Confusing behavior from our new dog

Hello everyone,
My wife and I have just (2 days ago), brought home a 1.5 year old Lab/shep shelter rescue puppy dog. She was adopted as a baby and then surrendered to the humane society when she was four months old. Quick math = over a year in the shelter. She's a sweet girl, very quiet and loving 98% of the time. We also have a 4 yr old cat that we have had for close to two years. A lot of the time the dog and cat give each other a wide berth. When we first introduced the two there were no issues what so ever. But at seemingly random times the dogs tail will be wagging and the she will snarl, snap, growl, bark, lunge and charge at the cat with her hackles raised, and the cat will hiss and hide. Shortly after, the dog will be back to the original behavior of avoidance. She is very skittish, loud noises startle her badly, and she displays signs of previous abuse (sensitivity to fast movements). She's learning to play and her tail is coming out from between her legs more and more. We're also learning Sit-down-stay, she's doing ok, but has a long way to go. We've signed up for classes. We need to know what we can do. We love the dog very much and want the family to get along, please help.

Thank you,
sorry for the length
Chris and Mandy

Because your pup spent virtually all her puppyhood within the confines of the shelter, she is most likely undersocialized. That would explain her overall fear and skittishness. Keep in mind, she's also very new and trying to cope with the drastic change of environment! :)

A lot of dogs don't know how to cope with their fear, so, if they're cornered, they can turn to aggression. It's that whole "fight or flight" mentality. If your pup normally avoids the cat and seems to act scared in its presence, I wouldn't be surprised if your pup was acting "fear aggressive" towards the cat. The most logical prescription for a fear aggressive dog is to desensitize and countercondition the trigger. For more reading, see Patricia McConnell's The Cautious Canine. In the meantime, I would also monitor the dog and cat at all times to ensure that the cat isn't being too pushy and that the pup has an escape route so that she never feels obligated to attack. Kudos to you for adopting!

I agree with Giselle. I am also glad you are going to take her to classes - that will help with her socialization and will help the bond between you as well. The good news is that she's still a puppy in many ways, and will be teachable, and may overcome many of her fears in time.

Thank you for your input, I hope this issue can be resolved quickly, the poor cat wont come out from under the couch and that is really not like him. Our Kitty had a very outgoing and lovable personality, now he is always scared.
thanks again.

Time helps heal almost everything. Going from a single animal house to a multi-animal house is the biggest step. Going from 2 to 3 isn't hard, but it IS hard going from 1 to 2 ;) Good luck and just have a little patience.

I remember my boss would always chant to herself, " I... am a fountain of patience. Everything I do, everything I say is an extension of my patience. Patience will flow forth from me." :D

Hmm.. You said the dogs tail is wagging? Is there any chance that the dog perhaps is trying to get the cat to play with her? It's not uncommon for dogs to growl etc. when they play together. You did mention her hackles were raised as well.. which a lot of the time is a sign of anger but I have seen dogs raise their hackles when they play as well.

Not saying it couldn't be fear aggression tho'. But the barking and tailwagging got me thinking about my Leo and Taggart, so I just thought I should give my two cents :)

I have two dogs and a cat myself, so I've seen my dog Taggart trying to play with the cat several times. He'll do almost exactly the same as you described. Bark, growl, wag his tail and "punch" the cat with his paws and of course do the typical doggy play bow as well. Does your dog do the bow as well?
Most of the time the cat just ignores him (he's grown up with dogs, so he's used to them acting stupid :P). Your cat is probably reacting by hissing and getting scared because he isn't used to dogs trying to play with him so he interprets it as a threat.

Now we don't know if it is play or not. Boots can be laying down asleep on the floor and then freaks out when the cat walks into the room. But when one of us brings the cat into a room, Boots just continues doing whatever it is that she is doing and ignores the cat. The vet ensured us that the two will get along and once the cat grows a spine and claws Boots once, he will run the roost again. We have been bringing the cat in and letting him walk/run back to the room he was hiding in while correcting Boots if she starts to get into that zone. Hopefully that works. We start beginner puppy classes on Tuesday so lets pray that works too.

Thanks again for all your advice. I will keep you informed as to Boots progress.

"New Dogs" and "I was here First Kats" can be a rowdy combination! :eek:

My Boots, da Kat (RB :( ) survived a LOT of new and permanent doggy house mates,
as well as more "visiting dogs" than one cat should ever have had to suffer through.

He always put on his "game face" and did his best to 'show no fear' ...
and I tried to help him out when the 'no fear' attitude failed him.
Our solution for overly 'friendly' or downright aggressive dogs was to tether the
offending mutt to my belt with a 5-6 foot leash at ALL times when the mutt was
inside the "Kat's House". Leash corrections to the dog are always possible;
and the Kat develops a bit of confidence to approach (or tease, if we're being realistic)
the dog without fear of great bodily harm.

It may take some time to knock the rough edges off the dog, but you owe it to the Kat
to restore his confidence to where he can once again stroll around HIS house without
having to constantly look over his shoulder for "That Darn DOG".

;)

If the dog is indeed fear aggressive, leash corrections will only increase the fear and resulting aggression.

If the dog is naturally timid and shy and rather undersocialized, corrections are not necessary and not recommended. Rather than correcting the dog, find a way to make it a positive experience. It's harder, but it's better in the long run. For example, I could smack my dog every time he peed in the house or I can teach him to sit by the door and ring a bell. I wonder which option would make both of us happier...;)