New adopted cat and poodle

[ohsnapsun]

Hello all,

My boyfriend and I recently adopted a year old grey tabby from our local humane society. She seemed anxious but affectionate in the shelter and did not like to ride in the carrier to the house. When we got her there she seemed curious and walked around slowly but she was completely fine. She hid underneath his bed for a few minutes and came out later completely social to us both. Enter poodle, my boyfriend has a 4 year old teacup poodle that is completely bonkers and has never been trained so she barks at everything. She is terrified of people and barks 24/7 at people walking by or if she wants to get into a room. Melanie(the cat) will be a one room cat as other members of his house have allergies but the room she is kept in is very spacious and we do have the means to take her outside. Within only a few hours of being home the poodle got into the room and had a panic attack at seeing the cat barking very high pitched. At this Melanie bolted under the bed and is very hesitant to come out. The poodle wants my boyfriends attention so she stays at the door sniffing scratching and barking to get him to open the door. He put her in her kennel for punishment and his mom let her out because she was annoying her. I'm really not sure what to do and I hate that his dog has traumatized the cat. It will take the dog a long time to be trained and I just want Melanie to feel comfortable there.

 

[random gemini]

I don't think one incident should be considered trauma. I would call it a set back.

Your boyfriend needs to get his dog to an obedience class. He needs to do it NOW. Within two months, he can have her sitting, standing, laying down and staying put on command, as well as walking nicely on a leash. That's not very long at all.

Petsmart offers obedience classes. There are local dog training clubs in many areas that offer obedience classes and even individual classes at VERY reasonable prices that will get him started on the right foot with his dog. If he doesn't take her to class, YOU should. The only way to put an end to this chasing, panicking and freaking out behavior in this dog... is to socialize the dog and to train her. 

All behavior problems with dogs, can be solved with a patient owner, who is a consistent trainer and a good leader. It doesn't have to be him that trains his dog. You can do it. Not training the dog, isn't doing your dog or your cat any favors. 

 

[ohsnapsun]

Thank you for such a fast reply! I'm glad it would not be trauma its just uneasy to me because she was fine with the dog barking until this incident and now she doesn't even like to hear her bark. We have never tried the obedience classes but the dog is so afraid of people and other dogs i'm not sure how they would handle her.

 

[random gemini]

Give your cat some time and I'm sure it will improve, especially if you take the dog to obedience classes and encourage some positive interactions with the dog afterwards. 

As far as her behavior, she sounds like a mess. My youngest dog went through something similar in his previous home. The shelter I adopted him from called him "McBarken" that's how bad he was. It has taken a long time to completely correct some of the more complicated behaviors, but walking nicely on a leash, sitting, staying and laying down on command were all easy. Introducing him to strange animals and people came pretty quickly too. He barked while he did it, but he did it. LOL!

You will need to talk to the trainer at the school in advance. Explain your situation. Explain that you want to fix the problem behaviors and make things right with your little dog. Any GOOD school will be happy to work with you, or even offer you private lessons until you are ready to join the group. If they turn you down, go find another trainer. The right trainer will be glad to help you.

The trainer at the training club I took Jet to asked to meet with us in private for a twenty minute evaluation before I took him into our first class. Having someone explain problem behaviors to you is very different from seeing it for yourself. Trainers really can see things that you and I, as dog owners, do not. I had no idea that Jet was an anxious dog before I took him to that trainer. I would have told anyone that asked that he was fearless and afraid of absolutely nothing, but it turned out that he was very anxious and very afraid. Jet's an incredibly smart dog and he uses his barking to manipulate me so that he can maintain control, rather than respecting me and trusting me to be in charge. 

I promise, you will learn a lot about your dog, and yourself too. It was definitely a growing process for me and Jet both and it made our lives SO much better. I know it will for you too.