My two year old dobe Helga attacked my cat for no reason tonight when the cat walked by and rubbed up against her. We have two cats, and two other dogs, a golden and a doodle. Helga is the youngest and has always been testy and a bit jelous. She has started to growl when one of the other critters gets near the golden, (her "mama") or me. I will not tiptoe around my house with my animals if they can't tolerate each other. My dobe has been trained in a loving home since we brought her home. My husband and I are not sure what to do next. She is on a time out in her crate now. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks dobe lovers.
xtagus
Dogs don't understand "time outs", so she really has no idea why she is in her crate. Contact your breeder who will undoubtedly have some excellent recommendations, and also look into working with a trainer.
Good Luck and hope your cat is okay.
Good Luck and hope your cat is okay.
have you ever had her thyroid levels checked?
seems a few dobes get 'testy' if their thyroid levels are lower than normal.
just a thought.
is she spayed?
Hugz to Helga
seems a few dobes get 'testy' if their thyroid levels are lower than normal.
just a thought.
is she spayed?
Hugz to Helga
I'd suggest you read up on resource guarding as it sounds like she is "guarding" access to your Golden and to you, her chosen person.
Have you had your girl in obedience classes around strange dogs? Is she okay in that type of environment or does she guard you there?
It sounds like she needs some NILIF (nothing in life is free) training, and I'd not let her be on couches, beds etc with you until she learns she is not in charge of who goes where in your household. I've had a couple of alpha bitch girls who just had to be shown the firm but fair house rules. For starters, you could mat train your girl to go to a place (bed or mat) that is neutral and away from all the other animals.
If not already in a training class, I'd get your girl out and keep her mentally busy. A good amount of physical exercise would be a suggestion as well. If not given guidelines, a really smart, bored Doberman can decide to spend her days putting the other animals where she feels they need to be!
Good luck and keep us informed.
Have you had your girl in obedience classes around strange dogs? Is she okay in that type of environment or does she guard you there?
It sounds like she needs some NILIF (nothing in life is free) training, and I'd not let her be on couches, beds etc with you until she learns she is not in charge of who goes where in your household. I've had a couple of alpha bitch girls who just had to be shown the firm but fair house rules. For starters, you could mat train your girl to go to a place (bed or mat) that is neutral and away from all the other animals.
If not already in a training class, I'd get your girl out and keep her mentally busy. A good amount of physical exercise would be a suggestion as well. If not given guidelines, a really smart, bored Doberman can decide to spend her days putting the other animals where she feels they need to be!
Good luck and keep us informed.
I agree with ellenm.
Also, I think we have to look at the causes, and go from there. This didn't happen for "no reason." It happened because the cat walked into the dog. I'm not saying it's ok for this to happen, but there was a reason, and it needs to be in the equation when you are figuring out what steps to take.
When we have several animals in the same house, it becomes OUR responsibility to handle all of them. I have 3 cats, 2 of them hate my dog, 1 is best buds with them. I feel 100% comfortable having my pup around 1 of the cats, I watch them because it's cool to watch, but I have zero issues leaving them alone. With the other 2 cats, I know they don't like the pup, so when they're all together, I watch like a hawk. I feel like it's MY responsibility to keep all of my animls safe, I don't take for granted that they will all be great friends. Not all animals will get along, that's just the way it is. So it becomes the owners responsibility to keep things safe, and under control. My cat, lil one, who's about 7 lbs doesn't like Dakota at all. So I will monitor, give commands, and step in as needed. I would never, ever, ever in a million years just sit back while lil one walked in front of Dakota. Dakota has a fairly high drive, (I say fairly because it's controllable, if I catch her in time. If I tell her to stay, she won't move. But she does want to go after anything and everything that moves) my cat doesn't like her, so to me that spells a recipe for disaster. Because of the way I watch them, there has never been an incident between the cats and my dog. If I just sat back and didn't do anything, there would be fights all the time, everyone would be in fear, and it would suck.
