Why Does My Dog Kill Cats and How to Stop this Issue?
Many people believe that there is a love-hate relationship between dogs and cats. When I was young, I watched a number of cartoons that featured both dogs and cats. Moreover, the familiar scene is that the dogs always chase after the cats and I am very curious about this matter.
Therefore, I tried to seek for the reasons from many sources and I think that I can get the answer now. As a result, I am going to share my understanding to those people who want to know ‘why does my dog kill cats?’. Also, I will tell you some possible recommendations to this problem, and then, you can identify the best method for yourself.
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The Reason Why Do Dogs Kill Cats?
Natural Instinct
Wild dogs are considered as the aggressive hunters, which means that they tend to catch their food by chasing it. In particular, this kind of instinct is still maintained in most of the domesticated dogs nowadays. Therefore, the fact that dogs hunt cats is totally caused from their natural instinct.
But you do not have to worry about this natural behavior since movements can trigger domesticated dogs. You can see that your dogs are interested in fetching a thrown ball as well as following a rabbit. As a consequence, when you notice that your dogs are chasing your cats, this is just because the cats are small and moving species. Thus, this chasing is regarded as a playful activity for both of them.
Hunting Behavior
Hunting behavior is wired in dogs’ brains for a long time, so that they tend to sometimes perform this instinct out of notice. From the dogs’ perspective, this chasing activity is quite fun and exciting. However, the cats may think conversely and do not enjoy this “great” time.
Particularly, being constantly chased can put much stress and pressure on the cats. Also, when the dogs make a soft bite, there is still some serious damage for the cats that we cannot imagine. Hence, you need to seek for some solutions to avoid this matter as soon as possible. By this way, you can raise your dogs and your cats in peace.
How to Prevent the Dogs from Killing and Chasing the Cats
Early Prevention
The first solution that I can mention is to raise your dog together with your cat before he reaches three months old. Generally, in spite of the cats’ defensiveness, many puppies love to play with the cats since they find it enthusiastic. In the case of this situation, the cats’ defensiveness will have a positive effect on the dogs since they can know the boundaries when playing with the other cats in the future.
Separation
When your dog chases and kills your cat, you need to lock him in the open area alone. This action can help to decrease the level of his aggressive behavior. Moreover, during this separation period, make sure that you can have a strong control over your dog until he becomes less aggressive.
Avoid Hitting and Punishing Your Dogs
As I mentioned above, chasing activity is just a dog’s natural behavior. Therefore, even when your dog kills a cat, you cannot consider him a bad dog. Thus, make sure not to either hit or punish him because violent acts will make his aggressiveness more severe. Instead, teach him the difference between playing and killing will result in better outcomes for you.
Distinguish Killing and Playing
For a dog, hunting and playing are completely different terms. Therefore, you need to make them realize the difference by some outdoor activities. First of all, you can go outside with them. Then, use some toys to teach them many commands such as come, stay and go.
During the first period, you need to throw the toys at the short distance and when your dog bites it, you should encourage them to give you the toy. Make sure to repeat this process at least 12 times with different directions. During the practice, we usually make some mistakes related to over exercise, which will make your dog tired and frustrated. In order to avoid this case, you should combine the safe and exciting activities together.
After getting familiar with getting the toy back, your dog tends to jump impatiently to get the toy. However, you need to tell them be calm by sitting down and keeping quiet. After that, you can throw the ball again. Although it may take you a long time to train your dog how to wait, he can learn how to be patient and well-behaved.
However, you need to be patient with this teaching method in a month, and you can see the magic. When your dogs can understand, and obey the commands, they will not pay much attention to the other small animals when going outside. Even when they want to chase any cats, they will listen to your commands and come back in an instant.
If you are too busy for this training, you can hire a professional trainer since they are excellent at teaching dogs. I highly recommend that you should follow this wonderful tip to enjoy your life with your pets.
For further information, you can watch the video below:
Conclusion
In summary, I hope that all of the information in this article will help you solve your queries about the reasons why dogs kill cats as well as identify some practical solutions. Nevertheless, in case you are in need of any advice or discussion, do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
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