My neighbours have got a kitten

[RIPWalter]

Looking for some helpful tips to keep me sane please.

We have a 5 yo beddy x cocker spaniel neutured male.

We live in a little cluster of 3 properties (old farm) and until recently neighbours on the left had no pets, and neighbour on the right have a lovely collie who may dog occasionally talks to through the fence, with a little more noise rom both of them when she is on heat, but no real issues.

A few weeks ago neighbours to the left (semi detached with us) rescued a kitten (neutured male), which in the last week has started to go outside in their garden, and is also sneeking into our garden when our dog isn't out there.

My dog is not coping well with this, he is on high alert all the time, and barking constantly, trying to dig under the fence, sticking his head through the fence ( just stock proof fencing dividing the garden) but tail wagging all the time.

Our cottage is very tiny, with a open plan living room kitchen, so there is no escaping his (very loud and cutting) bark. Also DH works from home so it's really not ideal, and gardening is my hobby/passion and it is not at all enjoyable with a constantly barking dog, and he is also trashing plants in his excitement.

So far, we have hung a blanket up to cover the back door window so he can't see out (not working as he stood by the door barking as i type), bought a thundershirt, which has some short term effect, and i've been taking him out and about with me during the day when i can and leaving him in the car, so that he has time to calm down (but this won't be a solution for long as the weather warms up).

The only other thing i can think of is building a 6 ft solid fence, so he can't see the kitten (he's a very sight/movement orientated dog). But this will cost us £££, and piss off the neighbours as their garden is directly North of ours, so would cut out a lot of sun light to there garden & kitchen. So I don't really want to do this if it isn't likely to help, or if there is a cheaper solution any one can think of.

@Wafflesnsniffles

Currently your issue is the effect on your dog. Next thing said feline will be pooping in your garden!

Kill the cat.......... joking but not entirely!

Lol.... not an option. DD is in the same class as NDN DS, therefore the kitten must live!!!

[quote RIPWalter]@DameHelena

How do i teach him not to react?

I take him out in the garden on his lead and take him to the other end of the garden with me, and in the house i repeatably take him away from the back door and put him on his bed, to try to get him to give up and calm down. He has now, finally, settled down between DH and I on to sofa.

Is this the right sort of thing to do, and are there other things to do?

He is a play orientated rather than food orientated dog, so would always choose barking at a kitten over, even the fanciest, treats.[/quote]
I don't know, but other posters have suggested toys and play. And/or consult a trainer or behaviourist?

@thisplaceisweird

Sorry just seen no treats, so reward by giving a toy to pull or play with.

Equally, if he goes into the garden ensure he takes a toy with him, or go with him and play so the focus is on the toy, not the kitten. Eventually that will become routine.

Thanks, he does love a toy in the garden, so I will try taking him out with his ball (he is ball obsessed) when the kitten is out and about and see if he will choose the ball, and see if this will get him used to it. Then hopefully the kitten will start to venture out further afield (into the field and not our garden) and things may calm down a little.

Sounds like a good plan.

What a lovely view of the hills you have.

Just wait until the kitten gets a bit bigger, then introduce them face to face (dog on lead). The cat will show the dog who's in charge, problem solved.

I can see mute dogs becoming a desirable trait 😃

No advice but OMG your view is stunning! So beautiful!

Another comment here just to admire your view! What a beautiful part of the country you live in 💕 (and those dog walks must be fabulous!)

@Londoncallingtothefarawaytowns

Omg your dog is going to eat this cat Judging by your responses, you’ve normalised the dogs prey drive Hope you’ve a good insurances and don’t mind falling out with neighbours.

prey drive in a dog IS normal

Thanks for the nice comments about the view. It is lovely up here, and the sun is shining today.

I just spent an hour and a half in the garden with my dog and a ball.

From watching him and the kitten. He is easily distracted by the ball when the kitten is in view (just giving it the side eye and carrying on playing), but gets distressed when the kitten goes out of sight. Kitten was having great fun watching us with the ball and practicing crepeing up to the fence whenever my dogs back is turned.

I do think they could be friends if my dog wasn't so over excited the whole time.

Now we are back in the house Dog is deperate to go back out, pacing around and barking at the back door (blanket is over the back door window and dog has his thundershirt on).

I would talk to your neighbours and try to introduce the animals to each other in a safe way
Do NOT do this!!!!
OMG, literally everything you’ve written screams to me a high prey drive dog desperate to the kill the cat.

