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Feline Fear of Other Species Except Humans (view source)
Revision as of 09:46, 24 June 2014
, 09:46, 24 June 2014→Preparing the dog
The dog should be trained to reliably respond to a range of basic commands, and in particular a "leave" command (the dog stops following or chasing a thrown ball, and returns to the owner on command). If the dog exhibits high levels of arousal or territorial behaviour when it encounters cat in its garden or on the street, then this training is particularly important ad can be tested in these other situations. If a dog cannot be controlled using verbal commands, then it is not ready to be introduced to the cat.
The dog should be trained to reliably respond to a range of basic commands, and in particular a "leave" command (the dog stops following or chasing a thrown ball, and returns to the owner on command). If the dog exhibits high levels of arousal or territorial behaviour when it encounters cat in its garden or on the street, then this training is particularly important ad can be tested in these other situations. If a dog cannot be controlled using verbal commands, then it is not ready to be introduced to the cat.
===First introduction===
It can be very difficult to overcome memories of a first encounter between cat and dog that results in intimidation or chasing. From the dog's perspective, this first encounter can be exhilarating and frustrating; the dog becomes highly excited to see the cat and frustrated then it cannot approach or chase it. From the cat's perspective, there may have been feelings of intense fear or panic due to being barked at or purred. Th efirst encounter must be highly controlled, in order to avoid barking, chasing or other behaviours that indicate excitement for the dog and may be frightening for the cat.
The dog should be distracted and controlled (leashed, and positively reinforced for staying sat or down on a bed close under close supervision. The cat should be allowed to enter the room and approach to a position from which it is able to watch the dog. It needs to have food, water, resting places and [[Cat Latrines|latrines]] that are freely accessible without having to approach close to the dog. If the dog has any tendency to chase or approach the cat too boldly, it should be trained to sit and then be kept under control using a leash during initial encounters.
Cats recognise familiarity through odour signals, it is sometimes very effective to use [[Pheromonotherapy - Cat|F4 (Felifriend)]] to mark the unfamiliar dog around the head and flank areas. To the cat, the dog appears to be marked as ‘familiar’, which may inhibit escape behaviour by the cat so that the dog’s desire to chase is not reinforced. Obviously, this is only safe when the dog has no history of harming or attempting to harm cats. It is also important to remember that cats that have already had experience of being chased or injured by dogs may be greatly confused by the dissonance between the visual recognition of threat combined with an odour cue that implies safe familiarity. This can induce [[Feline Fear Overview|panic]].
Prevention of fear of other species (dogs):
Prevention of fear of other species (dogs):