[Cody]

Haven’t even thought of immediately going back inside the house and then trying again, so thank you for that piece of advice! Sometimes I wish my neighbor directly next to me with the very calm male dog would leave them outside more often so I could work through this process with my pup. I know when my dog starts going crazy, they feel bad and call their dog inside. I just think if he was outside more it would give me a chance to desensitize my dog to him. It’s also strange because with new people in my house, he can completely ignore them and engage with me unless I give him permission to get a pet from them. It seems to be just a dog thing and a cat thing. However the dog reaction is very different than the cat reaction and reactions he gives to birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc. our neighbor on the other side has several chickens and he was very interested and focused on them at first but now doesn’t even care to look at them. I will try these approaches that have been mentioned in this thread and hopefully move toward some progress.

[Cody]

Thanks for the advice! Good to know there is hope. My cats don’t really have much interest in playing with the dog or even being around him even though two of the cats are pretty young and rambunctious. I will continue the corrections and start e collar training!

With the dog it’s any and all dogs. Sometimes he only reacts in the dog is barking, lunging, etc but he has also done it to dogs that are showing absolutely no interest in him. I was able to get his attention despite the distraction the other day but it is rough. He reacts this way to dogs that are two yards over and sometimes across the street!

[Cody]

Also, when I attempt to walk away to a different part of our yard where he can’t see the dog, it is almost as if the corrections I’m making on the martingale collar don’t effect him. He will power through it and even if I’m not actively correcting him, he will run to the end of the leash and push through the pressure. As soon as he is out of sight of the other dog, he relaxes and goes about his business. If he hears dogs barking in the distance, no reaction. It is only if he can see the dog.

[Cody]

Thank you for your response. I know cats and dogs do not always mix. I did not watch all of Robert’s training before taking in this dog that was living on the streets, and I definitely should have. At this point I’m just trying to manage the behavior to create the best environment for everyone, because the cats were here first. I’d like to avoid re homing the puppy at all costs unless it becomes more beneficial for him to be elsewhere. The cats don’t have many escape routes at this time, and I am working to get shelves installed in the walls and such so they have places to climb and sleep where he can’t reach them. Also the crate idea hasn’t worked so far because the cats will hide if they hear him even if he is in the crate. So I would have to force the cats out of hiding just to execute the crate experiment. I will continue trying and see what advice Robert has as well. Thank you again.