Things have been really stressed at home lately. Poor Sarah has had a huge tension headache and stress has been making it worse (luckily she has Kellie Pickler to release some stress on). I guess a big part of it is Rowdi and the cats. Anytime we’re in the kitchen, Minerva now jumps in range of Rowdi on the counter and gets angry when Rowdi inevitably comes near. If not completely restrained, Rowdi will often lunge at the cats, plunging her nose into their side. I assume if Rowdi meant to hurt the cats, she’d lunge with her mouth open, but lunging itself is scary. Anyone know what that behavior means? Is it a herding instinct, or is she just enthusiastic about smelling?
Anyway, until some peace is reached between Rowdi and the cats, things are probably going to be a bit stressed. I know it doesn’t seem like the biggest problem in the world, but we’d appreciate some prayers to help us through it.
BTW, Rowdi is getting more obedient but we still need to figure out how to calm her when she gets excited. She is great at walks now (the Gentle Leader is a great product) and even sat quietly while I talked to a neighbor and twice her little dog tried to nip Rowdi in the face. Also, we noticed that she looks a lot like these pictures of a tan lab. I guess we should get a bit over this pit hysteria and just call her a mutt. She just looks too much like a plain-old dog to pin down the breeding. The only characteristic that really stick out about her is her stub of a tail. What kind of dogs have that?
Thanks again for all your advice. You people are great readers, and I love dishing out the funny for you.
Well, I can’t think of any dog breeds with naturally stumpy tails. Probably means her tail was docked. And I’m guessing she’s that most American of dog breeds – a total mutt. Probably 10 different breeds mixed up in there.
As for the cat nudging thing, it’s probably just an attempt to play. Look at the body language. Is she “bowing,” with her backside in the air, looking happy? Or does she have her ears pinned back, ruff raised, or lips drawn back? If #1, you’re fine. If #2, you may need remedial intraspecies relationship counseling.
Even if Rowdi is just trying to play, if it’s annoying to you or the cats, just scold her. Dogs don’t know right or wrong – just want the “leader” tells them. (Like Democrats.) So scold Rowdi for messing with the cats, and she should stop if you do it consistently. (Just be careful not to accidentally provide positive reinforcement by playing with her to distract her from messing with the cats.)
Wow. I need to get a life. A dog-care thesis on a political humor site.
if rowdi just wants to sniff the cats, it may be helpful to put your dog and cat in a relaxed situation where they can interact on a limited basis so they can get to know each other. for a dog-dog situation, no leashes are a must because the tension in the leash can make things worse. ie its best if they can move freely and are not restrained. it helps them get to know each other. A similar situation with your dog-cat problem may help to ease the tension.. or it could just blow up and you will have cat soup.
DavidV,
Thanks. She often wags her stub and does what you say for number one. Usually, she just stares quietly (being a foot or so away) before she finally lunges or tries to lunge. She has growled and barked a couple times at the kitties, but I don’t think she has ever bared her teeth the whole time we’ve had her (like I said, she doesn’t even get upset when a small dog attacks her, so I think she’s pretty submissive. She didn’t even growl at the cats when she was in her crate and saw them play with her water dish).
Maybe you should seek advice from the dog whisperer.
I have a dog and cat, and that nose-bumping thing is part herd and part play. Dogs usually love to round up animals, and when my dog wants to play with the cat or me, he gives us a nose bump.
My daughter moved back in with her quarter Pit Bull. Despite the fact that the cat has taught her manners even when she was a puppy (five years ago), she still lunges to chase the cat. She wants the cat to run so she can chase her. The scars on her nose are the reminder that when the cat is tired of this game, it is over. At the same time, she recognizes the cat lives there and is protective of her whenever any other dogs come around.
Yeah, I think all the hysterics about Rowdi being a “pit” are a tad over the top. There may be a bit-o-pit in there but that’s about it.
As far as the nudging thing goes, my Belgian Shepard/Something else does that constantly to me … when he wants to play. And, man, does he ever do it with vigor. His favorite target being the crotch area, the little snot.
All three of our pups (each over 70 pounds) have/had issues of one sort or another and to varying degrees of severity. Lots of patience, love, effort and attention have addressed most of the problems. Workarounds are in place for the ones that proved insurmountable.
