Hi All,

New to the forum but I need some advice and this seemed as good a place as any! Some details:

• Pup is 6 month old
  
• Was the beta of the pack
  
• Completed basic foundation puppy training
  
• House consists of two female cats (well established)
  
• Red collared cat met pup early on and both were scared of each other
  
• Cats sleep in living room on top of sofa chair around dogs eye level
  
• The pup has been warned several times by the cats (even scratched) yet still circles the room looking for them. Usually will not settle at all in the room
  
• Has started nipping/biting humans
  

Cats & Dogs
Now I know it will take time (or may not happen at all) for the dogs and cats to get a long, I accept that Huskies in particular seem to have a high prey drive but he just circles the room when, ideally we'd just like him to relax chew/play with his toys. This usually ends up with him being naughty and ending up in his crate in the kitchen. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Behaviour
It would appear that he's going through a puberty like stage of defiance at the minute of where he will disobey commands, eat things he's not supposed to eat (garden plants, fruit), bite/chew/almost bully people, run off and try and get you to chase him when he's done wrong and growling/barking plus generally throwing temper tantrums.. I put this down to him being the beta and just being particularly willful. It seems like we are having to remind him who's the alpha almost daily...

I would like to point out that a certain percentage of the time he's a lovely, happy, obedient dog who listens and obeys commands (sit/lay down/wait for food, being good chewing toys) but there's times where he's just so willful/defiant - like a big middle finger to you. Re: eating things he's not supposed to - he's had dioharea from eating these things but he hasn't learnt yet!


Any advice from the community would be welcome

Thank you

Paw Paw will kill any cat on site. We have 5 cats and obviously love them all. Paw Paw is not allowed anywhere near them, and if he is, he's on a leash indoors. His prey drive is off the charts. He's caught birds out of the sky. It just isn't worth it, and no amount of training will curb his desire to kill small animals. He's sent some of our cats to the emergency vet. Luckily cats have 9 lives. We have our house separated with baby gates so the dogs get a portion and the cats can feel safe in their portion. Paw Paw could easily knock down or jump over the baby gates, but this is where training comes in. He knows better. He might be stubborn, but he also knows his boundaries when it comes to what I'll allow and won't allow. He's never challeneged me on that level. I'm the boss and he respects that, no matter how strong-wiilled he decides to be.

As for eating things they're not supposed to, I would recommend not allowing him to access whatever it is he's eating. It's more difficult at the puppy stage, and a lot of what they do is really just exploring and learning about the world. The best and easiest way for a dog to do this is to sniff, lick or taste/eat the unknown until they figure out what they like and dislike. If it's things that could harm them, we ensure that anything like that is put up or locked away so there is no way for the dogs to get to it.

Good luck. Hope that helps.

Since pup is learning some commands I would seriously start teaching drop it and leave it. I understand eating things they shouldn't. Miya is 3 now, and teaching those 2 commands helped in teaching her to leave our very old cat alone. I personally believe you can teach any dog to leave something alone. It takes a huge amount of patience and consistency. If he focuses on your cats, break his focus and use leave it. Do not let him stare or make much eye contact. Redirect his focus on you. My 17 week old Sofie, did not have an opportunity to meet our cat, she passed in the spring. She is crazy for critters as much as Miya. She also eats any thing and everything, and like Kevin said puppy proof indoors. But, outdoors another story, can't really puppy proof dirt, haha. That's where you need to train drop it and leave it. Sofie loves balls, but use what ever toy, and teach drop it. When they drop the toy play (that's their reward), after a while of playing fetch, start teaching leave it, use another toy, and play with that and then switch after a while. Drop it and Leave it are the 2 most important commands to teach after stay and recall, imho, it can save your dogs or cats life by teaching this.

Back to the cats, I agree with Kevin in separation and protecting, however, again, imho, using gates in my house forever would get on my nerves. Training your dog respect of other items and people is important, that goes for cats too. Tiring out the pup, so he has no interest in the cats is one step in that direction. And you may find, since he is a pup, he will eventually learn to cohabitate just fine with the cats. As far as the nipping, ugh, that is a huge problem, and yes he is being a teenager, bratty state, this is the time to tire his body and mind. With him nipping and also the not settling and looking for the cats, means you have not adequately tired him out. Playing tugs will allow him the release he needs as far as biting. By not accepting him nipping at you, I can honestly say, most by the age of a year, will understand bite inhibition and no longer bite and nip. what I found with Miya, because she was crazy, was to play tugs, she got to bite and nip at it and not me. I also incorporated training along with the play. If she dropped the tugs, I would make her sit and stay before resuming the game. The game is the reward. If she dropped it again then I might use lay down. Use different commands, you can reinforce drop it and leave it with this game too. When he does something right, tell him good boy and resume play, this is a double positive reinforcement. You must be the one who stops the play. Tell him enough and stop, so you are teaching him enough, can be used with the cats and bothering them. By you stopping you are in control, and not him, builds a bond, but also it builds respect.

I do have a question for you, what is your customary way you take him in and out of your house? Do you make him sit and wait before he can go out and in?

Anyways, I hope I could help as well. The teenage phase is really the most difficult time for you the owner, they do try to see what they can get away with, and you need to be a strong leader. Btw, I don't care much for this beta/alpha thing. I prefer the leader and the rest of the pack. Most dogs want to see what they can get away with, especially between 5 months and a year, it's because they are teenagers, not because they want to be the alpha. Dogs want to have a leader, being persistent and consistent will establish boundaries and your dogs understanding of respect of you.

Let me add, some dogs you may never be able to trust around small animals. Miya is a husky x gsd, she also has a huge prey drive, I too have seen Miya catch a bird in the air. I don't know if its because she has gsd that made her willing to learn to respect the cat, or because I was a drill sergeant and was persistent with leave it, enough and redirecting her focus. I would start with the training, while he is young, and see how he is doing, he may be fine in the house with the cats, or he may be like Kevin's and you have to use other means to keep them safe.

I should've added that Paw Paw came to us at a few days shy of 8 months old, and he was raised in a home before ours that only had a dog and no cats. So that might've been part of the problem. We had 2 cats when he arrived, and he had no exposure to cats prior to that, but he would get chained up to a tree outside and I'm sure would chase squirrels or whatever other small prey animals he could catch. If your pup is still young enough, definitely try to train it out of them before they become a cold-hearted killer like my Paw Paw. Just look at his eyes in my avatar pic. We call those the "Bruce eyes" from the big shark in Finding Nemo. He's always looking to kill his next "yummy snack."