If I was in your situation, Dakota was laying down, cat walking past, I would have gave a stay and/or leave it command as needed. If your dog doesn't respond to stay or leave it in the face of challenging distractions, keep working on those commands until they're pretty solid. It's alot of work, and dedication for some dogs, but so worth it. We train several times a day for a long time, and we still work all the time at leave it and stay, and I always up the ante to get Dakota close to her comfort level. I push the envelope, without setting her up for failure, and it pays off. But I would be silly to think I could just let all of my animals go about their business without something happening. We spend a huge amount of time with leave it, stay, wait, and recall. I think those are the most important commands, and if you're dog has a very solid understanding of these commands, and listens, it would help put an end to all of this.
I would take all that into account, and then look at resource guarding, and see how the progress goes.
Also, I think we have to look at the causes, and go from there. This didn't happen for "no reason." It happened because the cat walked into the dog. I'm not saying it's ok for this to happen, but there was a reason, and it needs to be in the equation when you are figuring out what steps to take.
When we have several animals in the same house, it becomes OUR responsibility to handle all of them. I have 3 cats, 2 of them hate my dog, 1 is best buds with them. I feel 100% comfortable having my pup around 1 of the cats, I watch them because it's cool to watch, but I have zero issues leaving them alone. With the other 2 cats, I know they don't like the pup, so when they're all together, I watch like a hawk. I feel like it's MY responsibility to keep all of my animls safe, I don't take for granted that they will all be great friends. Not all animals will get along, that's just the way it is. So it becomes the owners responsibility to keep things safe, and under control. My cat, lil one, who's about 7 lbs doesn't like Dakota at all. So I will monitor, give commands, and step in as needed. I would never, ever, ever in a million years just sit back while lil one walked in front of Dakota. Dakota has a fairly high drive, (I say fairly because it's controllable, if I catch her in time. If I tell her to stay, she won't move. But she does want to go after anything and everything that moves) my cat doesn't like her, so to me that spells a recipe for disaster. Because of the way I watch them, there has never been an incident between the cats and my dog. If I just sat back and didn't do anything, there would be fights all the time, everyone would be in fear, and it would suck.
If I was in your situation, Dakota was laying down, cat walking past, I would have gave a stay and/or leave it command as needed. If your dog doesn't respond to stay or leave it in the face of challenging distractions, keep working on those commands until they're pretty solid. It's alot of work, and dedication for some dogs, but so worth it. We train several times a day for a long time, and we still work all the time at leave it and stay, and I always up the ante to get Dakota close to her comfort level. I push the envelope, without setting her up for failure, and it pays off. But I would be silly to think I could just let all of my animals go about their business without something happening. We spend a huge amount of time with leave it, stay, wait, and recall. I think those are the most important commands, and if you're dog has a very solid understanding of these commands, and listens, it would help put an end to all of this.
I would take all that into account, and then look at resource guarding, and see how the progress goes.
Thanks again everyone, I will start looking into all of your suggestions. She is never allowed on furniture and we do keep an open crate in the living room that she feels safe in and likes to sleep sometimes. I do have the leave it, stay, and gentle commands that I will watch and use around the other animals. The three dogs stay in a huge indoor outdoor kennel connected to our house when we are are at work. I will read up on resource guardian info as well. I think I will get her back in training class as well. More structure for her makes sense. With our other two lounge lizzards, it's not enough for her. I really appreciate the help folks and will not give up on her. There are no kids in the house, just the vet and me. His biz partner has her sister and they were raised together at his clinic until they hit puberty and decided to try and kill each other, so we don't let them near each other anymore. They both came from Sandy at Bruda Kennels and I did my homework with her before I got her. Sandy said sisters from the same litter will fight. She does have a submission urinating problem as well so we try to keep things calm as we come and go. We both love her dearly and will keep at it. Thanks again!
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