Feline Frenzy!

[Barney's Mom]

Well, I feel like I am working against Barney's hard wiring for chasing small animals, but I need some input! Whenever our cat runs past him, whether he is free in the kitchen or in his crate, he goes absolutely MAD DOG CRAZY!!! Of course he barks like the world is coming to an end and he sounds like he is going to rip her to shreds, when in reality I don't think he would. At least I hope he wouldn't.... He likes to catch her and pin her down, standing on top of her. Also, she is kind of a glutton for punishment, because she TRIES to get him riled up by deliberately running around and getting all wound up. She then runs by him and stops until she has his attention, then runs away out of his reach, which of course gets him in a state of hysteria, and leaves us feeling like we just had a bomb go off next to us. Also, we have him baby gated in the kitchen and the cat will jump up on the one gate and hang her bottom over the edge until he sees her, then when he gets within inches of chomping on her tail feathers, she jumps down out of his reach and just sits there, staring at him through the baby gate! How did I get stuck with such bratty pets???????/

I know some of you have mentioned that you have cats as well. Any pointers on how to curb yet another problem in Barneyland???

Thanks!!!

Mary

Barney's Mom

[Toby23]

In my house, cat chasing is a major offense, due to the fact I once had a puppy get his eye perforated by a cat. I'm pretty sure what happened in that case was the puppy woke up, then jumped on my daughter's bed and landed right on the cat. The vets tried to save his eye, but he did have to have it removed. Chasing cats here is the one offense Toby gets scruffed for. He did learn to be nice to the cats and the cats have become tolerant of him. Unless we are immediately in the area we try to keep them separated, as I don't want a repeat of a puppy losing a eye.

[montdoug]

I'm sure sorry to read of all your Barney troubles.

We got Gus at 8 weeks due to wanting to get him used to the kitties. Our breeder doesn't usually let her pups go that early but after checking us out with our vet she did in this case due to the need for kitty adjustment. Cairns are listed as a dog that will do well with non canine pets if raised with them on a website I found while researching which terrier we wanted. If brought together grown it could be rough sailing.

Sure not disagreeing with anyones training methods but one of the first things my puppies learn is the word "No". It's a catch all for any number of unwanted behaviors from chewing shoes to whizzing on the floor, chasing kitties as Toby mentioned is high on the list of those unwanted and not tolerated behaviors.

Gus has one close kitty pal he plays with a lot (kittys choice) and the others he doesn't even look at when passing, even at mere inches apart. We have one grown cat that at last weighing weighed 5lbs 2oz, Gus could kill that cat in a blink but he never even looks at her.

Personally I would put the dog on a lead and intentionally let him get close to your cat (not close enough to get scratched) and teach him chasing kitty isn't acceptable, using verbal and physical control. As Toby mentioned cat/puppy interactions can have very serious consequences for one or both of the animals.

One caution in my experience is that if a terrier gets scratched and hurt while young he will likely carry a grudge for keeps and want some pay-back. Some dogs seem to learn from painful experiences and avoid them, terriers seem to get mad at them and want to get even....for life.

Good luck with Barney. I'm sure one day all this will be a faded and distant bad memory.

[Teri9672]

our kitty Topanga instigates most of the crazy chasing episodes.

If they get too rowdy or if the girls team up against her they get a loud "HEY, cut it out" from me and this usually works.

Tabitha seems to terrorize Topanga more than Teona. Teona and kitty play very well together and take turns pinning each other down. Tabitha is just in it for the chase and this usually makes Teona join in.

Topanga has several escape routes when she's had enough. She has a 72" cat tree in the loiving room and she can jump on our bed and the dogs cannot. She can also relax in the entire front of the house where the dogs aren't allowed.

For the most part they all get along very well

[goforette]

We don't have any kitties so I'm not sure what to recommend... but I can tell you that Hollie goes ballistic if she sees a spider or bug she can't get to in the house - you'd swear we had an intruder.... (I know hardly the same thing... HA!)

[penny]

Hi! The only advice I can think of is to test him and see if maybe all he is wanting to do it play? We have a 9 month old cat Pupcake and then Penny is almost 5 months and we have not had problems with them yet. They do pin each other down but it's all fun they just play and chase each other. When Pupcake gets tired of Penny chasing her she just jumps up somewhere high off the ground so Penny can't get her:) It can be a circus around here at times but they seem to love playing together! Good luck with Barney I am sure it will get better.

[Amber and the zoo]

Oh my...I have to tell you about my lovely experience with cats and cairns this weekend...Ellie does great with King, our cat. King knows he rules the roost and he lets Ellie know it, although they still play quite a bit. Unfortunately Dan's mom's cat is an evil evil Kitty and does not like anyone: people or cairn! lol...I'll let the pics speak for themselves!!!

