Dogs vs Cats

A TAW client asked me today if we could help her dog get used to cats. Her dog chases all neighborhood felines.

You see, we foster kittens here at TAW and she was hoping by exposing her dog to the kittens it would help her dog not be such a brat to neighborhood cats. Good idea... but not much of a chance.

Yes, we can help dogs get more used to the kittens here and in turn it can help dogs do better with house cats, but when we are taking about cats in the neighborhood we are now talking about prey drive.

Prey drive is the desire for a dog to chase and hunt. It is in all dogs, to some degree, more in some- less in other breeds. Terriers have a high prey drive, as they were bred to hunt and kill small vermin. What we have to understand is the dog does not have to catch the prey in order to be rewarded. The chase its self can be all it takes. Your dog does not need to have ever caught a squirrel to know its fun to chase them...

Dogs with a high prey drive can, in my opinion, never be taught to not WANT to chase... but we can put their focus on something else. Agility, Frisbee, Tracking ECT.

Remember, we cannot pick and choose the traits we love about our breeds. The same tenacity a terrier has to bark and chase is the same thing you love when it comes to theri attitude about loyalty to you.