Keep working with Rowdi and I’d bet she does you right in the end.
My dog (a Doberman) does the nose-nudge too when she wants something. I usually just go through the list until I hit what she wants (hungry? out? bed? snuggle?). When I do, she gets very excited. When she wants to play, though, she’ll do the bow thing with the butt up and tail wagging (well, stump wagging). If I ignore her, she will put her head under my hand and flip it up onto her head so I will pay attention to her.
I think the nudge is just a dog’s way of saying, “Hey you, pay attention to me!”
re: nudging — that reminds of the simpson’s episode where bart gets an elephant — at the end he gets put in a nature reserve, and in regard to the elephant nudging other elephants, the ranger said “some animals are just jerks”
My dog is a border collie, a herding breed. She loves to stalk cats, and pokes them with her nose, or would if they did’t swat at it when she tries.
When we introduced a cat into our dog household it was stressful for about 2 months or more. My husband thought he was going to loose his mind. Our dog mostly just wanted to sniff the cat and did some of that nudging thing. The dog eventually got used to the cat, we learned to relax and realize the dog wouldn’t eat the cat, etc. Good luck.
Get a book on clicker training and a clicker from your local pet store. It worked wonders with my pup.
My Aussie Shep does the same things just to irritate the cats, (who are foul tempered and lazy) in an effort to play with them.
I had a black lab mutt with a stub tail. Could have been from another breed mixed in there, or could have been a birth defect, or it could have been chopped off by the original owner when he was a puppy. Don’t know. Great dog though, the original owners gave him to my uncle (who we got him from) because they couldn’t make him mean. They beat him and starved him for a couple weeks and he wouldn’t get mean. His only flaws were that he was hard to calm down when he was excited and he was an escape artist. On more than one Thanksgiving he broke his chain or collar, jumped the fence, and came back with someone’s turkey, which we promptly hid and denied knowing anything about…
ZZZZZZZZZZ…I’m sorry, wake me when the bourgeois nightmare is over….Your probably one of those guys who makes up “slave” contracts and kidnaps girls and hides them in homemade box under their beds. I can’t imagine that someone with such a monumentally boring life could not be hiding some deep dark secret. And what’s worse, you feel the need to broadcast your banality to any fool with an internet connection.
Why not Alex… you’re vroadcasting yours with every comment you make. In addition, you are also letting on to your lack of intelligence, wisdom, depth, maturity, creativity and juist general worth as a human being. You should have started and ended in a Kleenex.
I don’t know much about dogs, but I will definitely keep you and your animals in my prayers.
Wait until you have children. This is absolutely. nothing. in comparison.
The only characteristic that really stick out about her is her stub of a tail.>/i>
If it’s just a stub, how can it stick out?
What kind of dogs have that?
Dogs whose tails have been shortened.
“And what’s worse, you feel the need to broadcast your banality to any fool with an internet connection.”
That explains a lot in my life Silicon Valley.Note to others,never have circumcision done by Shakes The Clown.
If Rowdi is just shoving his nose into the cat, he just wants to play. My idiot dog thinks cats love him and does pretty much the same thing. The cats show their love by swatting his face with their claws. It makes him very happy. Almost as happy as when the two Great Danes are slamming him around the dog park.
Separating them is not a good thing, I would even think it’s a bad thing. You are delaying a resolution, the cats are going to torture the dog and make a friendly relationship that much less likely and they need to get to know each other and work out their relationship.
If your dog was a cat eater, you would know it already. They don’t really mess around, they just go for the cat and try to eat it. Dogs don’t do ‘subtle’. When they try it’s usually very funny.
Let them figure out their deal. That’s the only way they will settle into living together.
They really need to work this out. And it sounds as if you and Sarah need it to be worked out too. Two worried posts about it?
Personally, I would put them in the same room, put the dog on a leash and let him go over to the cats. You can pull him back if he gets out of hand and he can still jump back if the cats get out of hand.
If the cats just keep swatting at Rowdi, he will probably eventually leave them alone mostly. Except to mess with when he’s in a playful mood.