First Hallie(cat) walks past Ellie and waves her tail and then runs!

Hallie licks her lips in anticipation of EATING Ellie...

Be afraid...be very afraid!!!

[Barney's Mom]

Barney does not have free run of the house yet, so he is either gated in the kitchen, crated, or on our laps. Therefore I cannot tell if he is in play mode or attack mode. I will hold the cat up to him face to face and he just sniffs her, rather roughly. Today I did this in the kitchen and he got a little too close for her liking. She nipped him on the ear and it took him by surprise. After she did it, he didn't jump up on her again! At least for that moment anyway. She doesn't have front claws so I am not worried about what she might do to him. Although sometimes I wonder if a good pop on the nose would make him realize she is not going to be intimidated.

It seems like he goes bonkers when the cat goes by and he is in his crate or she goes by and he is in our laps. That's what is so bizarre. If he is free in the kitchen he won't make a peep when she jumps over the gates and into the room. He will run after her, but doesn't snarl and go crazy. Honestly it is very unnerving when he is on my lap and she runs by. His ears go up, then his whole body becomes stiff, then I know he is seconds away from blowing his stack, snarling and barking. You don't want to be in the middle of his tyraid. It's kind akin to sticking your hand in a blender while it's running! He is so out of his mind at this point that I think scruffing him would be a bad idea. Someone suggested this option to me for this scenario and I think it would not work.

We have been putting him in his pen in the furnace room immediately after one of these episodes, away from the family and by himself. I hope this works. My nervous system goes on overload because of the adrenaline rush that happens in one of these moments.

[GirlieJr]

Jack has only been around cats a few times and it always goes the same way:

Jack chases kitty, kitty runs from Jack, Jack chases more because this game is fun, kitty climbs the bed/curtains/wall to get away from Jack, Jack barks and barks because he wants to be able to reach kitty, kitty hisses and claws.

Needless to say, I don't have a cat. He was around my uncles cats once (my uncle said no more) and my ex-boyfriends cat a couple of times (note the "ex" in that sentence!). I wish I had some encouraging words, but I think at this stage (Jack is 5 already), I'm going to be forever catless and have a house full of Cairns only!

Good luck with your home living in harmony!

PS. Teri, how do you keep all those "T" names straight?? Tabitha, Teona, Topanga (I love all the names by the way....very original and cute!)....I would be forever getting them messed up and confused!

[Scruffys Mom]

My cat is an 18 lb Maine coon and could kill either of my pups. Fortunately she is 10 and very very sweet. She grew up with my dog that passed last year so she was used to a dog. I was taken off guard when she initially hated Scruffy when Scruff arrived last March. I was very very careful to hold Scruffy, specifically her paws, and allow Kitty to sniff her. After a few weeks, Kitty developed a "tolerance" for Scruffy. I never allowed them alone together and never aloud Scruffy an opportunity to "jump" on Kitty, as that is what scared her. When Scruff turned 6 or 7 mons, they developed a close bond and now that Scruffy is 13 mons, and big enuff not to resemble a fat squirrel, I allow them to play alone together.

As I have added Sparky (for those of you following, Sparky has been known by other alias's but I think my husband and I have settled on Sparky) I am once again very very careful. I hold Sparks, allow Kitty to sniff and they can have one or two kisses and then I separate them. Kitty is much more tolerant of Sparks than she was of Scruff

[Teri9672]

PS. Teri, how do you keep all those "T" names straight?? Tabitha, Teona, Topanga (I love all the names by the way....very original and cute!)....I would be forever getting them messed up and confused!

...and hubby is Timmy! LOL

it can be tough at times, especially when you get angry and you just start yelling all the names

Most of the time Teona is called "lil T" or just "T"

Tabitha is "Turd" (short for TurdBird - I know it's a crazy nickname)

Topanga is "Panga" or "BooBoo Kitty"

Hubby's Sister has the same theme

Sister is Tessia, Toby is hubby, Tayton and Tanner are the kiddos and Teeley is the dog.

[AllAboutPetey]

The characters:

Boo Kitty, an 8-year-old cat. Not a nice kitty. Doesn't like anyone, never has.

Petey, 2 1/2-year-old Cairn we've had since he was a puppy. Very laid back and just wants to play all the time.

Belle, 4 1/2-year-old rescue Cairn. Still has some issues with strangers, but getting better. Thinks all the toys in the house belong to her.

