Reptile & Amphibian Forums

To make a long story short, I was single years ago and bought a great pyrenees. I wanted a large, gentle dog, I named him Cody and I had him neutered as a pup to make him suitable as an indoor/outdoor/future family pet.

Now I'm married to a cat lovin girl, and there were no problems with the dog until we moved into a single bedroom apartment.

Now we have a large male dog and two cats (1M, 1F) all in one apartment, and the problem is two fold - he eats the cat food and he's very disrespectful to my wife when I'm gone... This is a problem because my wife stays at home and I work.

PROBLEM 1: CAT FOOD
At first we thought he just didn't know better than to eat it, so we made it a point to catch him in the act and scold him. But now he waits until we're both gone to eat it.

We tried keeping the food up on a shelf that only the cats could reach, and that worked until one of the cats fell and hurt his back legs. Now he can't jump so the cat food is back on the ground again. There's nowhere in the house that we can put the catfood that the dog can't get to.

PROBLEM 2: RESPECT
My wife was attacked by a rottweiler when she was younger and thus has a fearful respect of all dogs. The only reason she puts up with Cody is because he's my dog.

But he doesn't listen to her, he pulls the leash when she walks him, and he howls at her when she goes to scold him - he'll accept any scolding from me but not her. The howling is an issue because it resurrects the fear from the attack.

I love my dog and he's a great dog, but how can I get him to respect my wife and leave the catfood alone?

Cat food problem. Do not free feed the cats, put them in a separate room and shut the door. Give them time to eat what they want, the take and put the cat food away. Try feeding cats about 3 x a day.

Wife issues. Have your wife take your dog to Training Classes. That might give her the confidence she needs to get over some of the fear and to show dog she is Alpha Female in the home. Dog trainers have lots of methods on how to handle situations like this. If you don't get this problem fixed now it will only get worse.

Good Luck and let us know what happens,
Cheryl

I agree with Cheryl. It sounds like your best bet would be to feed the cats twice or three times a day instead of free feeding. We have three cats and a dog. The cats get 1/4 a cup of food in the morning and a 1/4 in the evening. My dog eats the cat food too if it is left down.

A trainer is the best bet for your wife. If you can't find one or can't afford one. I would start having her feed, walk and scold the dog all the time. I use a halti or gentle leader on my dog. It is the only way I can walk her. If not I would be in the lake!

Best of luck!

Jaime

I agree whole heartedly that your cats don't need their food left out 24/7. It's much healthier for the cats to be fed scheduled meals with set amounts so they don't get obese. The one with orthapedic issues really needs to watch the weight gain especially. I realize the cats may protest a bit at first with this new arrangement, but they'll adjust, my 6 year old cat adjusted to scheduled feedings after a week.

For your wife to get comfortable with your dog, she's going to have to learn how to conrol the dog and the best way to do that is when you are not around. It's counter intuative I know, but going to classes where a professional can help her work on her obedience skills will really help. When you are there, the dog will default to you because that's what the dog knows. That's where the history is and what the dog is comfortable with.

So, time, patience, training, and just becoming familiar with each other is what they need to do. It's tough when there's a history of a negative experience holding things back, but this dog is not the one that did anything to her and once she learns this gentle giant's mannerisms she'll learn that this dog isn't a problem.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles