Dogs and Cats, Training Eternal Enemies to Co-exist

Dogs and Cats. Eternal enemies, right? Through proper dog obedience training you can teach your animals to live together.

The first mistake that most pet owners make when introducing their pet dogs and cats is to allow them to make their own introductions. This is a mistake! As I stated above, these two species are eternal enemies. You can’t just set one down near the other and expect great results. (Ok, I know that can happen and does happen, but my job here is to teach you about dog training. My version of training calls for prevention with dogs and cats rather than creating a problem and then being forced to fix it. As Mom used to say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.) There is a good deal of prevention that should be used before allowing your dogs and cats to co-exist.

Whether you are introducing a new cat to a home with a dog or vice versa I want you to start out the same way. Start out by using your trusty dog crate. Put your dog in the crate and allow the cat to be in the same room. There are several possible outcomes to this action :

1. Your dog shows complete indifference. This is ideal. If your dog behaves like this you will have a quick transition.

2. Your dog shows fear. This is not ideal but it will make the transition easier than some other outcomes.

3. Your dog shows nervousness and anxiety. He whines, he paces in the crate, paws at the door of the crate, etc. This behavior tells you that he wants out. There is something about that cat that is exciting and he wants to know what it is.

4. Your dog shows overt aggression. He barks, claws at the door of the crate, and he knows exactly what he wants to do with that cat. This is going to be the toughest dog to train, but it can be done.

For the first few days don’t let your dogs and cats near each other. Keep the dog in the crate. This doesn’t mean you need to keep him in the crate 24/7. When you want him out of the crate just make sure that your cat is shut off in another bedroom to avoid contact. What you hope to accomplish with this action is to train your dog to be indifferent to the cat. You want your dog to view the cat as ‘background noise’. The cat is inconsequential, the cat doesn’t matter, there is nothing interesting or exciting about the cat. In other words, your dog is safely tucked away in the crate and casually observes the cat move around the house. For categories 1 and 2 this will be simple. It will take no more than a day or two for your dog to think of your cat as just another ‘thing’ in the house. Categories 3 and 4 will take more training and time.

For categories 3 and 4 you need to attach a negative association to showing cat aggression. To do this, get a spray bottle. Fill the bottle with either plain water, water mixed with lemon juice, or for very stubborn dogs, water with vinegar. At this point, your dog is still tucked away safely in the crate. The next part of training will be conducted while you are sitting near the crate, ready for action. The instant your dog shows aggression (barks at the cat, claws at the door, whines in frustration, etc.) toward the cat spray him in the face with your spray bottle. Every time he shows aggression spray him with the bottle. When he isn’t showing aggression give him soft praise, “Good boy”.

Make sure that your dog never gets a chance to show aggression toward the cat without having a bad experience. This means that you must always be ready with the spray bottle or make sure the cat isn’t near the dog. If you aren’t vigilant and your dog has the chance to show aggression with no adverse consequence, you are training him to show cat aggression.

If you are consistent with this exercise you will soon notice that your dog will show less and less aggression while in the crate, it just isn’t worth the squirt in the face for him. You are on your way to getting your dogs and cats to co-exist.

When your feel comfortable that your dog is indifferent to the cat move on to the next step. As I said, for categories 1 and 2 this is probably one or two days after beginning the crate training. For categories 3 and 4 get your dog to the point where he is indifferent and maintains that attitude for several days if not a week.

The next step is to get your dog out of the crate and get those dogs and cats together at last! You are going to move slowly, though. Put your dog training collar and leash on your dog and make sure that he is always wearing it around the house. Keep your dog near you and allow your cat to be in the room. If your dog makes any move whatsoever to chase the cat, bark at the cat, or perform any of the stereotypical behaviors that dogs and cats do, give him a very strong correction with the leash. You want this leash correction to be a very memorable one so it must be very strong. You want to form a very negative association toward cat aggression.

Be consistent with this training. If you do this properly you will notice that your dog has less and less of a desire to chase after or bark at the cat. As you notice your dog changing his behavior give him more and more freedom by allowing him to be closer to the cat and further away from you. Eventually you will phase out the use of the dog training collar and leash.

Even if your dog isn’t showing aggressive tendencies, never let him chase after the cat in the house, even playfully.

Even some of the hardest to train dogs will respond to the above method. There exist, however, certain dogs that have such strong prey drive that only drastic measures will cure them of their desire to chase and kill cats. For these dogs I employ an electric dog training collar.

