AN EMAIL ABOUT A GERMAN SHEPHERD WHO DOESN'T LIKE CATS

... Well I moved in with my bf since he's got a job now so we can get a bigger place and a ladys husband left her and left his shepherd with her and so I decided 2 adopt her since she said she dosent care for the breed well anyways my bf decided 2 get 2 kittens and my shepherd wants to eat them we have 2 keep the kittens in a room and she waits outside the door we tried to muzzle her and she still is determined 2 eat them. He loves his kittens but I love my dog and don't wana give up on her this time. Sorry so long any suggestions. Thank you!



THE ANSWER

how old is the dog?

are you certain that she wants to eat them? it's pretty uncommon. the first thing to know is that anything you do is a two person job, so you need to get your boyfriend's complete cooperation. really.

then you put the gsd on a leash, and get her to sit. keep her on you left and in a seated position. if you can't do this in other situations where there is a compelling distraction, get that down first and then return to this. the key to the success of this thing is control of her attention. if you don't have that you can't do anything about this situation and you should consider placing one of the species before someone gets hurt.

Once you do and you can keep her calm, pick up the gentler of the two kittens and while holding it with the scruff and at the belly present his/her butt to the dog's nose. Give the dog a second (really a second, if you linger too long the whole thing will change into a cage fight) to sniff it and then take the kitten away and secure it in another room. Don't reward or congratulate the dog. Do this three or four times a day until it starts to get easier. I don't like using a muzzle for this kind of work because it puts the dog in a shitty mood already, which doesn't help things.

let us know how it goes.

...
Kiela

I'm sure this isn't the only problem their having with this dog, but like many of us they just assume it has to be that way and keep their bar pretty low. Ultimately, this kind of a situation will diminish if they get some better communication in place. German Shepherd dogs aren't really designed for that brand of crazy so building a better relationship and settling her would probably change her tune significantly.

Good luck to them. and the kitties.