New here. Need help with my 11 yr old Boxer x Aussy Shepherd

[biblejourney]

I've had this dog since he was 5 weeks old, put him through obedience training and akc good citizen training and he's mostly a good boy, until he wants to sniff something or someone or he wants to lick the cats butt. It's gotten so bad that she won't come down stairs to eat if he's downstairs. Any idea on how to curb this behavior without bonking him on the snout? I feel like such a heel for doing it, but she can't even hide under the couch cause he's such a massive musclemutt that he can and will just lift the couch to get to her.

 

[eront]

@biblejourney I'll tell ya, bonking them on the snout won't fix it either. I have a shiba who is quite obsessed with cat butt as well. My shiba at one point got scratched in the eye and it still didn't deter the behavior at all. I'm convinced there's no full way to entirely train it out. I have found wiping down my cat's butt/urethra does help. You can do this by practicing cooperative care methods with your cat so they allow you to do so.

In better news, you can continue proofing the cues to the point that as a distraction, smells and cat butt will not take precedence. You have to continue the training to tolerate distractions by continuing to raise them and proof your dog's understanding. This means, high value treats and repetition in increasingly distracting environments.

Have you considered scentwork by the way? It would allow your dog to use their nose and potentially channel the desire to use the nose, making it easier to get their attention when it's not appropriate.