He’s half Bedlington too, they are still bred as working terriers.

He won’t ‘get used to it’, you are describing hunting behaviour and the solution is a fence with cat proof mesh on top and never allowing the dog out unsupervised so he can’t kill the cat.
Which based on what you've written, I 100% think is his intention.

You mention about the neighbours collie being scared and why can’t yours be, you have to understand you have two entirely two breeds.
Your NDNs dog is a sensitive breed bred to move livestock but not hurt them.
You have a bedlington bred to kill rabbits crossed with a cocker spaniel bred to flush birds. Two hunting breeds.

prey drive in a dog IS normal
I don’t think the poster meant ‘normalising’ as in trying to make out prey drive is nothing to be concerned about or abnormal @FrangipaniBlue
I read it as in they were trying to say that the OP is downplaying/denying that her dog is exhibiting prey drive and has instead convinced herself it’s just playing or excited.

OP, your dog isn’t excited to play with the cat.
The drooling, the pacing, the constant looking, the barking, the trying to put its head through the fence, the digging under/trying to escape the fence, the tail wagging, it all fits with an immensely frustrated dog who desperately wants to catch the prey but isn’t able to.

He is not playing.
You need a fence, your neighbours might be cross, but they’ll be even more cross if your dog injures and/or kills their cat..

@RIPWalter

Thanks for the nice comments about the view. It is lovely up here, and the sun is shining today.

I just spent an hour and a half in the garden with my dog and a ball.

From watching him and the kitten. He is easily distracted by the ball when the kitten is in view (just giving it the side eye and carrying on playing), but gets distressed when the kitten goes out of sight. Kitten was having great fun watching us with the ball and practicing crepeing up to the fence whenever my dogs back is turned.

I do think they could be friends if my dog wasn't so over excited the whole time.

Now we are back in the house Dog is deperate to go back out, pacing around and barking at the back door (blanket is over the back door window and dog has his thundershirt on).

I just spent an hour and a half in the garden with my dog and a ball. Was that an hour and a half of ball throwing?

I would be wary of using repetitive ball throwing to distract your dog because it will ramp him up even more. Will he search out balls instead? Because that could help calm him.

I would have him on a longline in the garden and would take him back inside when the cat appears, preferably before he sees it. I would also use the longline to prevent him from getting close to the fence, even if the cat isn't there. You need to prevent him from practicing unwanted behaviour or else it will become more ingrained.

@WetRainbowRoses

prey drive in a dog IS normal I don’t think the poster meant ‘normalising’ as in trying to make out prey drive is nothing to be concerned about or abnormal *@FrangipaniBlue* I read it as in they were trying to say that the OP is downplaying/denying that her dog is exhibiting prey drive and has instead convinced herself it’s just playing or excited.

OP, your dog isn’t excited to play with the cat.
The drooling, the pacing, the constant looking, the barking, the trying to put its head through the fence, the digging under/trying to escape the fence, the tail wagging, it all fits with an immensely frustrated dog who desperately wants to catch the prey but isn’t able to.

He is not playing.
You need a fence, your neighbours might be cross, but they’ll be even more cross if your dog injures and/or kills their cat..

I am not downplaying his prey drive, simply describing his observed behaviour, and he does the same excitied behaviour, staring longingly through the fence, when other NDN collie is in the (Kitten) NDN garden, and as i've said before, on the few occasions he has had the opportunity to potentially kill prey, he has chased and played with it, but never bitten anything. Up to the age of 6 months he would regularly stay with my friend who is a bit of a mad cat lady, and he would try to harrass the cats constantly but never hurt them.

Also we have a fence, which he can't get under, rocks all along the base, and can't get over, as he has very poor contrast vision, so wire fencing is really effective with him. Potentially installing a high timber fence would be purely to stop him being able to see the kitten and therefore hopefully calming him down.

Anyway, he spent most of this afternoon and this evening in the garden with a ball in his mouth, which at least meant when he tried to bark it was muffled, and he is now exhausted and sleeping between DH and I on the sofa.

*I would be wary of using repetitive ball throwing to distract your dog because it will ramp him up even more. Will he search out balls instead? Because that could help calm him.

