How best to teach big dog to leave small kitten alone? (yorkie, bite)

[Sogoli]

We have a large, mixed breed dog. Someone gave us a small kitten recently.We've been introducing the two slowly but the dog now tries to lunge toward the kitten and it looks like she might bite it! How do I teach the dog to leave the kitten alone? Someone suggested using a low-voltage shock collar.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

If the dog is afraid of a squirt bottle of water, that is a much more humane way to deal with it. And keep them separated by a shut door or a crate when you are not there to supervise. Shock collars are barbnaric, IMO. Would you have liked one as a child? And if the dog has thick fur, they may not really feel it anyway.

[Jason28]

Roll the kitten up in some flour loaded with hot sauce and watch what happens when the dog gets a lick of him.

[oldenfatt]

People- here's a newsflash thats about 20,000 years in the making: Dogs do not like cats! Its axiomatic. Why the insistence on thinking every dog should tolerate one of the things?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Wrong! I had 2 cats, now dead of old age, who loved their dogs. One used to sleep in the crate and get licked in all day with the dogs. The other would rub on the dog's legs. The dogs seemed to like the cats as they never hurt them.

[Dashdog]

Originally Posted by oldenfatt

People- here's a newsflash thats about 20,000 years in the making: Dogs do not like cats! Its axiomatic. Why the insistence on thinking every dog should tolerate one of the things?

I disagree as I have yet to own a dog that disliked cats or a cat that disliked dogs. Instead I have had cats and dogs that played together, slept together and even ate out of each others dishes at the same time. Yes my dogs have all been dogs that chase cats if they run but if the cat stops running the dog stops and stands looking at the cat like " what's up why did you stop?" Between the dogs I have now and have had in the past including growing up there have been herding breeds and hunting breeds which tend to be high prey drive dogs but I have never worried about the cats and never had one injure a cat. Dash even groomed my cat when she developed oral cancer and had a tumor at the base of her tongue so could not groom herself so much for hating cats! Dogs hate cats is such a myth!!!!

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

If the dog is afraid of a squirt bottle of water, that is a much more humane way to deal with it. And keep them separated by a shut door or a crate when you are not there to supervise. Shock collars are barbnaric, IMO. Would you have liked one as a child? And if the dog has thick fur, they may not really feel it anyway.

I really have to disagree with this. An electronic collar, if properly introduced and implemented by a competent user, is very humane and is no different from a slip collar or a pinch collar, only the lead is 5,000' long rather than 6'. If you believe that a shock collar is barbaric, you don't know anything about it or you only know about its misuse. I've tried it out, its not that bad. I would prefer it to the knocks on the head I received from my grandfather as a child. Also, any collar will come with a variety of connection studs to accomodate different coat thicknesses. Its a perfectly reasonable instrument that has become a widely accepted training tool.

That said, if you do not know what you're doing and do not need the dog to perform very complex tasks at long distances, you don't need one. Training an adopted companion animal to be a good citizen in your home and on the leash doesn't really demand anything other than reward training, although many if not most dogs (and their owners) still benefit from leash discipline.

To the OP:

Getting the dog to associate leaving the cat alone with receiving a treat is going to take a very long time and the end result is unlikely to be etched in stone. I don't think that's a very practical solution.

Getting the dog to associate lunging for the cat with a correction from the pinch collar is considerably easier, then reinforce good behavior with a treat. Never be angry when you discipline a dog. You need to be as even and level as possible. Like Pat Swayze said in Roadhouse: "Be Polite but Firm." Make introductions to new people and new animals only when you have the dog completely under control, otherwise you are literally hoping for the best.

Good luck. As oldenfatt said, sometimes (all anecdotal evidence to the contrary aside) dogs just are not cat compatible.

[Keeper]

Here is what I did when I adopted a 4 mo. old kitten from the shelter. I have 6 dogs from a weimaraner to a yorkie. I have 3 older cats but that means nothing when it comes to a new kitty. This is what I do to introduce a new kitty to the family

I put the kitty in a separate secure room with food and a litter box. I would take him out several times a day and held him while the dogs got use to seeing him. I did have a spray bottle handy in case they got a little too nosey. After a month or more I finally let him out of the room so he could roam around then with one dog at a time in the house. I kept a gate on the room so kitty had a safe place to stay.

Months later he is fine with the dogs inside however they will chase him if he runs when he is outside but if he lays on the deck they ignore him. He sleeps on the sofa with the other cats

Do not leave a baby kitten alone with any dog.

[SunInHair]

[quote=Keeper;9576745]Here is what I did when I adopted a 4 mo. old kitten from the shelter. I have 6 dogs from a weimaraner to a yorkie. I have 3 older cats but that means nothing when it comes to a new kitty. This is what I do to introduce a new kitty to the family

This what I did with my kitty and so far, its results are encouraging!

[Shagbark Hickory]

You can try teaching "Leave It".
A very simple command to teach. Then use it when the dog goes to check out the cat.

Unfortunately a prey drive dog is probably incorrigible and you'll have to keep them separated or that's the end of kitty.