If you have a young puppy you may have discovered that your puppy loves anything and everything that moves..including your cat!
Puppies have no clue what to chase and what not to chase, in this article, we go over how to stop puppy chasing cats and teach your adorable puppy what to chase instead.
How To Stop puppy chasing Cat the Simple Answer:
Have your puppy on a leash to prevent your puppy from rehearsing any cat chasing behavior then, redirect your puppy’s attention from being focused on your cat to either a puzzle toy or chew toy. The more you do this the more your puppy will associate toys for chasing instead of your cat.
Why Chasing is Rewarding
Chasing is a behavior that is “self-reinforcing” meaning that the physical act of chasing alone is rewarding for your puppy even if your puppy never catches what he/she is chasing.
Chasing is a behavior that has genetically been passed down from their ancestral wolves for survival.
In today’s day and age, puppies chase for fun, play, prey, and much more.
The biggest take away from this section is that chasing is a behavior that is genetically hardwired in puppies in dogs to be reinforcing.
What you’ll need to Set Your Puppy For Success
Now that we understand why puppies like chasing, we are going to cover how to begin setting your puppy up for success, so your puppy is put the best possible position to not fail when learning how to stop puppy chasing cat.
To begin setting your puppy up to succeed there are a couple of tools that will make our lives much easier when dealing with a puppy full of energy that wants to chase your cat.
Heres what well need:
Leash: The leash is honestly the most important tool you have access to because it gives you more control over your puppy then physically trying to grab your puppy from chasing your cat.
Play Toys: Play toys are toys that you only use when your puppy is playing with you, otherwise the toys are then put away. Some examples of good play toys are; frisbees, balls, tugs toys.
Chew/puzzle toys: Chew toys are different from play toys in that there just toys you give your puppy to self entertain some examples of good chew toys are; chew bone, kongs, antlers, pigs ears, etc
Pet Bed: A pet bed is a great way to begin directing your young puppy away from your enticing cat so that your puppy begins learning how to just co-exist with your cat.
How To Stop Puppy Chasing Cat
Now that we have exactly what we need to begin setting your puppy up for success here how to stop your puppy from chasing your cat step by step!
Step 1 have your puppy on a leash: Having your puppy allows you to prevent your dog from rehearsing the behavior of chasing your cat. Having your puppy on a leash allows you to guide and direct your puppy’s attention to something else other than your cat.
Step 2 Redirect your puppy: if you haven’t figured it out yet raising a puppy is a lot of ” do this instead of this” essentially what raising a puppy comes down to is teaching your puppy what he/she can and cannot do.
For instance, if your puppy wants to chase your cat use the leash to stop your puppy then present your puppy with a toy, be sure to wiggle the toy and make the toy exciting especially because you competing with something as interesting as your cat.
These two steps are essentially the basic way to begin teaching your young puppy to stop chasing your cats. In our next session well go over routines and structure to fully diminish your puppy’s desire to chase your cat.
Structure and Routine
One of the most important aspects of teaching your young puppy to stop chasing your cat is instilling a consistent structure and routine with your puppy.
The type of structure we want to provide your puppy is one where your puppy gets an alternative outlet for the behavior your puppy naturally wants to do which is chasing. Once we’ve provided your puppy with that alternative outlet we then want to give your puppy some self-entertaining toys like puzzle toys so that your puppy is being given some mental stimulation around your cat.
Heres The Structure:
Take your puppy outside and play tug or fetch: the idea here is to not only burn some of your puppy’s excess energy but also provide your puppy with an alternative outlet for the behavior your puppy naturally wants to do. Its allot easier to redirect your puppies behavior onto something appropriate then flat out trying to stop a behavior that natural for dogs and puppies.
Puzzle Toys in Bed: After you have burned off some of your puppy’s excess energy and provided your puppy with an outlet for chasing. When you arrive back home you want to guide your puppy to his/her bed and either give your puppy a chew toy or puzzle toy.
The idea here is that your puppy will first have his need to chase satisfied and will also be tired enough that when your puppy sees your cat your puppy would rather chew his/her bone or get the treats out a puzzle toy.
The more you do this the more your puppy will begin to leave your cat alone because your puppy is getting opportunities to practice seeing your cat while just chewing his bone or puzzle toy instead of instantly darting to chase your cat.
Fine point:
If you have played with your puppy and when you get a home notice that your puppy still is focused on your cat begin using your puppies food and train your puppy around your cat. doing this will begin teaching your puppy to focus on you, leave your cat alone, and also take your direction around your cat.
Training with your puppies food will be one the best ways on how to stop puppy chasing cat!
Conclusion:
Believe me, I understand how enticing a cat can be to dogs ( I have 2 cats and a 60lbs pup) but having your puppy coexist with your cat doesn’t have to be stressful. The biggest take away from this whole article is that redirecting your puppy is key especially if you are actively preventing your pup from rehearsing the behavior of chasing your cat and making that a habit.
If you need more guidance on how to stop puppy chasing cat and to awaken your dog’s true potential contact us here or Give us a call!
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