Read the instruction manual on proper fitting for your electric dog training collar. With a stubborn dog that needs an electric collar the method is simple. With the collar on his neck and turned on to a high level of stimulus you are going to correct your dog every time he even looks at the cat. As your dog even sneaks a glance at your cat press the button to deliver the correction. Don’t say ‘no’, don’t react in any way, just correct him for looking at the cat. Do this as many times as it takes. Let’s examine this from your dog’s point of view. He wants to get to the cat, wants to chase, wants to kill. But the very act of looking at the cat causes him pain. You don’t tell him anything so he doesn’t associate the correction with you. He soon will learn to believe that the cat is ‘evil’ and he had better not even look at it because it the act of looking causes pain.

As with all training, you must be very consistent. Your dog must never have a successful chance to even chase or want to chase the cat. Be consistent, though, and soon your dogs and cats will be able to co-exist.

Gentle Cat Training

To encourage cats there must be treats and rewards. When your cat hears rustling of a food bag or a can opener sounds does you cat come running? This would be a clear illustration of such behavior. Cats hear those sounds and often related them to food rewards.

Make sure to first take your pet to the veterinarian, to ensure there are no undetected health issues that be be aggrabated or intesified by the training activities.

For the highest effectiveness be sure to give immediate appraisal such as treats, a full tasty meal, or even a toy as a reward just to ensure your cat has been properly encouraged to maintain good behavior.

At a later time after your cat relates the saying “good” with a treat and the positive act you may later use just the saying and a nice scratch behind the ears for positive reenforcement.

Using positive emphasis and reinforcement, the pet will be willing to learn good behaviors and basic instructions or commands.

Training tip and guidlines:

1. It is better to start before the pet has a chance to form or develop any unwanted behavior. So for a more responsive and open experience try to start when they are kittens.

2. A gentle hug, caress or whisper will leave a longer impression than yelling and bitter words. So try to give positive reinforcement at all times.

3. Training must be limited. Frequently but brief. Cats work better in four to six sessions of 5 minutes intervals of training rather than two one hour sessions. Because cats possess a short attention span and lose interest very quickly.

4. To limit the cat’s distractions such as climbing a tree or playing with the neighboring pets keep training indoors.

Discipline should be instilled for a well behaved cat, but tough punishment must be avoided. Cats usually do not respond to hitting or yelling. That generally leaves them afraid of you doing the action rather than the bad behavior. During training the pet with defer from negative acts. Keep your approach a positive one. In response to your negative actions the pet will stop loving you and will not achieve the desired result of having a happy loving relationship with your wonderful pet cat!

• Business roundup: Luncheon with the governor

• Business roundup: Luncheon with the governor
Salisbury businesswoman Traci Williams, who owns Crescent Construction Services, was invited to a luncheon hosted by Gov. Beverly Perdue for female company presidents. Williams sits on the Greater Womenâs Business Council. Thrivent honors Salisbur …

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6 Key Cat Training Tips

Cats are extremely sociable animals even though cats tend to give an image of solidarity and aloofness. Cats that are well trained can form successful relationships with you and your family including other family pets. A well trained cat also caused fewer social problems and minimized nuisances and embarrassments for you down the road.

While instilling discipline into your cat is important, tough punishment must be avoided. Instead use positive actions and avoid negative ones when training your cat. Negative actions such as hitting or yelling are not generally acknowledged by them. Cats are known to associate these adverse actions with you rather than with their bad behavior. And as a result, the relationship between you and your cat will be strained.

To maintain and forge a loving and warm relationship with your wonderful cat, you can use the following tips to help you solve your cat’s behavior problems.

Train them young

When your cat is still young, he is more open and responsive to training. Bad behaviors have not yet been formed and not given a chance to develop. The older he gets, the harder it will be to train your cat.

Give them regular love and attention

Do not use harsh or bitter tones to reprimand your cat; instead a gentle hug, caress, or a whisper has a longer lasting effect. Your relationship with your cat should be fun, rewarding, playful and interesting. Sometimes this change alone will solve your cat behavior problem. Cats when they are bored are known to become overly active and destructive. By playing with your cat daily and giving him regular relaxing massages can help to calm your kitty down. Cats normally stop using their litterbox when they feel neglected. With regular sessions of attention and play time, even litterbox problems can vanish almost overnight.

