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Hi,I adopted a beagle 2 months ago. The former owner said he liked cats ( we have 5). It turned out he liked to chase them!!! I love him to death but my parents say that if I don't cure him of his habit we'll have to get rid of him!! I have been putting him on a chain for a short period of time after each of his rampages but it doesn't seem to be working too well and spanking doesn't help either. He's a very affectionate dog but he doesn't seem to care about our opinion of him. Any advice would be apreciated.
Thanks,
Sarah

>>Hi,I adopted a beagle 2 months ago. The former owner said he liked cats ( we have 5). It turned out he liked to chase them!!! I love him to death but my parents say that if I don't cure him of his habit we'll have to get rid of him!! I have been putting him on a chain for a short period of time after each of his rampages but it doesn't seem to be working too well and spanking doesn't help either. He's a very affectionate dog but he doesn't seem to care about our opinion of him. Any advice would be apreciated.
>>Thanks,
>>Sarah
>>>

Sarah, security is the first thing to handle here. The cats need to be safe from the dog, meaning he is either on leash and and you holding the other end, or he's in a place where he cannot chase them. Punishing him afterward will do more harm, and not help with the problem. He needs your help to learn to not chase them in the first place. Every time he gets a chance to chase a cat, the habit becomes stronger.

One way to work on this when you are supervising him on leash is to give him praise and a tiny treat whenever he looks away from the cat and looks at you instead.

A dog crate or safe outdoor dog run are better ways to confine a dog than tying him out on a chain. The tie-out method can increase the risk of the dog injuring a cat, because it increases frustration. Ideally, confine him where he's not feeling "egged on" by the cats--such as where he can't even see them.

The dog is never going to "understand" why he "shouldn't" chase cats. Dogs are much more the victims of their own instincts than humans are. Once an instinct has been strongly reinforced by the dog doing it a bunch of times, it becomes even harder to permanently change. I wouldn't expect that you'll ever be able to leave this dog alone with cats and him not chase them. The solution is to have him in a safe confined area when you're not with him.

It's quite possible the dog does like cats, and did fine with cats in his prior home. Part of this comes with how the cat acts. When a cat runs, a dog chases. If you had cats that did not run from dogs, this would probably be a lot easier!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com