Hi everyone,
We adopted a one-year-old dog from a local rescue centre nine days ago. He’s a Shepherd x Jack Russell cross, weighing about 3 stone (around 44 lbs).
He’s a lovely dog; he doesn’t react to people or bikes, etc. He only reacts to other dogs because he desperately wants to play with them, and he hasn’t caused any damage in the house so far. On walks, he spends the whole time with his nose to the ground, tracking scents.
He didn’t have any basic training, so we’ve started working on that a bit every day. He does show some resource guarding with his toys and treats, so we need to work on that as well.
We also have a six-year-old cat who is staying in a separate room for now. We’ve started following the rescue’s introduction protocol. For a week, we did scent swapping with treats. For the last two days, we’ve tried visual introductions: the dog on a lead a few metres away from the cat, who stays in his room behind a baby gate, for about 30-40 seconds. The dog freezes completely, his muscles go stiff, and he even refuses bits of sausage or cheese. Once the door is closed, he gets quite worked up, looks for the cat everywhere, and then eventually settles down. This predatory behaviour is really worrying me for my cat’s safety... we’ve booked a session with a dog behaviourist for early August.
The problem is that we’re supposed to sign the final adoption papers in two days, and I just can’t make a decision right now without professional advice. The rescue just says it’ll take time for the dog and cat to get used to each other. But if this prey drive doesn’t improve, I don’t want to make my cat’s life a misery, and above all, I don’t want it to be dangerous for him...
On the other hand, this dog has already been abandoned three times. The rescue centre trusted us, and I’d feel awful taking him back...
I don’t really have any specific questions, but if anyone has had similar experiences or any advice...
Thanks