I would have him on a longline in the garden and would take him back inside when the cat appears, preferably before he sees it. I would also use the longline to prevent him from getting close to the fence, even if the cat isn't there. You need to prevent him from practicing unwanted behaviour or else it will become more ingrained.*

Longline isn't really an option in our garden, due to multiple levels with retaining walls (sloped garden) trees, and shrubs, and keeping him away from the fence is tricky as the layout means that our backdoor is right next to the boundary, and so is the only area of lawn.

I think I will chicken wire over the stock proof fence to stop him sticking his head through. I'm wary of covering the fence in bamboo weave, unless it is high, as he is incapable of jumping the stock proof fence at the height it is, but might be able to if it looks solid.

He was having the ball thrown in the garden but with a bit of having searching for it, but also just hanging out in the garden on his own with the ball (dropping it down the steps for himself to fetch). I will try some scatter feeding of his kibble out there tomorrow if it's not too wet and see how he engages with that.

RIPWalter fair point. The kitten must live.

I am not downplaying his prey drive, simply describing his observed behaviour, and he does the same excitied behaviour, staring longingly through the fence, when other NDN collie is in the (Kitten) NDN garden, and as i've said before, on the few occasions he has had the opportunity to potentially kill prey, he has chased and played with it, but never bitten anything
I mean, I don’t know your dog, maybe you are right.
But.
What you have described is exactly what I’d expect from a dog who knew there was prey outside that he wanted and couldn’t access it, plus he’s a cross you’d reasonably expect to see that behaviour in too. Especially if he has Lurcher in him as you suggested he might unthread.
If that’s the case I’d imagine the bedlington parent was of working terrier breeding rather than a pet.

Presumably he wasn’t barking constantly and drooling and pacing all day knowing the Collie is nearby (until the kitten arrived) so to me it doesn’t sound like the same behaviour at all.

And just because he’s good with lambs doesn’t necessarily translate to everything else.
One of mine used to let DDs mice climb all over her, she’s fine with birds too but I have no doubt that same dog would have killed a squirrel had she ever managed to catch one.

Also we have a fence, which he can't get under, rocks all along the base, and can't get over, as he has very poor contrast vision, so wire fencing is really effective with him. Potentially installing a high timber fence would be purely to stop him being able to see the kitten and therefore hopefully calming him down
I think blocking his view would help a little tbh.
Personally, I’d definitely go for cat proof mesh on top too so that cat cannot get into your garden at all, on the assumption that his obsession is probably not friendly intentioned.
I just wouldn’t take the risk of him potentially injuring or even killing their cat.

Anyway, he spent most of this afternoon and this evening in the garden with a ball in his mouth, which at least meant when he tried to bark it was muffled, and he is now exhausted and sleeping between DH and I on the sofa
I also agree with a PP to be careful with a ball.
A ball is more likely to amp him up rather than calm him down.

I've just had this but the kitten is learning not to come in - have a high prey sighthound !! It's been tense !! My ddog is calming down a bit now it's smell isn't always out there - but he would definitely kill it if it came in. Had a lucky escape when I was out there alone and I realised it was stuck behind the bin

£350!!! Presumably for the cat owners to installl?!!

You could easily do it yourself for a fraction of the price to be fair.
It’s basically just L shape brackets and strong mesh bent at an angle.

[quote WetRainbowRoses]

@stillherenow

I've just had this but the kitten is learning not to come in - have a high prey sighthound !! It's been tense !! My ddog is calming down a bit now it's smell isn't always out there - but he would definitely kill it if it came in. Had a lucky escape when I was out there alone and I realised it was stuck behind the bin

It's nice to hear your dog is calming down, this has been a long noisy week since the kitten started going outdoors.

My concern is the kitten will be caught off guard sneaking around our garden, and my dog will spot it first. I found it walking around in the table immediately outside the back door a couple of days ago, so I held dog firmly and opened the door so he could scare it off, so hopefully it is starting to learn the boundaries.

How long did it take for things to calm down for you?

I don't think the kitten is the issue here, I think you need to research behavioural techniques to reduce your dogs reactivity and barking, or seek the help of a canine behaviourist.

I found it walking around in the table immediately outside the back door a couple of days ago, so I held dog firmly and opened the door so he could scare it off, so hopefully it is starting to learn the boundaries. I wouldn't do this. If your dog gets as worked up as you say, he could redirect onto you. It also makes your dog expect to see the cat in your garden, and allows him to practice the unwanted behaviour of barking at the cat. I would scare the cat off yourself when your dog isn't looking.