Can a prey drive be overcome?

[Worrieddog]

Hi all,

I have name changed for this as I am worried about this query may be viewed. It is a genuine question from a longstanding, well meaning member. We recently adopted a rescue dog (last week). He is our first dog as a family, but both myself and DH had dogs before this. We also have two cats and three kids (9, 7 and nearly 3).

Our dog is a beautiful, huge GSD x Lurcher. We were drawn to him as he was described as very good with kids and other animals. We met him twice before bringing him home, passed the homecheck and spoke with the rescue about the match. They were very positive about the match and seemed thorough! Since bringing him home, he is making huge efforts to catch the cats and they are terrified. I don't think it's just curiosity, he is incredibly fast and clever. I know it's very early days and am fully prepared to give him time to settle but from what I have read, some animals cannot overcome this drive and it cannot be trained out? What are your views? We are committed to him but would never forgive myself if he killed one of the cats. He is just a year old and was in foster care on a farm for the past two months with no trouble. Prior to that he was in a pound for a few months. As far as I know, he wasn't mistreated, just abandoned by his owners.

I would really appreciate any advice or views from experienced dog owners. Thanks

They should of cat tested but normally when she see lurches and such like it says no small furries
Was there cats on the farm ? I mean he may of not chases a cow but not different
Quite irresponsible of them , you could call up a couple behaviour therapists to see if possible to train out of the dog

OP its a kind and brave thing is to admit that your home is it right for this dog. I'm frankly appalled at the shelters advice. You cannot keep a dog on a lead continually in the home, and 'being firm' sounds like some outdated Barbara Woodhouse type of advice along with implying that the issue is somehow your fault for not being firm.

This is absolutely not your fault.

He will find a happy home elsewhere in a cat free household. Your cats do deserve a safe home and you are right to worry for their safety.

Op don't feel guilty this is on the rescue they should be rehoming to suitable homes and it's not fair on them so do to you or dog
I get sometimes a perfect match may not work but clearly young children and cats , rescue dog needs to be well matched and many won't even home a rescue with young children or are very particular about which ones and cat tested normally means taken to a house with a cat present etc

We have had our dog from a puppy and had an old 14 year cat who took no nonsense from her and batted her on the first day. We now have 3 other cats and she has a healthy respect for them.

We also have rabbits, in the house she’s ok in the garden I usually put her in as when they run you can see her getting a bit too excited. I would never ever leave her alone with them.

Outside everything else is fair game, she’s pulled me off my feet a few times when I’ve got had proper hold of her if she’s seen a squirrel. For her it’s the chase, she did kill a squirrel one day but once it was dead she was looking at me confused as of to say why isn’t it running anymore. Even if there’s no squirrels about shell run through the woods chasing them it’s what she lives the most.

I think with a lurched it would take a muzzle and months of leave then reward training, probably need help from a qualified trainer.

@LisaSimpsonsbff

I have flagged our worries with the kids about the cats and they both cried (but also said that they were a bit scared of him).

This is something that's been worrying me a bit throughout reading this thread. If you're not physically strong enough to stop him and he has already shown to not be as the shelter described him then my biggest concern wouldn't be the cats (though to be clear I certainly would be concerned about them!) it would be the toddler.

Although I can't speak for every dog (obviously) - that's not really how sighthounds work. He's probably a big klutz and might not know his strength/where his legs are at any given time - but they can be soft old things with kids. Mine has huuuge prey drive but is incredibly gentle and tender around children and I don't have any concerns (past her knocking them over) about having her when I have a baby.

OP - I'm sorry you've had to come to the decision to move him on, but it sounds like the right thing for all involved. Please dont feel guilty - think of yourself as a foster carer who has helped him get used to home life for a little while. We were so close to returning our girl when she first came to us because she was (and is!) such hard work. I felt we weren't the right home for her. As it was we enjoy her and it has been a wonderful journey but a bloody hard one (and I still don't know if it was the "right" decision). As you have welfare concerns for your other animals, it's not fair on any of them to keep going. That's no-one's fault! You've just got to do the best by your furry boy and if that means rehoming him then so be it. Good luck for the future, I'm sure he will find a wonderful loving new home and you can go on to adopt a dog more suited to your environment.

I don’t think a rescue centre can categorically say a dog is good with all cats.
They might have lived with one cat but another cat might result in a different dynamic

Ddog was wonderful with our 2 cats but other cats were meant to be chased.

One didn’t run and she stopped and looked totally confused.

She would chase anything that moved but never caught anything.

If they didn’t move she would just be confused

We have had our lurcher DDog since he was a pup, he's 11 months now.
We also have a nervous older cat. She avoids him like the plague, he will occasionally chase if he sees her - because we've messed up basically on their separation. She has the top two floors of the house & the front door route out, he has the ground floor & back door. He's also in his crate overnight so she has free run, but she sleeps on our bed now anyway.
He is collie sized so can't pull us over, but is now at a stage where he will obey a stay command off lead if he sees her or other cats, and a heel command on lead. So it's not ideal, but manageable.
Shes a flighty outdoor cat who would scoot if one of the kids stood up suddenly, she will never face a dog.
So its totally our responsibility to protect her.

Which rescue was it?
They sound completely irresponsible to rehome a dog like that with cats AND a 3 year old.
Return him and go to a more responsible rescue.
And ask for your money back.

I have two lurchers, 3 cats, and foster lurcher pups for a rescue (and we rehome to people with cats and small children if appropriate).
I think in this case tbh, he needs to go back. You don't trust him, are overwhelmed with his size, and if you can't stop his fixation with the cats at all right now, then it is unlikely to end up with things being safe.

As a fosterer, I always tell people that I can only say a dog is cat trainable btw. My cats are used to dogs, there are dogs around that show that they are not to be chased, my house is set up to allow the cats total safe segregation, and I've spent 7 years with a 'absolutely no attention to the cats from the dogs is allowed' policy. So a dogs behaviour in my house may be different to its behaviour elsewhere

Ah so sorry you have made that decision op. He sounds a big ddog...
Make sure you speak to the manager of the rescue and complain.. I had cause to place a family member's ddog in a rescue helped by an mner. Sadly they made a huge error in his rehoming and ended up having to be pts... Could have been avoided imo.
Write info down to be attached to his file for his next possibly family..

I did some general research on this last night, and the consensus is that even with all the training in the world, you can never let your guard down and you do have to commit to keeping them separated.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it has been great to hear from people who know more than us. The rescue centre have agreed that it is not a good match and will collect him asap. I feel so relieved and so sad at the same time, the poor thing is gorgeous and so sweet. Thanks for not slating me, I'm afraid I probably would have judged someone beforehand if I heard this situation. This has given me such an insight. I feel so emotional about the whole thing. Thanks again, x

Very sensible decision OP , good luck with finding a more suitable dog when you feel ready .

I think its sensible op. Im.sorry it didnt work out for you.

well done on making a tough choice - hard, but not so hard as having to deal with the consequences of the dog hurting one of the cats or children.

I've had 6 successful rescues as well as the two that didn't work out because of the prey drive. You really can't afford to take the risk.

I'm sorry it came to this, OP - hard for all of you. But I think on balance the best decision.

I am so glad that you were able to make this decision, difficult as it is. I have a friend with a part staffie that she very carefully kept separate from her two cats. She did this for 4 years. All it took was a 10 second window of opportunity for him to kill one of the cats. She had to give the other cat away.