Our Police K9 - Page 1

Hello everyone,

 

I made an introductory post a few months back when I found out we would be adding Fyba to our family. After 5 weeks of 40+ hours a week training in a different state, my husband and Fyba have moved back home to live with us. Fyba is a great dog. Her only downfall is that she  is so prey driven, she tries to kill our cat.

Background info: Fyba is imported from The Netherlands and is a sable, female German Shepherd. I am waiting for my husband to bring me her papers tonight so I cant find out her actual kennel.

Instead of doing crate rotation, we are doing "room rotation", where Sassy, our cat, and Fyba take turns being in the room with us. It has put a bit of a strain on me because I feel so bad when I put Sassy in another room, only to hear her cry, or put Fyba in her kennel, only to hear her whine and moan.

Fyba is the sweetest dog ever. She goes from being the most PERFECT "pet" dog ever, when at home,  to a perfect police dog when her "police k9" collar is put on. Fyba does not act overly happy when strangers pet her but she is perfectly behaved and allows children and adults to pet her when my husband permits (her handler).

Fyba and our male rescue German Shepherd get along very well. They are still at the period where they are testing onee another but our pet GSD is very docile and allows her to be in charge.

I will continue to post pictures  and videos for all those that are interested and will possibly ask advice from time to time. Fyba is the sable and Rocky is the black and tan/

 

Here is a picture of Rocky and Sassy after my husband and Fyba go to work. It is so sad, they just watch the door, waiting for them to come home.

I rather suspect that Sassy is waiting to make sure Fyba isn't coming right back in the door before she goes downstairs...  It's difficult to break a dog of cat chasing, let alone trying to kill them, so good luck with that part of the family rerelationship.  Not saying it can't be done, just that it's hard, and you can never let your guard down entirely.  The two proven prey killers I've had learned that all cats & chickens are MINE, and woe is the dog who bothers what is mine. 

Both of your dogs are quite attractive, and they clearly get on with one another well, which is one less headache to deal with...hopefully it remains that way throughout their lifetimes.

Love the sleeping back-to-back photo.

 

Here is how I tackled the cat meets dog thing, the circumstances are different

but you might be able to pull something useful out of it ?

I had an elderly cat who was used to being the only pet. His few contacts with

dogs in my home for a decade had only been with visiting dogs on leads and only

for a few minutes, or other peoples' dogs which were already cat-proofed.  But I

had seen him stand up to a neighbour's Stafford, so knew he wasn't inclined to run.

I then took in a 3 1/2 year old GSD bitch.  She tended to chase things that ran, if she

got the opportunity;  and I knew from walking them that her mother and her grand-

mother were cat-chasers / would-be cat killers.

So I did this very carefully !

I had a large crate for the dog and for the first few days only took her out of it to go

out of the house and exercise.  Meanwhile the cat had free range of the house.

[Many trainers etc will recommend you do it the other way around, but this seemed

to suit my situation best.]  The cat (unlike the dog) was allowed to sit on the furniture,

was always fed before the dog (ie  after I had eaten), and I made much of the fact that

the cat was 'mine' - as Hexe says - and was 2nd in the 'pecking order'.

After the first 48 hours the dog gave up throwing herself at the wall of her crate whenever

the cat walked past, as she got that it was pointless.

Within a fortnight I was able to let her have the run of the flat, with the cat, under my

supervision - but she was crated if I wasn't there (I lived alone).  Eventually they were

able to be left loose together all the time.  They never became 'best buddies', but they

got on okay until the cat died at 17.

 

Best of luck.

To me it's very easy and simple which animal to put in a crate...I ALWAYS put the new animal in the crate...The animal that is new to the house doesn't know any better about the rules of the house so this isn't a problem...Then ONLY let the new animal out of the crate and into the house "On Leash" and sunder supervision...But be sure to exercise this animal as needed...

You can begin to see how things will go under supervision...Correct as need...

Good Luck...

 

~Bob~