Will my new baby ever get used to cats???
Hello every one i am new To the EBT breed i have/had pit bulls and found this is nothing like a pitbull. lol My question is I have a 3 month old Female EBT who love to chase my cat. I have three but only one is a upstairs cat. She will chase and bite her if i leave them in the same room. My husband and I tried introducing them slowly. Me holding the pup him holding the cat, she will sniff for the first few seconds and then bite her ears or tail. I was wondering if this is something that will ever go away or if she will grow out of it? I know they are high prey drive pups but was sure if this is possible. any help would be appreciated
Thank you!
IG SN: ashleykne2
Comments
Territorial claims can play role in such introductions. And age, of course, too.
Also it is surely a matter of how much the prey drive has developed in the individual. I think that is different in every dog.
It's said that some EBT's are hard to socialize with smaller animals. You often find that with rescues ("no cats") - but I feel like in many of those cases the cause could be a lack of early socialization, which at some point seems to be hard or even impossible to catch up on.
The majority of photos I see on the internet and reports I find show that in general they really seem to be able to get used to other members in the house (dogs, other animals and of course people).
In my opinion it all depends on a very careful introduction process.
In order to save both from unwanted injuries, I would first limit introduction/ contact to just a few supervised minutes at a time and interrupt any attempts of aggression, domination, grabbing tails etc. on BOTH sides immediately and every time. I would especially try to make sure that the pets realize that I do not approve of the way they behave.
EBT puppies are rambunctious, rough and very curious. They are roughies during play. I can imagine that a small cat may not like that too much. So, while your EBT is still young and wild it may be a little harder to avoid every confrontation between the two. They also have a looooong adolescence phase. So, the entire process may take a while and require some time of managing.
I guess there will always be one or the other little fight over little things - just like kids do fight. But I think overall it will just be a matter of time to get the two of them adjusted to each other.
Of course, there's a small chance that your dog turns out to really not get along with cats. But I think it's too soon to tell for sure now.
It's not patent remedy advice, but I still hope it helps a little.
A big thing is to make sure the cat has plenty of places to get away from the dog. Cat trees are great because it allows the cat to observe the dog and know they have a safe space that that they can retreat to. I generally don't have problems with the cat showing the dog who is boss with some claws (though I can say when Icarus is in real play mode even swats to the face with claws extended don't do much). Icarus does the same thing with chewing on her legs and tail in an an attempt to play, the first few times he did this I would back her "no thank you" swats with discipline of my own to let him know when play was too rough. She's been pretty good at teaching him boundaries with claws and leaving when he is too irritating.
If she is chasing the cat you need to have her on leash or restrained so there is no option to do that, cat chasing is very reinforcing. The few times Icarus tried to chase after mine he got some butt swats and I held him down to "yell at him" (he is deaf so it was more finger wagging and an angry face). He was older so I'm not sure if this is too much for a 3 month old, but letting her know that cat chasing is the worst thing she can do is good place to start. My cat tolerates quite a bit of play biting and him shoving her around (she willingly comes to the floor and will stay there with him and get on the couch to get closer to him) and she has never been afraid. Like I said before it's going to depend on your cat what you should go for; with her I knew she would tolerate his behavior to a point, but if your cat is terrified it may be good to train your dog that no interaction with the cat is what you want.
There are a ton of good resources on the internet for introducing dogs to resident cats, many of them mention treating ignoring/calm behavior around the cat. Taking the dog to a calm place if she is getting too excited even being in the same room (so they learn if I start freaking out I have to go to a boring place). Since it doesn't sound like your cat is the bully here it's really going to be up to you to make sure they can always get away from the dog and that you back them up in regards to what is ok and what isn't ( I know we all hope for both species to snuggle and play but that may not be in the cards)
I hope that was a little helpful. Icarus and her are in a good place, but he still does get to be way too much for her and I think the most helpful thing is that she can always go to her cat tree, or go behind the baby gate and get away .
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