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- Oct 16, 2018
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I'm having a bit of a dilemma deciding whether or not to take one of my cats on walks on her harness and leash.
For starters, we just built them a large catio (about 80 square feet) on our second floor balcony which they both absolutely adore. The two of them don't exactly love each other, but will tolerate each other if it means they can both be in the catio. So it has been a huge success.
Coffee is the more timid one, and Maui is constantly in her face annoying and chasing her, so sometimes we put Maui's harness on her to slow her down a bit (she can still move around perfectly fine, she's just not AS fast) to help Coffee gain some confidence being around her, and it is helping tremendously. This also means that Maui has gotten very used to wearing the harness, so she is comfortable in it and clearly can't slip out of it.
Yesterday, out of curiosity, I attached the leash to Maui's harness and carried her outside onto our patio. I let her walk around and sniff things and look at bugs, play with grass, etc. She seemed to love it. I can tell it would be something she would grow to LOVE doing if we continued this activity together.
However, I'm concerned that she will try to get outside without the harness or leash on, if I keep taking her outside myself; I will never let her exit the door on her own, I will always be carrying her outside, to set some boundaries that she is only to go outside when I say she is. The problem is that she already usually greets us at the door when we come home, but doesn't try to get out, and I'm nervous that taking her outside on the harness will spark something in her that wants to go outside on her own and she will try to slip out whenever she can. I don't want to deprive her of an activity she will really enjoy, but she also has the catio now to allow her some outside time; the difference is that there is no grass or trees or other real "nature" stimulation up there (other than really good bird watching and some bugs flying around), and OUR patio seating space is downstairs, out of the line of sight from the catio.
Wondering if I should continue trying to leash train her and hope she doesn't try to get out on her own and attempt to deter her from trying, or if I should stop now before she gets too used to it and she forgets that she's not allowed outside.
For starters, we just built them a large catio (about 80 square feet) on our second floor balcony which they both absolutely adore. The two of them don't exactly love each other, but will tolerate each other if it means they can both be in the catio. So it has been a huge success.
Coffee is the more timid one, and Maui is constantly in her face annoying and chasing her, so sometimes we put Maui's harness on her to slow her down a bit (she can still move around perfectly fine, she's just not AS fast) to help Coffee gain some confidence being around her, and it is helping tremendously. This also means that Maui has gotten very used to wearing the harness, so she is comfortable in it and clearly can't slip out of it.
Yesterday, out of curiosity, I attached the leash to Maui's harness and carried her outside onto our patio. I let her walk around and sniff things and look at bugs, play with grass, etc. She seemed to love it. I can tell it would be something she would grow to LOVE doing if we continued this activity together.
However, I'm concerned that she will try to get outside without the harness or leash on, if I keep taking her outside myself; I will never let her exit the door on her own, I will always be carrying her outside, to set some boundaries that she is only to go outside when I say she is. The problem is that she already usually greets us at the door when we come home, but doesn't try to get out, and I'm nervous that taking her outside on the harness will spark something in her that wants to go outside on her own and she will try to slip out whenever she can. I don't want to deprive her of an activity she will really enjoy, but she also has the catio now to allow her some outside time; the difference is that there is no grass or trees or other real "nature" stimulation up there (other than really good bird watching and some bugs flying around), and OUR patio seating space is downstairs, out of the line of sight from the catio.
Wondering if I should continue trying to leash train her and hope she doesn't try to get out on her own and attempt to deter her from trying, or if I should stop now before she gets too used to it and she forgets that she's not allowed outside.