Measures To Stop Your Dog From Hunting Cats

Dog and cat – that often doesn’t fit. If the two meet, real hunting scenes can take place in the worst case. And if your dog hunts a cat, it can be dangerous for the health of both animals!
If you live with a dog AND cat, or if your dog likes to hunt the neighboring cat, you can take various measures to control its hunting instinct.

subject matter
Measures to stop your dog from hunting cats
1. make clear to your dog that the cat is above him in the rank order
2. your dog hunts strange cats? That’s how you train him off
Tip: Online dog training for dogs
Third, de-escalate: Create retreats for your cats
Why do many dogs like to hunt cats?
Dogs have a hunting instinct by nature. Some have more training, others less.

If a dog now sees a cat as prey, it will chase after it. The cat, in turn, will also instinctively take flight and thus further stimulate the dog’s hunting instinct.

Dogs that have grown up with cats hunt only in very few cases, for the cats are a part of their “pack”.

What can happen if your dog is chasing a cat?
Bigger dogs can be very dangerous for cats. With a so-called catch bite in the neck the life of a cat can be quickly over, at least it will carry heavy injuries from it.

But also cats can become dangerous for the dog in such situations – because some cats do not run away but attack! And cats usually attack their opponent’s eyes. This can lead to blindness of the dog, in case of eye injuries there is also the danger of rapid bleeding.

Since you certainly don’t want your dog and your cat(s) to get hurt, you should urgently stop your dog from hunting cats!

Measures to stop your dog from hunting cats
With the following measures, you can make peace between dog and cat. 2 of the measures affect your dog, and work both when your dog hunts your own cat and foreign cats. The third measure tends to start with the cat and ensures peace in dog/cat households.

1. make clear to your dog that the cat is above him in the rank order
Dog chases the cat
It can be so beautiful between dog and cat – above all the ranking in the herd must be clear

If you have both a dog and a cat, then you must make it clear to your dog that the cat is his boss.

The dog must understand the cat as a member of the herd because only then it does not regard it as booty:

The ranking in the pack

The human being is the boss – this is accepted by most dogs
Next, the cat should follow
Then the dog
Since your dog sees them as a boss, you have to tell him that for you the cat belongs to the pack, in the order above the dog. And it goes like this:

Spend a lot of time with your cat. Let your dog often see you cuddle and show affection for your cat.
Always feed your cat in front of the dog. Your dog must wait until the cat has eaten at least half.
Even if there are treats, the cat should come first. Your dog is only then served, whereby (unlike the cat) he first has to serve himself his treats (sit or make room, make a sound, etc.).
When you come home from work, make sure to greet your cat first – and do so extensively. Only then can you say hello to your dog.
Don’t worry, your dog won’t be offended if you prefer the cat so much. In time, it will teach him.

that the cat belongs to the pack
that the cat even stands above him for you as your boss
He will accept his place and no longer hunt the cat.

2. your dog hunts strange cats? That’s how you train him off
If your dog is hunting the neighboring cats during the walk, you should do the following training strictly – it depends on YOUR behavior:

Just walk on a leash
If your dog sees a cat and wants to chase after it, say “No!” or “Stop!” out loud. You have to choose a command, maybe you already have a stop command your dog already knows
Let him sit
Ignore your dog – no scolding, no frowning!
It would be a mistake to pet your dog to calm him down. He’d only see that in this situation as your consent.
Don’t move on until he’s lost interest in the cat.
In time, your dog will understand that you don’t want to hunt cats, and he will lose interest in it. It is important that you strictly follow the behavior described above in every situation!