When Petey was a puppy/adolescent, he used to chase kitty constantly. I believe he just wanted to play, but kitty would have none of it. So...We had to get Petey a playmate, so Belle came to live with us. They play great together. Petey has someone to chase, and she will chase him back. He's in heaven.

Occasionally (and it's always when kitty is near me on the sofa or in my lap) Belle will become very interested in kitty. When she does this, she makes a very high-pitched whine/bark, and I know that trouble is brewing. A very loud "NO, LEAVE KITTY ALONE" will usually stop things, but a couple of times Belle has lunged at kitty and comes away with a mouth full of long black fur. Fortunately kitty is very well padded with thick long fur, so no injuries have occurred. Most of the time they are fine together and even sun bathe in the same sunny spot on the living room floor together. We just have to watch them very carefully.

My advice, know the warning signs, keep telling him no (very loudly to get his attention off of kitty) and don't ever leave them alone together. If all else fails, you can always get Barney a playmate, like we did!

[dianer]

Reading this I see many great pieces of advice! We use "NO", and never leave them alone even though they are somewhat at peace for now. It didn't start out that way however. Cassie does not have the run of the house and will be removed to her yard and pen for misbehaving. If "NO" doesn't work I use a squirt bottle of water. Our older dog learned to leave the cat alone faster than Cassie even though she has been around the cat since we got her as a pup. I think this is due to individual personalities. Cassie has a very strong prey drive. I wonder if females are that way because my mom's female cairn loved to hunt cats. It helped that the cat learned to stop running because Cassie was turned on by the chase. Neither one of them have been bitten or clawed and sometimes I think a quick claw to the nose would be a valuable lesson to Cassie in case she tries to get sassy with a strange cat. This is what caused me to need stitches when the neighbor cat came into our yard (long story). The command "LEAVE IT" is the best way to protect all concerned in any cat/dog situation and Cassie only briefly obeys, then she just loses it. Perhaps as she matures and we continue to work on obedience I can someday be certain all are safe including myself. Please take it from me, DO NOT get any part of your body near the frenzy, even if it appears both have calmed down.

[Barney's Mom]

AllAboutPetey,

Another Cairn friend for Barney? I think that would land me in the Psych ward.....

Mary

[Scruffys Mom]

Mary,

Do not jump to quickly to the assumption a second would drive you nuts. Scruff had many "issues" when she joined our family. Adding Sparky has been so healthy for all of us. Scruffy teaches Sparks how to behave and fit in and Sparks has worked out many of Scruffys problems. Once they realize they are dogs, and can live in their natural order, they seem to develop a natural peace and calmness (when they are not running a stampede thru your living room). Adding a second pup was the best thing I have ever done with exception to my husband and my first Cairn, Scruffy Girl.

[Darc]

We brought our Cairn home early as well due to the fact that we have 2 FAT cats and another Dog. Our vet who is our breeder allowed it as she knows all our animals pretty good. We were seriously worried about training the cats (20lb and 15lb) that the puppy is NOT A SNACK even though he looks like one. So far so good. Puppy follows the cats around when allowed but does not pester them too much. Cats don't seem to care one way or the other about the pup. Our big dog who is 11 yrs old is taking this pretty good. Just don't jump at me please is all he asks for.

[eastofeden]

Our cat sits stoically when Izzie pesters him (she barks and barks). She has learned to be wary of him because when he has enough of her....he will turn and chase her away! Izzie just loves this and can not understand that in the feline mind that this is not a game.

The cat and our other dog co-exist without incident...but Dottie has enough dignity not to bark at the cat.

[toomanypaws]

I really can't help, just wanted to say that Abbey can be barking one minute at the cat, and playing w/ her the next. Our cat, Granger is almost two and acts as if the house is hers and we're the guests. She has this walk as she goes room to room almost as if she's thinking, "mine, mine, mine, it's all mine." For the most part, the Cairns love her. Kiara never warmed up to her like Abbey and Hannah. Hannah is the only one that can have free run of the house because she never goes after the cats. Hannah loves everyone. This is her and Granger.

Our 10 yr old cat, Tai sleeps most of the time. If my dh sits down to watch TV and is holding Kiara (his girl), Tai will sit at the end of the hallway and stare at Kiara, which drives her nuts. He only does this to her. Kiara never did like Tai. Abbey and Hannah don't seem to notice him. One thing I do that helps w/ Abbey barking at Granger is I hang a sheet over the babygate that connects to the hallway so she doesn't see her. Abbey doesn't care if Granger jumps over the gate into the kitchen, but she does bark if Granger runs down the hall, so hanging the sheet helps alot, tho it's not very stylish.