Aggressive puppy advice

H is a male puppy, approximately 6-8 months old but big. I’m not sure on his breed, but he’s sort of medium sized, not small like a chihuahua or big like a husky, but in between, about the size of a lab. He is the size of an adult medium sized dog. He came from a neglect situation and although he doesn’t seem to be timid or traumatized, he is slightly underweight. He is not neutered and we are unsure if he has been vaccinated. We are awaiting a vet appointment to take care of both. As for his behavior, he pretty much has engaged in every bad dog behavior you can think of.
- He humps furniture to the point that he genitals are raw.
- H is not house trained, while he does go outside sometimes he often goes inside with little warning to us. He will just be standing there and suddenly start peeing on the floor.
- He barks excessively.
- He has separation anxiety to the point that he won’t even go in the backyard to relieve himself alone.
-He jumps up on people no matter how often you push him off you. We are covered in scratches from this.
-He bites frequently to the point that we are covered in bruises. Last week I sustained at Level 3 bite that drew a bit of blood.
- He chews everything despite having plenty of chew toys that we are constantly redirecting him to.
-Not so much of a problem anymore but he is a picky eater and we spent so much on dog food working to find something for he would be willing to eat.
- By far the most troubling behavior is his treatment of the cats. We have 3 cats, Merl(14m), Dean(7m), and Sammy(7f). It is important to note that Merl was declawed by a previous owner and Dean has a heart condition and is bladder condition. The dog barks and chased them. It is to the point that they started having accidents because they were too afraid to come downstairs to the litter box(we have since placed one upstairs), and attempts to carry them downstairs have them frightened and struggling. The worst is his behavior with Merl. My mom tried to take Merl away from the dog and he reacted as though he had had a favorite chew toy taken away. My mom was badly scratched but the cat was unscathed. In another incident I was holding Merl and H tried to get to him and was attempting to bite him. This is when I sustained a level 3 bite, while the cat appears to have sustained a level 2(his fur was wet with dog saliva).
I don’t know what to do. So far we have mostly been redirecting him, telling him no, trying to provide him with toys to keep him busy, keeping him separate from the cats, pushing him off us when he jumps on us, and putting him in his crate for him to calm down when he is really acting up. I do admit to kicking him in self defense when he was trying to hurt my cat but it was necessary and I have no remorse. Truthfully he is my sister’s dog, she got him without consulting the rest of the household and kind of dumps him on us when she is at work. She doesn’t walk him as much as needed and truthfully the dog spends too much time in his crate. As you can seen, we are also having a human problem as well as a dog problem. I really don’t know what to do, I fear for my cats.
Also I should not that I don’t think he is resource guarding, despite his history of neglect. He doesn’t seem to be bothered when something is taken from him unless it is a cat. I suppose a prey drive is a possibility, as is excess energy. Truthfully he is just not a good fit for my family with the amount of exercise and attention he needs, but my sister is unwilling to get rid of him. Perhaps I need to go to a sub for human training instead. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
@trinity_always Yeah. Getting dogs and cats to coexist is a very delicate process that needs a lot of patience.

Add in this dog's behaviour, there being 3 cats and the sister's attitude, I just don't see how this can work.
 
@heart_like_a_wheel
Getting dogs and cats to coexist is a very delicate process that needs a lot of patience.

100%! We recently introduced a golden pup to the fam with an existing (young-ish) bunny. We did SEVERAL controlled encounters and sniffs and stuff and we never leave them unsupervised. I can't imagine having the pup pick up the rabbit and prance it around to the point where someone has to remove it from his mouth.

OP and OPs sister (and everyone involved tbh) needs to realise that if it's not one of the cats getting killed, someone is going to get hurt. It's not fair for elderly existing pets to be affected like this by a new member of the fam. Existing pets should always come first and get a bit coddled while everyone adapts, or at least that's how I see it.

I just don't see how this can work.

Me neither. I just hope OP can understand this, too.
 
@trinity_always I do agree that it isn’t working out. It is more the rest of my family that needs convincing. I really believe someone terrible will happen to my cats if this continues. I’m honestly not sure why I even posted, I know he needs to be rehomed, it is the behavior of the other humans in the house that I need help with more than the dog.
 
@heartfullofchrist As a temporary but immediate stopgap, is it possible to separate the dog and the cats entirely within the house? Like putting a pet or baby gate at the bottom or the top of the stairs (there are ones designed specifically for stairway use) to keep the dog from getting to the cats upstairs?
 
@heartfullofchrist How soon can you get a better gate? We got something like this (right height, not the same exact model) when we discovered my scared dog could jump a lower gate. If a pressure mounted frame (generally sturdier than the kind you just put up and take down directly) still isn't sturdy enough, you may want to look into models that actually require screwing into the wall.

I would still be ultimately in favor of rehoming this dog, but from the sounds of things, that is a decidedly trickier prospect than acquiring a better gate.
 
@janieve We had one of these gates as well when our GSD was younger. Worked perfectly for separating her from our cats-was high enough they could go directly under it.
 
@heartfullofchrist Just drop the dog off at the humane society. There is nothing wrong with that. Clearly your cats are in danger, and your sister isn’t equipped to handle a dog with advanced behavioral issues. It’s best to bring the dog to someone who can help now vs prolong the situation because it will eventually come to that regardless.
 
@heartfullofchrist You either need to rehome the dog or rehome the sister and the dog.

Dogs and cats can get along, but with a rescue dog or a later-in-life introduction, that is less likely. And if the dog has already decided that cats are prey, then that is even more difficult.

But at the end of the day, it is unfair to give the new animal in the home priority over the animals that already live there.
 
@heartfullofchrist This dog is going to kill one of your cats. It’s shown prey drive, isn’t trained or familiar with them, and has a plethora of other issues that seemingly aren’t being addressed. It’s already attacked. It’s shown that it sees the cat as a possession. That’s prey driven behavior.

If you are a minor or otherwise incapable of rehoming your sister’s dog (because she’s an adult, or you don’t drive etc) then you need to find new homes for your cats. Separating them isn’t always going to be enough.

On r/catadvice we had a poster with a husky who killed both of their cats— who were normally locked away in their own room. They forgot to latch the door and the husky got in and mauled their cats.

I can’t overstate how serious this situation is. Your family is playing with fire and the only ones who will get burned are these poor animals. Dogs kill cats all the time. This behavior only escalates from here on out. You cannot train prey drive out of dogs.

This dog is going to kill one of your pets and your sister won’t be the only person to blame. If another pet dies because of this, it’s because you and all your family have allowed it to happen.

I know how you feel being stuck surrounded by irresponsible people. It’s so frustrating feeling like the only voice of reason in a house full of enablers. But you would be doing the right thing in rehoming the dog, or, at the very least, improving the safety situation for your cats.

Please consider looking up dog attacks on cats and how frequently they occur. And how predictable and preventable they are. If you do bring the dog to a shelter don’t forget to mention his cat aggression. Good luck and I’m sorry your sister (and family) have been so unreasonable. You all deserve to be safe, including the dog. In your home right now nobody is :( Let me know if you need any help finding local resources
 

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