Bad behavior

[EmilyBarfield]

Hey; I need help. I have3 doodles age 1 & under. They are all great dogs. They chase & corner my cat, & I’m really afraid they may hurt her.  I have started working with them on target training & the airplane.they are doing well with that. But they are digging my yard up. I have put poop in the holes. That works sometimes. They just dig new holes. My 7 month old mini goldendoodle,who I got through Re-homing is doing pretty good with potty training, but still not 100 %. Any advice would be appreciated. On all of the above . Thank you, Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

I will be providing info about the three issues you mentioned. I will start by the issue number 1, cat chasing. 

In a household of 3 young dogs and a cat, things can quite challenging, because 3 dogs loose together will form a sort of "group mentality" and they'll all want to join in the fun of chase. Most importantly, with group chasing, there are higher chances for mishaps such as risks for injury or predatory drift. 

It's therefore imperative to protect your kitty as much as possible, from not just potential injury but also to ensure her emotional wellbeing. Just this past summer I had to work on a case with a beagle who pestered the household cat, he never really hurt the cat, but the poor cat was terrorized of moving freely around the home. She would have to check when he was around to just use her litter box or go to eat. She moved very slowly and lived most of her life walking on shelves, tables and tall chairs. Any time the beagle saw her, he would chase her and try to mount her. I really felt for the poor cat!

So to tackle this sort of issue, there is an easy way, and then there is a more involved way that will require training and time. Firstly, let's take a look at the easy solution, that is management. Management is important because it prevents your dogs from rehearsing the problematic behavior (chasing), and it also helps keep your cat relatively safer. Here are some management options:  

Provide Your Cat With a Safe Area

It's important for your cat's comfort and safety that she is provided with a safe place to retreat that is out of your dogs' reach. There are several options to provide such areas that can help you keep your cat away from your dogs. You can for instance, erect a pet baby gate or some indoor pet fence options. Several cat owners split their homes in two areas using such barriers; the cat area and the dog area. 

Some of these options you may need to adjust adding some additional barrier to prevent your cat from fitting through the bars if you want your cat to stay in a specific area of the home permanently, but there are also some models that can allow cats to fit through them, while dogs cannot, so the cat is free to come and go from the area as she pleases. These latter can work well in cases where dogs aren't really interested in harming the cat and where pet owners can always monitor interactions. Another option is to provide cat trees, cat window perches and condos that are high enough to be out of your dogs' reach. 

Whichever the means of separation used, it's important to ensure your dogs have no way to jump over, chew thorough or dig under these barriers. This means you will have to monitor these enclosures to ensure they remain effective. If you need to leave the home, it's better to be safe than sorry and keep your dogs enclosed as well with sturdy crates and kennels, which provides a double level of protection. 

By keeping your cat out of reach, your dogs aren't allowed to rehearse chasing behaviors over and over. Left untreated, cat-chasing behaviors can quickly risk becoming your dogs favorite pastime, and that for sure is not a good hobby. Not to mention, the more dogs rehearse chasing behaviors, the more ingrained the behavior becomes and this makes it more difficult to work on. Chasing is a self-reinforcing behavior in dogs that is ingrained and instinctive. 

The main advantages of management are therefore that, you won't have to invest much time, your cat can finally feel more secure, your dogs don't get to rehearse problematic behaviors, and if the barriers are sturdy and secure, your cat is also kept safe. The main disadvantage is that, it doesn't do much to tackle the underlying behavior,  it fails to give you back-up plan should management fail (many management plans fail eventually for instance, a door or baby gate is left open, a cat escapes etc) and it requires a starter investment cost to cover for the cost of the chosen type of barrier. 

A Word About Calming Aids for Cats

Many cats can become stressed when living with dogs. Separation alone can cause most cats to feel better, however some remain stressed just by seeing/hearing dogs on the other side.  If your cat is stressed, you may also want to provide some calming aids. There are several pheromone--based products such as Feliway or Comfort Zone, which are products that mimic a chemical that cats are known to emit through special glands on their faces when they are feeling calm. There are also several over-the-counter supplements that can help calm down nervous kitties. Examples are products containing l-theanine. 

