I recently picked up a new gsp and started him. He shows wonderful potential but he has one bad habit. Chasing cats.... they are my wifes cats and they are her babies....so if he kills one he will get a bullet. Wondering if anyone has worked around this problem before....I tried negative association with an e collar....but he treed a cat this morning....I'm to the point where I'm gonna muzzle him and turn him loose in a pen with a big old rank tom cat. Any suggestions?

I have labs, and they love to chase my cats! But they don't know what to do with them if they catch em! LOL They just do it for fun but would never ever try to bite them. If the cat walks up to them real slow, they don't mess with em, but if the cat runs, they take off after it. I don't know about gsp's. I'm sure they could be different. Good Luck. There's not much you can do, maybe give the cats a place to go where the dog can't get to em.

I have a Tom Cat you can borrow

He got ahold of one the other day and started shaking it....the wife beat him with a hoe until he let go... texanfrog is it a big bobcat? That would be ideal

What exactly is turning him loose with a large cat suppose to accomplish?

Keep him or the cats crates when unsupervised geez its pretty simple.

My dog Izzy is currently being trained to avoid cats. I like cats and she likes to catch anything furry. She is too smart for her own good. I put a cat in a live trap where it would be safe. I put the collar on Izzy and told her "OFF". She knew what I wanted and would look in the other direction as I walked her past the cat off leash. When I was not looking (she thought) she went after the cat. I lit her up as she hit the cage. She now knows to avoid them when I am home, but when I am gone she will still go after the cats. I have a temporary kennel in the backyard where my wife is supposed to put her when she needs to go outside and I am not home.

I think with a little more training, with my wife, the cats will be safe.


Before you shoot the dog, you should train the dog or find it a new home.

The dog kills a cat iit will be shot....not by me. But by my wife....hell has no fury kinda thing...

Ms1454 geez its not that simple cats are barn cats....you come over and kennel one of them....he is on a lunge when I'm not home.....but if he gets off or gets away from my wife is why I'm trying to resolve the issue...I am giving him the benefit of training but I've exhausted just about all avenues....turning him loose with a big tom would solve more than ud think

A few years ago, three days before Christmas, my big Tom had to defend himself from three coyotes trying to make him a meal. The sound of the scuffle outside was awful, first the shrieking of the cat then the wimpering and yelping of the yotes. When my mom went outside she saw the cat jumping around and clawing the yotes, hissing, biting. She yelled and the coyotes ran off and the cat was just standing there completely worn out but still intact......mostly. They took part of his ear, his front shoulder had a punture wound which needed some stitches and had to be wrapped up for a while, and scratched his face outside of his eye pretty bad but considering the circumstances I think he fought pretty well. This cat kills everything from birds, mice, squirrels (another awful sounding brawl), rabbits, and lizards. He is a bad A. He is nearly 13 now and slowing down but he will still do some hunting every now and then to show us he still has it.

I think Stinkbelly has a good point though about training the dog to avoid the cats. He is a hunting dog with prey drive. That is a good thing when that drive is towards the proper prey. Sounds like some obedience and avoidance training will go a long way. He may just need to be crated when you are gone until you can trust him to be alone with the cats.

I think most of it depends on the dog, but some of it depends on the breed. I've raised pointers around cats for 40 years and never had a problem.

I wouldn't trust that pup alone with the cats, but he can be trained to leave the cats alone.

that's the thing...I took this dog to get him out of a bad situation....I have 3 other gsps started and finished by me....I've had them since they were pups and they know....don't jack with the cats....this dog is super birdey and shows tons of natural ability....but I won't have him eating cats...and I'm worried that this hard headedness will carry over when I snake and deer proof him. I will take it in stride and keep with him...he's a softer dog who responds to a 1 nic on the tritonics....hopefully that softness will save his life and he will figure out u don't jack with mommas cats....I got him whoa broke on a checkcord to flush amd shot in two weeks....I will start his force fetching here within a few months....but I'm quite surprised how well he's coming along in yard training inobedience. And in the field....the dogs had some bad manners and no training when I got him.

Texan frog I shot a big feral quail killing tom on my south texas lease last year and when I picked this cat up I guarantee he was over20 pounds of solid muscle.....they are tough

No cat stands a chance against a cat killing dog, otherwise that would be the world's solution to dogs who attack, just carry a cat around.

This ^^^

I have been able to train my current GSP to avoid everything BUT cats (and skunks). He won't chase rabbits, deer, hogs, coyotes, cows, horses, other dogs... but cats, man-o-man game on!

I've tried to break him the exact same way that worked with everything else, he just can't help himself. GSP's are a fur and feather dog... it's bred into them and can difficult to break if the dog isn't raised with cats from a early puppy stage. I just always try to never allow a situation where he can get one, because if he does, it's DOA. Basically, if he kills a cat, it's my fault because I understand the situation, he is just doing what he was bred to do.

Shooting the dog for killing something he is bred to hunt is stupid. If you can't break him, give the dog away and don't get another hunting dog that is bred to hunt fur.

my wife is allergic to cats this was as important as looks and her ability to cook when choosing a wife...

German breeds are mostly all going to want to go after cats. It is all fur to them. Please don't give it the death penalty if it does get to one. Just find it a new home

Cats are disposable. Just get new ones.

My daughter's cat cost us $750 so we will have a problem if the new pup (vizsla) tries to get it.

As you saw in my 11-20 post I was putting Izzy through cat avoidance training. It has worked. As long as I am around, she will not touch a cat. If I am gone, she doesn't follow any rules my wife gives her.

Twice this week already, I was walking her in the dark outside. It was pitch black. I noticed that she started to lag behind and stop. I then saw she was nose to nose with one of my cats. I called her and she walked away from the cat and followed me. This happened twice this week. The cat likes her.

Last night there was a stray cat laying on my front porch about 6 feet from the front door. I was again walking Izzy off leash around and we were walking by the cat at about 3 feet headed to the door. Izzy leaned her head towards the cat and I said "OFF". She then continued to follow me.

Two months ago, she would have killed those cats. It also hasn't messed up her drive for fur.

You shouldn't have a problem because you will be starting the puppy out with the cat, but it may think other cats are fair game.

Haha, that is ok! lol

That's great!Love this one.

This is a bit late, but maybe the GSP just doesn't like your wife? Can't say I would blame it from what you've posted

You should just make all the mice your "babies" and shoot each cat that kills one. Overall, problem solved heheh


Kevin

Is this a "Finished" cat or something? I picked my kitty up for free LOL