[Dssntx]

I’ve been having a very hard time training my husky (mix) to not chase every cat he sees.
I don’t own a cat so I can’t exactly train him at home to be used to a cat. My dad has a few cats at his house but they’re terrified of dogs so I can’t train there either (plus I just don’t want to be there all the time lol).
He’s getting better with squirrels for some reason but with cats it’s like he HAS to try and get them. He was a stray for the first two years of his life so unfortunately I’m sure he’s had his fair share of “meals” being stray cats.
I really don’t know what to do at this point because no matter what treat I have and no matter what I tell him he is absolutely fixated on the cat. We’ve also been working on focus so I’m sure it will get better with that but I can’t have him chasing cats all the time. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if he got someone’s pet.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I’ve had him for around 6 months and he’s about 2 years old.

 

[JoanneF]

no matter what treat I have and no matter what I tell him he is absolutely fixated on the cat

Usually when this happens it is because you are too close to the trigger - what you are doing is trying to stop him reacting, whereas what you need to do is try to prevent him reacting in the first place. And I realise that is far easier said than done.

But if you think he presents a real risk, it might be worthwhile spending some time on training him to wear a muzzle. Do it gently and slowly, cream cheese or meat paste smeared on it helps a lot too.