Reason 3: Your Dog Is Curious
Your dog’s obsession doesn’t have to be rooted in aggression. Instead, they could be driven by their curiosity, more so if they are puppies or young dogs that are still trying to explore the world around them.
The reason why your dog may be curious or interested in your cat so much is the fact that cats are good at getting their attention.
You might think it’s their small size or their swift movements, but according to a study by Canisius College, “dogs were oriented more to the auditory cat stimulus than to the visual cat stimulus.”
The researchers also used cat urine in the experiment and found that this smell didn’t increase their canine interest.
They also noted that the interest in the sound was more common in dogs that have previously hurt or been aggressive towards a small animal.
If you have a vocal cat then perhaps that sound is what drives your dog to follow your cat around.
My cat is definitely chatty and whenever he mews for attention my dog will walk over to see what the deal is.
Sometimes my dog will start following my cat around until he realizes that the mews have stopped or his curiosity dissipates.
If my story sounds relatable then the reason your pooch might be so curious about your talking cat lies in their solicitation purrs.
Karen McComb, a behaviorist ecologist found in her study that solicitation purrs have a similar frequency to a baby’s cry, and this sound is designed to get human attention.
In a similar fashion, this vocalization could possibly trigger your dog’s curious nature.
Reason 5: It’s A Herding Behavior
Instead of a prey drive instinct your dog might be obsessed with your cat because they are bred to herd animals.
This is something a dog can do to humans as well, and they might even grab and nip your ankles as they would with an animal.
That instinct can make a dog herd whatever is available and is moving. If you’ve taught your dog not to do it to you, or they don’t find it as rewarding then they might redirect this behavior towards your poor cat or even your children.
If that’s the case, then your dog might seem like he’s always trying to get closer to your cat so they can push them with their nose and make them move like they would with sheep.
While sheepdogs, shepherd dogs, and breeds like collies are mostly known for their herding instincts that doesn’t mean that other dogs can’t behave in a similar way.
For instance, rottweilers can get along with cats as long as they are properly trained and their herding instincts are managed.
So, even though this behavior could be part of their instinct, this doesn’t mean you can’t curb it with some proper training.
3 Answers 3 Sorted by:
It sounds like your dog views your one cat as a toy. If he stares long enough at her, shell run away, which triggers his chasing instinct and is fun for him.
He learned that the first cat will hurt him if he tries to chase her, so she isnt a very fun toy. The second one doesnt hurt him, so shes more fun to play with. The staring is an intense fixation and waiting for the fun to begin, like a dog staring at his owner, waiting for the ball to be thrown. This tells you a lot about his personality.
At the current stage it doesnt sound like OCD yet and you should be able to tell him that his behavior is not acceptable. If you wait much longer, this behavior gets more and more ingrained and it will become harder to stop it.
There are different solutions for this problem, but most of them require you to be outside with your dog.
You should never open the glass door while or right after your dog jumped at it. That way you reward his jumping by letting him reach his goal.
One very simple solution might be hanging a curtain on the door, so your dog cannot see the cat anymore. The curtain must cover the whole area that your dog can reach and he mustnt peek over or under it. This removes just the symptom, though, not the cause.
If youre outside and see your dog jump at the door, you could walk up the door very purposefully, stand right in front of it, facing your dog and blocking his way. In dog language, you claim this spot for yourself. He obviously cannot continue jumping at the door if this spot is claimed. The disadvantage is that he might still jump up whenever youre not around.
Another solution is to connect the act of jumping at the door with negative experiences.
Some people use remote controlled shock collars in such situations. I strongly advice against using these collars. Administering electric shocks to the throat is completely over the top and resembles torture rather than training.
What many people do, but doesnt work, is calling your dog to you. The dog stares at the cat, waiting for the fun to begin. You call him to you with the command “come here”, but what you actually mean is “stop staring at the cat”. If you dog comes to you, but theres no reward in it for him, he might stop listening to your commands altogether.
A better solution is engaging the dog in some game or training. It doesnt even matter what exactly you do, just offer some fun “together time”. This should teach the dog “Staring at the cat is not fun, but not staring at the cat is fun”. You can find some suggestions and inspiration here (and you are welcome to add your own suggestion).
You can reinforce this lesson even more by applying the “spot claiming” as described above. When your dog stares at the cat, walk up to him and stand between him and the cat. You can build up more pressure by gently shoving him away from the cat. As soon as he focuses on you instead of the cat, praise him and immediately start playing with him.
You have written your answer. He respects one, because it teached the dog how to respect it.
You need to be the claws of your shy cat. Collies are very obsessive with almost anything.
You need to cut this behaviour right now or you will have a problem for life. Use your hands. Its not a pretty solution but its the only one, If you say this doesnt happen with one of them.
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I have this same issue with my shepherd. I have multiple cats. One of them is a regular real life Disney movie. She likes any and all animals and reptiles. She tends to follow the dogs behaviors more than the other cats. My other two cats are a diff story. One he whines at constantly. But doesn’t chase her. It’s like he knows she’s old, 18, and he just whines. The younger cat doesn’t want anything to do with any other animal except the previously mentioned Disney cat. He whines then proceeds to chase her. When I’m holding her he will sit by me and whine. Previously he showed the same behavior with other cats. He ignored the one who liked him and chased the one who didn’t. I always felt like it was more of the like me like me like me! Because once the cat does like him he can’t be bothered with them. Realistically I think it’s more the toy theory. The ones who want to cuddle with him aren’t fun.
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