New rescue chases my cats and eats garbage..

[variableenigma]

I adopted Reyna, a 25 lb 5-year-old mixed-breed dog, from my local shelter and after 2 months living with a friend of mine, she just moved in with me and my 2 existing cats a couple of weeks ago.

Reyna is crate-trained, so she stays in her kennel when I am sleeping or not at home. She is separated from the cats by a tall babygate, which I often keep covered with a blanket so she cannot see them.

So far, we've been working mostly on getting her accustomed to my apartment and routine. I've been working with her on leash-walking and basic attentiveness and commands. She is learning fast, and she listens well as long as there are no distractions. I rarely use food rewards, as she seems perfectly content with other reinforcers, such as walking in the same direction, an open door to enter, or just praise.

I do have some concerns, though. My biggest concern is my cats. Neither one of them is used to having dogs around, so they are terrified of Reyna- and with good reason. Whenever she catches a glimpse of one or both of the cats, she runs toward them full-speed while barking, whining, or otherwise making loud noises. If she is in the kennel and she sees a cat, she paws at the door and barks, and if she hears a cat meow, she whines and whines. I'm afraid I'll never have harmony (or even just peaceful co-existence) in my home if I can't curb this behavior.

I have tried something. I put Reyna on a leash (with her harness, not collar), and walk her into the bedroom where the cats are. At the first sign of over-excitement (chasing, barking, whining, etc.), I say, "no" and immediately remove her. Once she is calm, we go back into the room. We repeat the process until she remains calm and follows commands such as "sit" or "down" while in the presence of the cats. It usually takes less than 15 minutes, but we have to start over every time. She will also be calm for several minutes, but then suddenly lunge at a cat completely unprovoked. Plus, it does not stop her from trying to chase the cats when she is NOT leashed.

Another concern I have is her obsession with garbage. I assume that as a stray she was eating from garbage, and that's probably how she picked up the habit, but the reality is that it's not necessary and is quite annoying. She pulls garbage out of the can and leaves it strewn around everywhere; she will tear up tissues, paper towels, or toilet paper, and eats my lip balm if left unattended; and she will eat anything off the table or counter that she can reach. When I catch her, I will tell her, "no" and basically body-block her until she backs away and turns her attention to something else. If there's a huge mess, I will kennel her so I can clean it up, and let her back out when she is calm. I have no idea how to tackle this issue. I'd like to feel comfortable leaving her out of the kennel, but if she's going to throw garbage around everywhere and eat anything she can reach, I don't think I can do that.

Does anyone have any ideas for how to deal with these issues? I am a biology/psychology major in college, and I have quite a bit of behavioral training knowledge, but significantly little real-life experience. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Fundog]

What you're doing with the cats is very very good, so keep it up. It just takes time. It took my dog Annie and my cat Andrew almost TWO YEARS before they could be left alone together in the house. Then one day we came home to find them actually sitting next to each other on the couch! But even then we did have to practice a lot of management, and make sure Andrew had a "safe place" where Annie could not get to him, as she loves to chase cats, and he was very elderly and sick.

As for the garbage: do you have anywhere you can secure it, where she cannot get to it? For example, when Annie was a puppy, we had to put our trash can in the garage at night, so she could not get to it. But another thing to think about is, how much exercise does Reyna get each day? A bored dog is a mischievous dog, and will get into mischief, get into things they shouldn't, make messes, bark, be annoying, etc. A tired dog is a well-behaved dog. So check out the Health, Diet, and Exercise page, to get a lot of great ideas for fun games and activities you can do with Reyna to keep her busy, satisfied, tired, and make her smarter. And don't forget, she does need a good 30-45 minute walk every day-- at the very least.

Oh and just one more thing: You haven't had her long at all. Adjusting to a new home and person and rules takes time-- several months, even. So put the garbage out of reach when you cannot supervise her, make sure she gets lots of exercise and enrichment activities, and keep practicing what you are doing with the cats, and she will come around. It just takes time.

[Olivers mama]

Variable,

I'll start with the easier first: I JUST watched - this am - an old episode of It's Me or the Dog & Victoria put 2-10lb weights on the bottom of the trash can. Once the dog found he couldn't move it, he got bored & left it alone.

The cat problem is serious & you're doing wonders. We're in a similar position: we adopted a German Shepherd from a local Shepherd Rescue who PROMISED she got along with cats. Our 4 cats are ages 4-14 years & we've had the 14-yr-old since he was 5 weeks. He's crippled & doesn't run well - actually, he hops. He was born with bilateral hip dysplaysia & a compressed lumbar disc - had surgeries for all.

When the dog sees them or hears a meow (like yours!), she barks non-stop - she blows the fur off their faces. If she's in her crate, she jumps up & down strongly enough to make the crate move. She had had no training (despite what the Rescue said), so us giving her commands was like speaking a foreign language.

We found a trainer that trains similar to Victoria - all rewards-based. They offer a Board & Train, whereby she boards with them & they work with her several times a day. This is her 3rd (& last) week - & they/we are working on the cat issue. Now that she understands the basic commands, she sits & is told No-No when she begins to get excited, rewarded with liver treats when she behaves. MAN - is this a SLOW process! But I am seeing that it CAN be done & I'm so excited! Tomorrow evening, we take Oliver, our oldest cat (the crippled one) to work with the dog one-on-one. I'll let you know any new ideas the trainer may have.

We're lucky, in that we take the Shepherd to work with us (we work in the same place) - & thereby freeing up the cats during the day. I do believe this training will help - but it's going to take time. (Then again, maybe this overgrown puppy will surprise us & "get it" quickly!)

Becky