Help, I will do anything!

For all of you who don't know Tiffy is a 8 month old Dachshund. Her owner was in a motercycle acedent today and has a broken knee. So I now have Tiffy for the next couple of weeks. But the abd thing is she chases our cats and beats them up. BNow with 5 cats and 2 dogs this is not a good combenation! WHat should I do. I yell at her when she does it she lies down adn feels really bad but the second I leave its back to it. My friend told me to hit her but I don't beleave in hiting a animal no matter what it does.Help me please. I feel like its unfare to the cats that thias dog (that is the sixe of them) comes in am starts chasing them. I need you Help please!

Okay, do you live in a big enough place where you can seperate Tiffy from the cats? I agree that you should NOT hit her. You can try shaking a milk jug full of pennies or spraying her with a water bottle. Anything that will frighten her but not hurt her will work. One word of advice I have is to NEVER leave them alone unsupervised.

Bless you! You are soooo right not to hit her. There is never a reason to hit a dog - all it proves is that the person hitting the dog has no imagination, no control, no understanding and no right to have the welfare of a dog as their responsibilty.

When you are not in the house you should seperate the cats from the dog.
As soon as you get in let the dog out to toilet and then put it on a lead - control of the situation is the key to this. For a couple of days concentrate on control of the dog. Show the dog that you are happy when she lies down and is relaxed. Then open the doors and let the cats come and go as they please keeping the dog on a short enough lead that she can't make a dash for the cats but otherwise ignoring her. Once the cats realise that she can't run at them they will be more inclined to come forwards and ivestigate her and she will not be stimulated to chase if they don't run away. In a couple of weeks this is probably the best you can hope for and you will be suprised how quickly you adapt to having a doggy buddy with you as you move around the house.
I often look after my friends Dachie and she was a nightmare with my cat at first. Once she realised the cat wasn't going to run away she actually has become pretty submissive to him and the cat takes great pleasure in making sure that the dog knows who is boss by sitting next to her and staring at her for minutes at a time! They are now fond of each other and greet each other every time they meet.

Hey Buddy ~

Take it from a former Kat-chaser - two weeks will seem like a looooong time to the Katz! Do what Dad did wiff me an Smoke when we first moved in or have an overnight guest dawg ~ Hook the dawg critter Tiffy up to her leash and don't let go!

Dad used to tie the leash to the bedpost at night so nobody could go off an chase our Kat, Boots. If he needed to walk around the Ranchhouse, he'd loop the leash onto his belt and whatever dawg was being "schooled" to leave the Kat alone just learned to keep up with Dad. When Tiffy starts to get the idea that chasing the Katz is a no-no, you can drop the leash, but keep it hooked to the collar in case trouble starts.

If you have to leave the critters alone - I'd suggest a total isolation system be devised to prevent Kat/Dawg :eek: contact.

Yeah, jest like Carrie said :D. My gosh that girl's fast with a post! ;)

[ August 08, 2001: Message edited by: Cinder & Smoke ]

When we are not here she is in a crate. At night she sleeps in my room where there are no cats. I will try the leash thing thanx.O ya one more thing will my dog get used to her cause all he does is chase her around and ends up wearing himself out to the point where we have to put him in a air conditotioned room since the temp is like 90 somthing. Well thanx fro your help please keep comeing with the suggestions!

Thank you for not hitting Tiffy! I agree, there is just no need. There are other ways of getting around an obstacle, and I have on for you! Aly already mentioned it. Whenever anyone has a misbehaving pup, I push the penny bottle at them! It works and it's great! Simply fill a plastic bottle up with some pennies, and when the dog misbehaves, slam the bottle hard on the floor near her. The noise is awful and dogs hate it and automatically stop whatever they are doing. Immediately praise her. Sooner or later, she will get the picture: chase cats = bad noise. This penny bottle helped us curb Daisy's nipping problem when she was a puppy! Make sure to be consistent or it won't work. Good luck! I am glad to hear your friend wasn't hurt worse in his accident. You are doing a great thing to watch Tiffy for him.

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Originally posted by Daisy's Mom:
<STRONG> Whenever anyone has a misbehaving pup, I push the penny bottle at them! It works and it's great! The noise is awful and dogs hate it and automatically stop whatever they are doing.</STRONG>

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Sigh - gotta tell you, it doesn't work with every dog. I know a former pound pup who shall remain nameless, but when her owner tried the penny bottle (or a penny can - metal on metal, different noise) the goofy puppydog thought "Cool! A new toy!!! Can I have it, Dad?" Sigh. And she's part Lab, so spraying with water - not exactly a punishment. Consistent behavior from her humans and time eventually worked, and she always did hate when "Daddy" scolded her, he's got a loud deep voice when necessary, and her feeling were hurt!

I do think the "keep the offender on a leash" idea is a very good one, it establishes firm boundaries for her behavior.

This is a difficult situation for all concerned. I am sure that Tiffy is quite confused and wondering where her human is. I have a quiet area for Ricky that is just off the kitchen. It is a little hall way that leads to my laundry room. I bought a baby gate at a thrift store for $4.00 and put it up with Ricky enclosed. He can still see everyone and feels like he is not alone but it gave our cat a chance to do what they do without him pouncing on them until he got more used to "rules" and commands. I also used a lead to keep him in check. This is a learning time for Tiffy so be patient but keep your cats safe.
MHMama ;)

Tiffy doesn't really care abotu Mike. Like I meanshe does but when she is over here she gets os much love and attention that when we take her home she wants to come back and just whins. We treid the leash thing. It didn't work. She would walk around the house and the cats would attack the leash and choke her. They now also attack her tail cause the leash went over her back and so when she doesn't have the leash on she is getting her tail attacked :( . Poor poor Tiffy. We now are using water as a punishment. For the cats and Tiffy. They usually stay away from each other and Tiffy only has 2 scraches on her from all the fights they have been in. She got to see Mike yesterday. She didn't do anythign but layed by the door all day and waited for me to coem pick her up. Whe nI came she jumped up and Started to lick me and wage her tail. miek said no matter how hard he treid she wouldn't move. So now we are faced with this problem. :rolleyes: so many problems in such a short life right Tiffy? Right.Well thanx for your help.

Tiffy