 

Now, to the more involved option. The more involved option requires that, you keep your cat safely separated from your dogs when you cannot supervise and as well when you cannot train. Training dogs to stop chasing cats requires a good level of impulse control (which can take time), on top of this, you will need to train each dog individually, unless they are already under good voice control as a group. 

Training to Stop Chasing a Cat

This training requires that you teach each dog individually, and then once your one dog is under good voice control, you can add another dog as a distraction and then you can progress to having all three dogs together. If your dogs guard food from one another, please consult with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.  Here are three of my favorite methods:

Leave it

One of the most effective ways to train a dog to stop chasing is the leave it cue, you can find how to train it below. You will have to keep your dog on leash at a distance from your cat in the initial stages of training. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

Leave it, basically tells your dog "stop trying to engage with whatever is tempting you". It can be applied to many circumstances where you need your dog to stop in his tracks, for instance, it can be used to tell a dog to not pick up something that has fallen to the floor, or it can be used to tell a dog to not move towards a distraction.

You can therefore use it if you notice your dog/dogs are thinking about chasing your cat. Before practicing with your cat, it may help to practice with some intermediate distractions such as practicing leave its with a flirt pole, or a helper dragging a stuffed animal shaped like a cat around attached to a string. To work well, it's important to say  "leave it" in advance before the dog is too focused on chasing. 

Look into My Eyes

Another method for stopping dogs from chasing cats is to train a very solid response to a smacking sound made with my mouth that tells the dog to pay attention to me.  This can work well with dogs with intense predatory drive because many dogs seem to respond better to a sound we make rather than voice. As with leave it, you will have to train this to all your three dogs. Here is how to train it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/look-into-my-eyes/

You can then practice this exercise in more and more distracting areas such as in the yard, then watching things pass by your window:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

Once you have a nice response, you will have work around the cat, but with your dog on leash and at a distance from the cat. This is to keep the dog under threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

* If you are concerned about your dog potentially breaking loose from your grip on the leash and injuring your cat, by all means, let him/her wear a basket muzzle. It never hurts to add an extra layer or protection and play it safe.

If at any time your dog isn't responsive, it's likely because he's too close to the cat  (and, therefore, not ready for this level of distraction yet) or the treats you are using aren't high-value enough. Go back a few steps, increasing distance temporarily, and try increasing the value of the treats if your dog seems disinterested. 

Going to a mat

All dogs can be trained to go lie on a mat at specific times when you perhaps may want your cat to be around a bit and you want to keep your dogs all in an area and engaged in some other activity. In this case, you can give your dogs something tasty to enjoy on their mats. Ensure your cat though never goes near them as many dog will resource guard food from cats.  Also, keep the mats at a distance from each other to prevent food guarding between your dogs. Here's how to train it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

A disclaimer is warranted here. Dogs and cats may seem to get along at times, but accidents can always happen at a moment's notice. Always supervise your pets and make safety your top priority. Even among dogs, fights may occur in presence of a cat due to redirected aggression. It's a good idea to have plan to separate dogs in case of a fight (keep an air horn handy, two pot lids to slam together for a startling effect,a bucket of water, etc). If your dogs guard food from one another or show other types of aggression, please consult with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

[Adrienne]

Digging up the yard;

We have a section that covers this. Because digging is instinctive in dogs and many dogs love to dig, we can often find a compromise such as creating an area where dogs can dig to their heart's content. I love to use sand and bury dog toys in their designated digging area. This can work well if your dogs aren't prone to guarding toys. 

It would be important finding out why they dig in the first place. If there are critters in the yard like moles, it would be important finding safe ways to have them move out. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/digging/

For potty training, I would need more info. Is your 7-month old mini doodle spayed/neutered?

When are the accidents happening? Like when you approach him? Pet him? Come back home? When he's playing? When he greets your other dogs?

What type of accident mostly? Pee or poop?

What are you using to clean the accidents in your home?

Is he/she peeing on certain surfaces?

Has he/she seen the vet for this to exclude medical problems?

We have a potty section here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/7-secret-potty-training-strategies/