Pet Lovers

[RinaRina]

I always used to walk my Lab with the cat. Altho' she didn't like the cat, she pretty much ignored her during walks;  to my Lab, the cat was basically, a nuisance to be ignored.  When my Lab died and I got the new dog (a Feist), I continued our tradition -- me, the dog & cat walking together.   For some strange reason, the Feist and cat are fine in the house.  It took them a while to get used to eachother but they're okay now.  However, the Feist despises the cat on walks, especially at nite..  He keeps chasing her and growling. 

I know this sounds crazy but, is it possible, that in the dark, my dog thinks he's chasing a squirrel? 

Frequently the cat will run ahead of us.  When the dog & I catch up, the "chase" is on!!  It just occurred to me tonite on our evening walk, there might be an "alpha" conflict.

Honestly, I'm just at my wits' end.  I'm thinking of locking up the cat before our evening walks.  It's just not fun.

[hoosieroriginal]

Had never heard of a Feist dog (had to look it up) - they're really cute!   There could be an alpha problem, but then again, they're hunters, so I'm not sure. 

[RinaRina]

Feist dog climbing tree.  This is how they catch squirrels.  They just GO get 'em.

It is very difficult to keep my dog on leash when he sees a squirrel!  He just GOES!!  And so does my arm!

BTW, the thought of eating squirrels makes my stomach churn.

[CamilleP]

RinaRina, terriers are often cat-killers, so your Feist's behavior isn't terribly surprising.  Usually, a terrier at home, with their own housecat, will be fine, but strange cats coming into the yard are fair game.  Taking your dog's "personal kitty" out of the familiar settings of home may be triggering your dog's prey drive.  I don't think your dog thinks the cat is a squirrel, he just figures that, now that the cat isn't safe at home, that cat is meat to be hunted.

It sounds like your kitty is not on leash when you all walk together.  Is your kitty leash-trained?  If so, then practice leashing both cat and dog and walk them together in your house and yard, so that your dog gets used to seeing "his" cat in familiar surroundings, walking on leash, along with him, so when you leave home, everything will be less strange and less likely to trigger prey drive in your dog.

[RinaRina]

Hi CamilleP,

Thanks for the feedback.  

I decided to trick the cat (w/ food) into staying in the house in the evenings, which is what I did last nite.  It's just too much "work" (for me) when she walks with us..  BTW, kitty is not "on leash".

[RinaRina]

BTW, just looked up some Squirrel Stew recipes.

"Dress 3 young squirrels and let soak in salt ... "

"Cut each squirrel into 8 pieces, including heads. ... "

I could never do that!

[CamilleP]

RinaRina, I'm glad you could keep your cat from joining you on your walk, that's undoubtedly the easiest solution.  I agree with you on the squirrel recipe, besides the "eeuuuwwww" factor there's the prion-induced brain wasting disease that squirrels carry to consider.  There's been documented cases of human cases of what amounts to "mad cow disease" from eating a traditional breakfast food called "burgoo", which is scrambled eggs with squirrel brains mixed in.  Frankly, there were cases of dogs and cats contracting scrapie, the name for the prion disease in sheep, back in the 1970's in England, when butchers sold infected sheep carcasses for pet food.  It should not have come as a surprise to the cattle industry in America when "mad cow disease" showed up in cows fed infected cows and sheep as part of meat and bone meal in their grain rations, and it really should not have surprised human medicine when it showed up in people who ate infected cows.  Kuru, the name for the disease in humans, was diagnosed and the mode of transmission characterized in the 1950's, none of these diseases should ever have been transmitted as broadly as they were, even though it took electron microscopy to actually visualize the infectious particle. 

Sorry for the lesson in cross-species disease transmission, probably more than you wanted to know, but when it comes to prion-induced brain wasting disease, better safe than sorry!

[Jeannie29]

Gross

[doglover3]

---

@RinaRina wrote:

Feist dog climbing tree.  This is how they catch squirrels.  They just GO get 'em.

It is very difficult to keep my dog on leash when he sees a squirrel!  He just GOES!!  And so does my arm!

BTW, the thought of eating squirrels makes my stomach churn.

---

we have a min pin and a yorkie. All we have to do is say squirrel to the yorkie and he goes nuts looking all over. His ears go up and he is in the alert mode and won't stop till we call him to come in the house saying do you want a doggie treat. He of course has never caught a squirrel so no idea why they fascinate him so much but they sure do.

DS bought him a play squirrel(gets a new toy every holiday) and he carries that all over with him even to bed.

Our min pin, nothing bothers her, very calm relaxed dog.  All she wants is held. She is up on our lap before we can get all the way seated. She was never a lap dog till recently after we lost our bichon, last last month. Now she even wants under the covers at night, has to or just jumps up and down till we put her on the bed. Yorkie sleeps with DS, is strictly his dog, loves him more than anything.

I never heard of a Feist dog either so thank you for posting, cute.

[K9buddy]

There's a type of collar called a gentle leader.  It goes around the muzzle of the dog but it isn't a muzzle. It prevents the dog from pulling. You might want to talk to the folks at the pet store and check it out.