Reward them for good behavior

Cats are creatures that love rewards and fear punishment. Cats will only do things that they find pleasurable and rewarding to do. Reward your cat for good behavior. Give rewards such as treats, sweet talking or gently stroking the cat to let him know that you approve of the way he is acting.

Let them know what is acceptable and what is not

Educate your cat on what is correct and acceptable behavior and what is not. Reward him for good behavior. Cats have very short attention span and they tend to forget what they did a minute ago, much less hours ago. In order for you to discipline and make your cat learn, you must catch your cat in the act. As cats hate water, one effective way of making your cat learn is through the use of a spray bottle or squirt gun to startle your cat when you catch him misbehaving. Another method is the use of a whistle to create a loud noise to startle your cat as cats loathe loud noises.

Make your training sessions short but frequent

Training sessions should be brief but frequent. Cats are known to have short attention and interest spans; so it is important to make your sessions brief to be more effective.

Systematic training will do the trick

Owners must design their training programs. The program depends on their cats’ attitude. Things to be included in the program are the specific tasks that the owners want their cats to do and the corresponding rewards. This method will deliver the results that you want only if you stick to the program that you did. Consistency is a key factor at this stage.

In & Around Roxbury Township

In & Around Roxbury Township
THURSDAY, Sept. 2 The Art Association in Roxbury hold its monthly meeting at 7:15 p.m. at the Roxbury Senior Center, 72 Eyland Avenue, Succasunna. W. Carl Burger will give a demonstration using oil paints. Burger emigrated in 1926 from Pforzheim, Germany to Irvington. His early interest in painting was delayed during World War II when he joined the U.S. Army Military Intelligence serving in the …

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Reading About Cat Training Books

A cat lover wants an unfailing conductor or handbook to get through his cat’s guidance. It is not enough to just browse over websites for tips and other subtle know-hows. What he needs are trusty cat schooling books ! Here are some of the best-selling and genuinely amazing cat exercise books that can have one’s pet cat do more than meowing and scratching:

1. “Guide to Well-Behaved Cat: A Sound Approach to Cat Training” The book says it all. It aims to educate the cat to work. Written by Phil Maggiti, this book is packed with ornate information and divided into four parts. The first phase tackles the cat’s evolution, while the following is all about its domestication. Design and gathering of a mundane cat is discussed in stage three, while division four meeting about soul-pet relationship topics such as, why does a fund disobey the possessor when it is called?

2. “Understanding or Training Your Cat or Kitten”

This acclaimed book is from H. Ellen Whiteley, a veterinarian who understands cats more than a middling role does. This book contains 292 pages of important information that can sincerely make you understand, string and appreciate one’s pet cat.

3. “Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat”

This book is a collaboration of Gary M. Landsberg, W. Hunthausen and L. Ackerman. Publishing by Elvesier Health Sciences, this is one of the most sound books in cat education. Okay, so it is dual target – it is about cats and dogs, but it doesn’t stuff. It is as informative as any other cat education book out there.

From discussing kitten development to suggesting therapy for manners and diet-related troubles, from approaching elegant agression to discovery out what the “European consider to actions counseling” is, this book is actually useful.

4. “Cat Training in 10 Minutes”

The “Cat Training in 10 Minutes” is 142 pages of eccentric information on how to communicate effectively with cats. Writing by Miriam Fields-Banineau, a licensed cat lover, this director is calm to read and vastly helpful. Every cat landlord could toilet-line his pool in just a few sense sessions! It would not be long before the cat also follows the owner’s commands! The photographs in the book are very attractive as well.

Nobody says cat exercise is ready to be tranquil. That’s why cat training books are free online so one can get the essence and be the best cat owner in civic.

Pet-friendly dorm takes bite out moving to school

Pet-friendly dorm takes bite out moving to school
Leonora, a frisky border collie, and her owner, Jasmine Parham, are among the first residents of the first pet-friendly dorm at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. Stetson is among the relatively few schools that have formal policies and accommodations for pets. Stetson officials say the dorms could become a recruitment tool that helps set the school apart.

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Cat Training Basics

Before you train your cat, you will need to know about a cat. If you want to train your cat to sit, beg, and roll over, you should probably switch for a dog. In most cases, a cat is designed much differently than a dog in psychology and behavior. This is why some people either love cats or dislike cats; it is usually one or the other.

