# Rusty WILL NOT stop harassing our cats



## Shandroid (Sep 10, 2011)

Hi everyone! We still have Rusty and he is now ours, as we can't locate an owner. He is doing pretty good behavior-wise except for his incessant need to stalk, point at and chase 3 out of 4 of our cats. One of our cats, Frosty, has somehow early on become a "non-prey" animal in the house. Rusty absolutely accepts him as friend and Frosty pays no heed to Rusty. The other three, however, are harassed all the time. They know he won't hurt him, because all three have sit fairly close to him and seemed at ease. I don't know what sparks his prey drive at what time, but I will catch him pointing, barking or chasing and I will clap my hands and say "NO!" He knows instantly that he is doing a "no no" and goes into submissive mode. However, he has a very short memory, or he just doesn't care, and he is at it again. It is fraying all my nerves and the cats too. I know that vizslas have a strong prey drive, but Rusty needs to learn because harassing other pets is unacceptable.

Any ideas for me? Thanks!!


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

You might need a stronger deterrent. Look into some of the suggestions for counter-surfing, like pennies in a can, basically loud noises. An e-collar can also be a great deterrent, but that's an expensive option.

How much is he harassing them? Kobi can be a real jerk to my cat at times but my cat has become very tolerant. He doesn't hurt him, just annoys the crap out of him sometimes. Lots of times I don't worry about it since the cat has an escape if he chooses to.


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## KonasPop (Aug 9, 2011)

Agree with Kobi - our cat gets rolled over once a day, hisses, growls and yells like the dickens. I correct our v with an e-collar, but she still thinks its play time now and again...the cat is even worse becuase she throws this huge fit, but then she gets "play mode" on in front of kona and instigates it all. I heard once that its as much about checking the cat as it is the dog, so we spray the cat with water when she tries to get kona going...all in all we have about a once a week fiasco. I am ok with that. good luck


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## Shandroid (Sep 10, 2011)

Hi, I like the pennies in a can idea, associate a scary noise with harassment. Rusty won't hurt ANYTHING. Our cat Penelope took a bad swipe at his muzzle and he just looked like his feelings were hurt. He and our two terriers went "hunting" once and found a young opossum. They worked together to uncover the poor thing and the terriers went into a killing frenzy (not a fun thing to witness as a pet owner), but Rusty just stood back and watched. He had zero interest in hurting the opossum. I was too late when I found them to stop them from getting to it, sadly, but those two terriers were sooo proud, ugh.

The cats run and hide and Rusty will sit by where they are and bark and want to get to them. I am not sure if squirting the cats would help, but maybe it would associate freaking out in front of Rusty and running off and hiding equals a squirt. It's weird, because sometimes the cats will walk casually by Rusty and he could care less (no challenge?). I am thinking if the cats wouldn't be fun to chase (like Frosty) this would all end. How do I teach those cats not to be a fun thing to chase?


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## KonasPop (Aug 9, 2011)

as soon as he sits you should be on him and remove him from the where they are...thats what we do when the cat gets in a corner or under something..kona would do the same thing as rusty if we let her, but we dont let it get that far...as soon as she hones in on that cat and its hiding spot its the collar or i pull her away and make her sit/stay with me in another room - could even be the same room though.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I suppose they are all different, but Willie definitely thinks of cats as prey, no different than a squirrel. I know this from his reaction to cats at the groomer's place. He goes nuts trying to get at cats... I guess it's a good thing Willie lives in a one-pet household!


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

Yes, I think they are all different. Pumpkin goes bezerk around a particular road grate by the lake. Circles, points, paws, lurks etc. Obviously something is there, but I just didn't know what. Finally, last week, I saw the feral cat! I saw it again yesterday. I don't know if Pumpkin would hurt it, but I know she would do her very best to try and catch it. Good luck with the cat.


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## Shandroid (Sep 10, 2011)

Thank you, I have a feeling this will be an ongoing effort. :


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

I did a few things to make my scardy-cat stand still while Savannah is in the room. I started while Savannah was a puppy, so I’m not sure how it will work with Rusty. I should mention that Savannah comes to work with me so loud noises or a squirt bottle as deterrents weren’t for us.
1) Treats, treats, treats. BUT – the cat got the first treat. No cat. No treat. Admittedly, I had to start this one with the cat on the other side of the doorway.
2) They eat together. I started with food bowls across the room from each other and gradually moved them closer. After a few months I noticed that Savannah actually ate better when the cat was there. And, yes, I still have to supervise. The dog likes cat food and the cat will filch dog food at every opportunity.
3) Any appearance by the cat meant an immediate happy-voice greeting (softly to avoid scaring the cat). The idea being to convince Savannah that the cat’s presence was always a good thing.
4) Sunbeam time meant together time. I would go get the cat whenever a sunbeam touched one of her perches and one of Savannah’s floor spots at the same time. It’s tough to have a game of chase when the sunbeams are encouraging naps.
Also, we have some farm cats that we visit. They were more of a challenge because they were kittens at the time and they loved to instigate. ‘Leave it’ was a major part of our vocabulary for a while. Treats, again, distracted both parties. I held the cats in my lap quite a bit and had Savannah say ‘hello’. She was batted a few times and hissed at a few times, but since I was holding the kitten, it wouldn’t relinquish a lap just to start a game of chase. 

Ultimately, the rule for us was ‘no chasing cats – no matter who starts it’. We saw progress all along, but it took probably 6 months of patient, consistent action before the rule really started to be understood. At 18 months, we are solid on the concept and the cat is now deciding whether or not she wants to be actual friends. My guess is that as the winter progresses, they will become snuggle-buddies since I keep my house on the cool side. 

Good luck!


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## Shandroid (Sep 10, 2011)

Thank you, jld, that is super advice! I have thought all along that it is as much that cats attitude as it is Rusty's behavior. Frosty has shown me that. I really think that Rusty would cuddle with Frosty if they enjoyed the same couch!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/12/cats-and-dogs.html

Bailey and Chloe have a good relationship with our cats. One cat is submissive and one just avoids them. The one that avoids them is left alone by them because from under the bed the dogs have felt the sting of a set of cat claws across the nose.

We have a neighbor cat, Buster, that is quite the tom cat and has tempted my dogs from the other side of the fence. Every once in a while the dogs get out and Buster gets "treed." 

Webster and Danbe, our cats are family and part of our pack, but Buster is definitely "prey."

RBD


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