Your dog is aggressive towards your cat

Well one thing you need to remember is that GSDs are herding dogs, and the herding instincts come from being a prey driven dog. A prey driven dog is from the past when they used to chase deer, caribou, and other food sources. Man took these types of canines and taught them to herd sheep and other livestock's. But they taught the dog to herd and not kill when they caught up with the prey. It is when they do not know what to do, after they catch up with the prey that problems come about. That is why your herding dogs are the #1 livestock killers. So we will do the same thing that the shepherd does with his herding dog to teach them NOT TO KILL WHEN THEY CATCH THEIR PREY.

The main thing is dogs follow the leadership of their pack leader of what to do and what not to do. So as the dogs leader you will teach your dog that Is it forbidden to hurt your animals in charge, i.e. cats, chickens, ducks. So forth and so on. #1. You must not allow the behavior to happen. And then follow up with a behavior of what he is too do. And then he is to be praised of what he did do right. Example is to remove the chickens as a source of easy food. Have a place for them to be safe in, And then its up to you to not allow your dog access to the chickens or ducks. The dog is to be tied up to you, or a very long (long-line) or have a training collar on so when he does tries to chase he is correct with the collar or stopped. You must try and stop the behavior while he is thinking of it, or better yet before he starts to think of it. If you can say loudly UGG, LEAVE IT, OR NO, while it is just a thought then his action is not going to be as great as if, he is in a full charge. So every time you take him out, be prepared for his wanting to chase the objects, so his action is stopped before it is in full mode. Then after he is stopped either by his thoughts or his actions you will replace his next behavior with what you do want. A game of fetch, or a sit or a down. Always replace a unwanted behavior with a wanted behavior. And then reward with either a good body patting and soft voice. Or a nice soft chewy treat to show the dog that he did good. Remember to always tell them Good sit, Good down, Good no chase always reward using your voice commands. A lot of good’s is more important than a lot of NO”S. Dog’s get real tired of being told no all the time so make sure you make the Good Downs, Good Sit are a really big thing. A really good alternative is to teach your dog a emergency down while he is in full charge or just thinking about going into the physical action. If your dog is in a down he can not chase the prey. Teaching your dog a emergency down is not that hard to do in fact very, very easy to do. I will cover that in a later moment.

Now on the cats in your home. Always have a escape route for you cats to be safe in. And every time your dog starts to think about chasing the cats, You want to jump into his frame of thought and stop it before it happens. Your dog see’s the cat. You Yell UGG, LEAVE IT OR NO. The dog hesitates in his chasing the cats. Then you tell him what you want him to. You will say either sit, down, or go place. You will then walk up to the dog,. Place your hand on to the back of his head just above his neck and pushing him down and put him into a down position, and have him wait a few seconds. Or you can take him to a place that you want him to be in, a corner or side of the wall where it would be a good place for a time out. As you tell him place, this is actually a good down and stay command for him to learn. After a few moments when things have calmed down. Then release the dog in a calm manner, do not go over board on your praise as this may cause him to go back into the chase mode. You can even replace this behavior with a game of fetch. Out of eye sight of the prey that was at hand. Now is when you will praise the dog, with lots of voice praise, body pats and treats. You must tell him GOOD NO CHASE, GOOD SIT, GOOD DOWN, GOOD PLACE. Make it a really big deal. Now if your dog is harder headed you can do a grab of both sides of his face, looking him straight into his eyes, telling him you mean business, that you’re his God and he WILL NOT HURT THE CATS. You must dictate to him what his behavior should be, not what he wants it to be. Be firm, no wavering in your commands you’re the boss here not him. Remember it is a lot easier to stop him now than when he is 80- 100lbs and more stubborn. If your dog is not responding to your mode of getting his attention i.e. grabbing his face of either side then you may have to put him on to his back to let him know that you mean business. This is a calm exercise one of strength not abuse. So as soon as he is on his back you've won so it is mute to keep him there. You put him on his back as you say, NO! or UGG, Or Leave it, then release him as he goes into non fight mode. You should know or feel when this happens. This is moment when he gives in to you. If he does not back down in his mentality you may want to stare him right into his eyes letting him know you’re the boss not him. Now this is an exercise that I would not recommend to do with a adult dog, this is a correction that should only be used on young dogs or pups. As an older dog may take this as a challenge and bite you in the face if you do not know what your doing. So be careful when you do this. Like I said this is not a punishment but a way of getting his attention on to you, so you can tell him, HEY I MEAN BUSINESS AND THOU SHALL NOT CHASE CATS!. Also a NO CAN works really well as it stops all behavior with it noise as a disruption. Then you replace the unwanted behavior with what you do want to happen. Dog is chasing cats, you yell Leave it and shake the can the dog will stop for a moment to see what is going on. This is now the time to go to the dog, and tell him to sit or down and then make him sit or down as your tell him what he is to do next. Then lots of praise and rewards for his listening to you. Another method is to have him on a leash in your home so when he see’s the cats you can grab the leash and do a quick snap release correction with the leash while telling him NO OR UGG< OR LEAVE IT> .Again replace the unwanted behavior with what you do want him to do. Along with his good boys and treats as rewards. It is very important as in the outside exercise I stated above that you try and stop this behavior before he actually goes into a physical action and only thinking of it. Like I have stated before dogs look to us for leadership, this leadership must be non violent, non abusive, it is a way of showing the dog what we do want, and what behavior we want from the dog. It is a way of showing him what he is to do next. I hope this helps.

MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE LIKE A GSD.