When it comes to training cats, we just want them to do the basics. These types of things would be to use the litter box rather than on the floor in the closet. Another of these items would be to not shred everything they come in contact with; this would include, but not be limited too couches and mattresses.

How Do Cats Learn?

Cats, obviously, are not humans. They do not think like us, nor do they learn like us. If a cat cannot pick up a book, watch a video or be told what to do, how do they learn? In fact, cats learn by experience. For example, if a cat jumps up on a hot stove, which I hope would not happen, would in turn burn their paws and not do it again. They have leaned that the area they came in contact too was hot and caused pain.

If a cat does something obnoxious or wrong, and they get rewarded, they will continue to do it. In this case, they have learned that by doing something, they get a certain reaction. In most cases we do not even realize we are rewarding our cat. This is why the cycle of “bad” behavior still continues and does not go away.

In all, you can say cats are conditioned to behave the way they do. They all have their unique personalities, as do all animals; however, their behavior is molded by the way we respond to them.

Why Discipline Does Not Work

Yes, you read that right; disciplining your cat does not work. If this is what you have been doing, you will see that this statement is correct. Most people are under the notion that you need to catch the cat in the act so you can immediately reprimand that cat for doing wrong. This, in fact, is not correct.

When you choose to discipline your cat, you are only showing them two things. One, when you reach for them, it is a bad thing; and two, whatever you are showing them, whether it be the litter box or object, is bad. These are both concepts that will not make the situation better, but sometimes can make it worse. Moreover, when you catch your cat “in the act”, you will see that he or she only misbehaves when you are not around. On the other hand, if you discipline your cat after the offense, they will not associate the incident with the punishment. Remember, cats do not speak English!

Get Your Cat Out of Bad Habits

In general, a kitten is going to be easier to train; this is just a cat training basics fact. This comes from the idea that a grown cat is already set in their ways. They have been conditioned to do things a certain way for a longer period of time. Naturally, cats do not deviate from their usual way of doing things. They are creatures of habit. So, a kitten has not been conditioned and is very impressionable.

If you have a grown cat, do not get discouraged. They can be trained as well; it just might take a little extra effort. This leads to the first cat training basics point: remain calm and patient with your cat during training. Training a cat takes time, patience and dedication. Just remember, it is worth it in the long run. If trained properly, you will see the results last for a lifetime; not just for a day.

3 Steps to Any Training’s Success

There are three main steps to create a successful training attempt that is a win- win situation for both you and your cat.

1. No matter what your cat decides to do, even if it gets on your last nerve, do not punish them. Remember, reprimanding your cat will never get you the results you are seeking. All it will get is a “delinquent” cat and one that is afraid of you.

When broken down, this might very well be the problem as well. Take the time to play with the cat and make sure they are not doing these bad behaviors for attention. You will know this is the case if you up the play time and offer them more toys and things to keep them busy. Just about half of the time, this will solve the problem.

2. Do your best to make sure your cat is set up for success. You want your cat to succeed at the training; therefore, you need to make sure you give them all the tools and encouragement to succeed.

Shedding more light on this concept; make sure you control the environment. If you are looking to litter train your cat, have them on a regular feeding schedule. By doing this, you will know about when they will need to relieve themselves. About ten to fifteen minutes before the scheduled time, take them to the litter box. Put it in a room where it is just you, them and the box. They will use the box, and when they do, praise them.

3. Make sure the experience is not a rewarding one. Everyone and every animal, including cats, as something they do not like. You need to find out what your cat does not like. For many cats, tape, netting, aluminum, and sometimes scents can deter them. Cats generally do not like sticky or noisy things. They also do not like getting their claws stuck onto items.

In general, the cat training basics listed above are a solid plan for success. They can be applied to any training you decide to go through with your cat. Always keep in mind to stick with the three steps!

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Blue Jays’ prospects thriving in Red Sox territory
MANCHESTER, N.H. — The future of the Boston Red Sox is on display on a daily basis at ballparks throughout New England each summer. The Red Sox have minor league teams in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Triple-A), Portland, Maine (Double-A) and Lowell (Short-season A).

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Ragweed allergy season more miserable for people with dog, cat or dust mite allergies
Ragweed allergy season can be even more miserable for those with dog, cat or dust mite allergies, according to new research. These year-round allergies appear to “pre-prime” the immune system so symptoms hit harder, according to a study recently published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

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