dlovingbrother
New member
Hi all!
Adopted a little blue heeler / aus shepherd mix 2 weeks and 2 days ago (who's counting? lol), and she's great. A little ball of energy and can't believe how fast she's growing (she's about 13-14 weeks now). She's definitely not been the best about listening (or maybe I am just not a great trainer--new to puppies though not to dogs). Either way, the biggest concern I have is that I can't get her to be calm around the cat on her own without me hovering over offering treats!
Reading all your posts about how much your heelers and cats get along, I wonder how long it took to get to that position, especially for those who dealt with similarly rambunctious pups?
It felt like I was making good progress with clicker training in that first week, and she was a lot smaller then and therefore a little more cautious (though playful) with the cat. Now, if I don't get a chance to leash her up before letting her out of the crate and she makes a dash for it, it's straight to wanting to jump on the cat!
My cat is also old, not athletic (i.e., can't easily jump high nor run fast), and doesn't have proper paws / claws (born that way) and therefore can't defend himself either! So it's quite stressful for him I'm sure (although he always wants to get right up in the puppy's biznezz. i swear he loves taunting her yet also can't handle her... oh cats lol)
Anyhow, again, like I said, i've been clicker training her and it works great... as long as I'm there with the treats in hand. But left to her own devices, she'd be harassing that cat 24/7 which is concerning especially as she gets bigger!!! And her play has gotten more aggressive (i.e., the both paws jumping on the cat rather than one paw hesitantly swatting). Wondering how long the process took with training b/c right now it feels very much like one step forward, two steps back!
Thank you!
Adopted a little blue heeler / aus shepherd mix 2 weeks and 2 days ago (who's counting? lol), and she's great. A little ball of energy and can't believe how fast she's growing (she's about 13-14 weeks now). She's definitely not been the best about listening (or maybe I am just not a great trainer--new to puppies though not to dogs). Either way, the biggest concern I have is that I can't get her to be calm around the cat on her own without me hovering over offering treats!
Reading all your posts about how much your heelers and cats get along, I wonder how long it took to get to that position, especially for those who dealt with similarly rambunctious pups?
It felt like I was making good progress with clicker training in that first week, and she was a lot smaller then and therefore a little more cautious (though playful) with the cat. Now, if I don't get a chance to leash her up before letting her out of the crate and she makes a dash for it, it's straight to wanting to jump on the cat!
My cat is also old, not athletic (i.e., can't easily jump high nor run fast), and doesn't have proper paws / claws (born that way) and therefore can't defend himself either! So it's quite stressful for him I'm sure (although he always wants to get right up in the puppy's biznezz. i swear he loves taunting her yet also can't handle her... oh cats lol)
Anyhow, again, like I said, i've been clicker training her and it works great... as long as I'm there with the treats in hand. But left to her own devices, she'd be harassing that cat 24/7 which is concerning especially as she gets bigger!!! And her play has gotten more aggressive (i.e., the both paws jumping on the cat rather than one paw hesitantly swatting). Wondering how long the process took with training b/c right now it feels very much like one step forward, two steps back!
Thank you!