As the title states, we adopted an adult dog a few days ago and today he chased and killed a cat. It was a cat I’ve seen hanging around the barn on occasion, but not one of our “barn cats”. I didn’t see the cat hiding under my trailer, the dog started sniffing around while I was watering (still keeping an eye on him), the cat ran, the dog ran faster and the cat was killed before I could do anything to help it. The dog was so focused despite my yelling and very effectively destroyed the poor cat. I am beyond devastated. The dog has been fabulous in every other way and so much fun to have around. However, in my mind it is a done deal. We have to take him back. We have a house cat and a few barn cats and I don’t want to risk having the dog kill them, too. He has shown a tendency to chase them, but we’ve always been able to keep a tight hold of him. Our house cat has not felt comfortable leaving the basement since the dog got here despite our attempts of slowly introducing them. The dog is so sweet and we kept asking ourselves why anyone would ever want to get rid of him. Now I can’t help but think this may have happened before. My husband on the other hand, seems to think we should try to train him to not chase cats. He’s 4 and we don’t know his history. It’s a no-kill shelter and there were other applications for him. What would you do?
Well, to be blunt, I wouldn’t have trusted an adult rescue with an unknown history to be off leash anywhere after only a few days.
I am not sure how easy it would be to train a dog with a high prey drive not to chase cats. But it might be possible to keep them separate, especially outside. Cats will generally avoid going into a dogs “chase” range unless there is no other option.
Can the dog be tethered/leashed/or fenced in?
if this isn’t a reasonable option I would consider trying to regime him to an appropriate home (full disclosure about the cat.) It might be better for the dog than keeping him.
[B]Take him back ASAP - until then keep
him contained - away from your cats and other animals •
- Tell them the entire story so he is not adopted out to kill again •[/B]
DO NOT RISK ANOTHER CAT’S LIFE !
You witnessed it - HE WILL DO IT AGAIN !
Please be careful !
Totally agree with ZuZu!
Agree- he WILL do it again. He needs to go to a home without kitties.
Take him back. That is a one and done. Too many good dogs are put to sleep every day with ZERO history of aggression.
Take him back and tell them about the cat killing. And include a written letter telling about how wonderful he was in every other way (detail them), and how he is a fantastic dog that just needs to be in a no cat home.
What @jetsmom said.
Could he be rehabbed? Probably but how many of your own cats will you risk in the process? I had a cat killer terrier and he could never, ever be trusted. Too stressful.
Lots of cat free homes out there.
I think returning him is the best option. That said, I wouldn’t guarantee the safety of a random cat if it wandered past the GSP’s. They know not to touch the two resident cats,
I would not own a cat killer. I have adopted several adult dogs over the years and if one of them had attacked a cat, I’d have had the dog put down. I’d not pass the dog on to someone else either. One adult adopted dog would avert his gaze each time a cat came into the room until he became comfortable with cats. My family never owned any dogs that killed cats or chickens or anything. Purebreds or mixed breeds, city dogs or farm dogs, they were all taught not to kill anything.
I have 4 dogs and 4 house cats. They do not bother the cats inside the house, but I’ve seen how they react to the neighbor’s cat outside of the fence. There is no doubt in my mind that they would kill that cat if given the chance. It’s natural for a dog to chase (and even kill) a prey animal that runs in my opinion. If you aren’t comfortable with it, I would definitely return him.
When I was young, we had a German Shepherd who lived in total peace with our farm/house cats. But if a strange cat came on the property, he would kill it. We lived on 45 acres - so luckily, not many wandered that way.
I would not keep him - why would you risk your other pets? I wouldn’t necessarily have him PTS - there are plenty of cat free homes and hopefully with people who won’t let him run loose. Agree with others - return with full disclosure; Both good & bad.
We’ve decided to take him back. I will definitely write a letter stating all of the completely wonderful things about him so hopefully he can find a non-cat home. He is so smart, funny, sweet (a 70lb lap dog) and very attentive to us until something runs in front of him. We absolutely adore him, but I am going to have to find something that doesn’t have such an intense catch and kill instinct. I’m fine (sort of) with a dog that chases things, but what I saw yesterday was an absolute determination to kill his prey. Thanks for the input.
For the sake of your house cat, I’d return him. They do know which cats are “pack” and which aren’t, but with an older dog you risk him not knowing that your indoor cat is not to be touched. I had a cat killer. He also killed racoons, rabbits, opossums, ground hogs and anything else that ran. It’s just a high prey drive, not “evil.” Some dogs have it and some don’t. He just needs a cat free home.
My childhood dog also had a high prey drive. He would kill racoons, wild rabbits, opossums, even a skunk once. He left the cats, chickens and any small furry critter that we brought into the house alone. However, we did get him as a puppy.
I’d put the dog down. Someone else moved him on for a reason. Didn’t happen to be a pit cross?
f I did send him back to a shelter, it wouldn’t be a no-kill one. Too many of those DO adopt out dogs they shouldn’t just to clear one off their books. Ask the dead woman in Norfolk.
I wonder what else he killed before you got him?
I think that’s a bit extreme. Many breeds have tons of prey drive, and dogs aren’t born with a set of socially acceptable rules about which animals are ok to chase and catch/kill, and which ones aren’t.
Would you be ok with the dog catching and killing an opossum? If so, you have to ask yourself why that’s acceptable and not a cat, and how your dog would know the difference.
It’s just as likely that the previous owners are returning this dog because it ruined their furniture as anything else. I think it’s unfair to simply guess.
If any dog I ever have kills a cat, that dog leaves that same day.
Human agression and maybe even dog agression are reasons to euthanize. Killing a predator for doing what is natural? That seems extreme to me. If you have cats as pets, then definitely this dog would be the wrong pet for you. The shelter should have done a better job evaluating for prey drive before adoption.
I too wonder why he was off leash this soon but that is irrelevant now. I think you could have possibly taught him not to chase before with the aid of a really good trainer but it is way too late for that now. He will never forget the chase and the kill now and it will always be a part of him. Glad you decided to take him back, please be a little more careful with your next dog.
