- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #61
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2015
- Messages
- 190
- Purraise
- 113
I have tried water pistols. And yelling NO. And putting the offender in another room. They revert back to the bullying behavior. I think I need to break up the pack. It’s really hard with 3 against 2. It’s out of control.Have you tried using timeouts and negative reinforcement on the bullies? It might be best to start with the ringleader and keep the other two separarated for now and work in one at a time.
I had seven cats and my large dog for five years. My two youngest males bonded very strongly and started targeting the passive cats and relentlessly bullying two other cats, and constantly fighting with another dominant male cat. The youngest cat also relentlessly attacked my large dog, drawing blood and I was afraid my dog would snap and kill him.
I became very firm . I said no firmly, gave him a light tap more for indignance than anything else and put the youngest bully in the bathroom each and every time he attacked any cat or dog. He started running away and hiding, I tracked him down every time so he knew he couldn't outrun me and in the bathroom he went. I didn't let him out until he was quiet in there. Drama and crying and pounding got a firm tap on the door and a no and he stayed in longer. The other cat stopped bullying with just a no and seeing what happened to his buddy. I may have locked him up once or twice.
It took a few months for the youngest cat to stop attacking the dog but I was consistent and form that attacking was completely unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated. I never left them alone together and praised both for peaceful time together with praise, pats and treats.
When I got a new dog I had to go through the whole process again. But he did bond closely to each dog eventually.
Some people may disagree with me but I have many years experience training dogs, cats and horses And this worked for meany times. I've never had to re-home an animal.