if we don't help. A reintroduction is the standard remedy. I agree it will probably be fine in the long run anyway, but a reintroduction may speed the process.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

 

[orange&white]

It's easier to train a dog than to train a cat. I would work with your little dog not to make eye contact.

I'm in a similar position right now with the feral who I've been letting inside since winter weather. She has been attacking my senior Corgi. I trained him to ignore her last summer, but she is now cornering him and attacking. He tries to stay out of her way, won't look at her, and is now terrified of her. Not sure how to train the cat to chill out. I said "No, Misfit," the first time she attacked him, and she walked over and swatted me!

I can sympathize. I think your chances of restoring harmony are good, since they got along before, plus it doesn't sound like your cat is trying to hurt your dog as much as to establish a dominance position. If you can, just redirect your dog to some other focus when he starts to stare at her.

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Leaving any sized dog with a 'high prey drive' is not a good idea, the next time keep the poor cat in a bedroom. My little 4 lb Yorkie killed squirrels and rabbits, so a kitten is too enticing and vulnerable.
Since they look alike, she will be scared of your poor dog now for a long time. she still likes him, but she is unsure now and is warning him to stay his distance. If she was truly afraid she would avoid him or attack with deep scratches and bites. Just let them work it out for now, I agree that any harassing should be stopped with a stern NO.
Your little girl is still very much a kitten, she will chase and harass the dog, that is what kittens do. She has almost no impulse control at this stage so toys and playing with a wand will tire her out. I would get a kickeroo on Amazon and throw it towards her if she is stalking, it distracts them very well. They both need lots of reassurance and love from you right now, try to have them both by you and give them equal attention. Time is what you need, it will take weeks or even months, but they will become pals eventually.

Thanks so very much. Chewie is now 11 years old and so very mellow, and at worst he only would ever chase birds, although never hurt them. I pulled my grandmothers parakeet out of his mouth once, he was just “playing fetch”, I know after all these years he wouldn’t hurt her- and he is so old and mellow now I didn’t even think he would upset her. I was wrong and feel badly about it, I’m sorry she had to pay for my mistake, but it’s behind us and we will work hard to make her feel safe. I know they will be friends, Vadar still misses our old pet ferret Hobbes so much, they were BEST friends! He’s just perfect with being patient and not pushing, even friends have brought cats here to socialize with a safe dog. She sure is a toddler, what a little wrecking ball, lol! She’s made such huge strides from being feral and patient continual work, she follows me everywhere now and purrs because my son only walks in the room! She has so many toys and for sure has favorites, I will check that one too! I made sure to block the “unders” and yet get lots of kitty hiding places so she has a safe place to hide. It sounds like the right track, even though they speak different languages, they will learn that they love each other. Thanks again!!

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

I would treat this like a cat-cat situation, because it basically is. Meaning it is your cat that has the problem, the dog is chill. From this perspective, this is a standard cat-cat issue where redirected aggression causes a problem in an otherwise solid relationship. This means that when a cat gets scared by X, he lashes out at Y. Its normal, and in some cases it can sour a relationship for a good while if we don't help. A reintroduction is the standard remedy. I agree it will probably be fine in the long run anyway, but a reintroduction may speed the process.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

Thank you! It’s so sad because I catch each one eying the other as if saying “I love you and want to cuddle, why don’t you understand?” I find feeding them next to each other helps, unless she dives into his bowl, hissing with a mouthful, lol! I get them touching each other to eat, wagging tail and purr between bites. I will tell them “okay we are starting from scratch!” Oops, that was a bad choice of words....

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

It's easier to train a dog than to train a cat. I would work with your little dog not to make eye contact.

I'm in a similar position right now with the feral who I've been letting inside since winter weather. She has been attacking my senior Corgi. I trained him to ignore her last summer, but she is now cornering him and attacking. He tries to stay out of her way, won't look at her, and is now terrified of her. Not sure how to train the cat to chill out. I said "No, Misfit," the first time she attacked him, and she walked over and swatted me!

I can sympathize. I think your chances of restoring harmony are good, since they got along before, plus it doesn't sound like your cat is trying to hurt your dog as much as to establish a dominance position. If you can, just redirect your dog to some other focus when he starts to stare at her.

Oh I’m so sorry you are dealing with it too! And she smacked you?! I’m sorry to laugh, I guess misery loves company, lol! Why can’t we all just get along? When Chewie would stare, it was tails and ears erect and almost like my grandfathers bird dog, Vadar cuddles up, ears down and giant melting eyes- do you remember Puss in Boots from Disney? That’s it! I feel like it’s such a Shih-Tzu trait since they are such deep people connectors. Vadar likes to sleep under the covers, and I showed Buttercup he was there when she came to bed. She curled up on top of him purring away. We all fell asleep, and I woke up and shifted, causing Vadar to shift and her to wake up seemingly forgetting he was there and all you know what broke loose! Picture laying I. The pitch dark with the classic cartoon cat fight noise and chaos on your chest! Sheesh I’m still laughing about that one! Best of luck to you and yours!

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Progress! I spent time putting together a cat tree tonight, and they were both very interested. Since they were both curious, they paid attention to the toy, not that they were sitting together. I figured out the “problem” is Vadar trying to apologize and make friends by deep eye contact. Since I can’t train him not to do that, (or would want to- it’s so cute!) I’m just playing with him instead of her. He runs and plays and has so much fun and just ignores her because he’s busy. She was watching him play with wide eyes, like a kid on the playground to scared to join others on the swings! They climbed around the cat tree exploring the levels (Vadar is part goat- we have no idea why he climbs everything in site lol!) The only time she got startled was when he ran full speed, and leaps into a round bed next to hers and slide across the floor.... I thinks she’s right to wonder about that nut! It was much better, thanks for telling me to focus on him, I was trying to make her feel better, so he tried too and just made feel stared at. Much better already. We will keep it up!

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Well looky here....
Dr. Who saved the day. They are napping on the blanket (to protect

my nice duvet) at the foot of bed, and there’s a whole lot of kitty motor noise.