Puppy is trying to mount my cat!!??!!

[crazyforcats]

Why on earth is my 4-month old female (not yet spayed) puppy trying to mount my 13-year old male neutered (and highly unimpressed) cat??? I'm sure that this is what she's attempting to do. She chases my cat alot, and in the past few days I just thought I was imagining things. Or I was in denial? But today my cat briefly stopped running and I definately saw a mating-type motion from my puppy. WHY??!! Does she not realize she's not male? Or not a cat? Ugh! I'm mortified! What do I do? Will this cease when she's spayed in 2 months?

[heyjude11]

Dogs often do this to establish dominance. Your puppy is trying to tell the cat that he is the leader of the pack.

[Spirit]

LOL!!! That's too cute. Heyjude11 is right that your dog is trying to establish dominence over your cat, but it's funny to me that you're cat just takes it. It may or may not stop after neutering, but at 4 months old, this problem is quite easy to fix by praising your dog for being submissive to the cat, instead of punishing for the humping.

[chico2]

I don't really know much about doggie-dominance etc...but think anything goes when an animal get the urge
My Rocky has a moment every day,where he gets all amoureuse(sp) with Chico.
The pup does not know,your poor kitty is not another strange looking dog

[crazyforcats]

Originally Posted by Spirit

LOL!!! That's too cute. Heyjude11 is right that your dog is trying to establish dominence over your cat, but it's funny to me that you're cat just takes it.

Actually, my cat is usually running away from the dog because he finds the dog too hyper - and I thought I was seeing the attempts to mount while they were both running. But I saw the definate humping-motion yesterday when the cat had stopped momentarily to jump up onto the couch (and out of reach of the dog).

Originally Posted by Spirit

It may or may not stop after neutering

Okay, but this is not a male dog! Is this normal for a female dog??

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by crazyforcats

Okay, but this is not a male dog! Is this normal for a female dog??

It's not as common, but it's very normal. My dog's sister humps my boy all the time, and we have several female dogs that come to my work and hump either my dog or his male cousin. I have a 14 month old male (neutered), and one of his full brothers is un-neutered, and neither of them have ever humped anything (toy, person, other dog, etc).

At 4 months old, your dog doesn't really know what he's doing. It's not a likely a sexual urge, it's either instinct (dominance), or just something he likes to do because it "feels good". Since he hasn't quite reached sexual maturity yet, it's hard to say which it is. I do know that he's not trying to make babies with your cat. lol!

Be consisant with not allowing it, and it won't become a problem.

[badger]

This is a good time for him to learn the 'leave it' command. Being 'covered' is no fun for the cat, who would be justified in peeing on your bed if you let it continue.
As for teaching a dog to be submissive to a cat: I'd like to see this.
JMHO

[crazyforcats]

Originally Posted by badger

As for teaching a dog to be submissive to a cat: I'd like to see this.

I would love to do this! Please tell me how!

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by crazyforcats

I would love to do this! Please tell me how!

The breeder where I got my dog insists we remain one big happy family, so I see many of the siblings/relatives, several times a month. They are ALL submissive to cats. Some will play gently, and others will simply allow the cat the "right of way", in any situation. If the cat is eating, my friends dog (my dog's cousin), will lay down and wait until the cat is done before eating his own meal. Sometimes he'll even back out of the way to allow the cat to share HIS meal (both mouths in the bowl at the same time). He even plays with their ferret, and allows the ferret to beat the CRAP out of him. It's really quite amazing to watch this little bouncing thing, jump all over him, bite his eyebrows, pull on his ears, bite his tail and bounce up on his back, etc, and the dog will lay down and occasionally nudge the ferret with his nose (sending the ferret flying several inches back) to initiate play, or sometimes if the ferret gets too far or too close to his rear end, the dog will pick her up in his mouth and place her next to his face so he can continue playing with her. And if he's not in the mood to play, he'll groom her by holding her down and licking her from head to toe. He'll do this for hours. And he's a 70 pound, 2.5 year old unneutered male.

The only way a dog and cat (or any small animal) can coexist (in my experience) is if the cat has a higher rank in the pack.

[LM1313]

Originally Posted by badger

As for teaching a dog to be submissive to a cat: I'd like to see this.

Man, you should've seen Ebony and Muffy. Muffy took one look at that puppy bouncing towards her and firmly put her in her place with two powerful whacks. She never backed off an inch--and Ebony was already bigger than she was!

As time went on, Muffy developed a wicked sense of humor and would lie across the middle of the stairs so Ebony couldn't go up them. Or she'd chase the dog around the yard. Yes, a petite cat chasing a full grown lab mix. But the best, the quintessential Muffy moment, was when she would hide behind the drapes until the dog walked by, then pounce.

[CyberKitten]

This is not all that unusual actually - my neutered bunny used to try to do it with my beagle - when he was a puppy!!! So, I bought my bunny one of the Beanie Buddy's (not the little ones, the bigger ones) - a rabbit and it worked really well, He went everywhere with that "toy'. You can purchase specific items for this at Pet stores but my Beanie buddy worked just as well.

Something like this only my bunny's "partner" was all brown

and also a pink one - after all, I figured he needed a girl.

[crazyforcats]

Originally Posted by badger

This is a good time for him to learn the 'leave it' command. Being 'covered' is no fun for the cat, who would be justified in peeing on your bed if you let it continue.
As for teaching a dog to be submissive to a cat: I'd like to see this.
JMHO

So, it's been almost 2 weeks since I started this thread - and last night we discovered that the cat had peed on our bed - what fun it was changing a wet bed at 11pm.

And we're still having a really hard time stopping Roxy from trying to attack (not viciously!) the cat - when she's not humping him, she's jumping on him and trying to play rough, nipping at him, etc. I've tried spraying water at her - it works great for the moment - but seconds after my back is turned she's after the cat again. My poor kitty has no peace in the family living areas when Roxy is around too. Is my only option to put Roxy in her crate every time she starts after the cat?

[badger]

Uh-oh, I was joking. Cat's definitely stressed and is using a time-honoured method to tell you. Make sure he has safe places to go (even gate one or two rooms, if it is practical) and spend some time with him separately for brushing, playtime and cuddles.
I don't know what your sleeping arrangements are but has the dog displaced the cat on the bed? That would be huge.
He's kind of an old kitty dealing with a veritable revolution in his life.
I think distraction probably works better than the spray bottle. Plus it risks making things worse for the cat, who probably thinks it's also directed at him!
Put some Rescue Remedy in his water, it's good for stress.
If he hasn't been to the vet lately, have him checked for a urinary infection, which could be part of it, and just checked generally.
As the dog gets older and less crazy, they may become pals, although given the cat's age, I'd settle for tolerance and non-interference For now, happy families should be placed on hold.

[crazyforcats]

Originally Posted by badger

Make sure he has safe places to go (even gate one or two rooms, if it is practical) and spend some time with him separately for brushing, playtime and cuddles.

Half of our house is gated - either because of my own 17-month old child, or because of the dayhome I run. Nanuk gets more cuddles now than in the past - mainly due to our getting a puppy (I didn't want him to feel dejected) and because his pal of 12 years passed on last April.

Originally Posted by badger

I don't know what your sleeping arrangements are but has the dog displaced the cat on the bed? That would be huge.

Nanuk has never slept with me. As a matter-of-fact, I was shocked when I woke up from a snooze on the couch the other evening to find him laying on me. He's always been a very private, introverted kitty.

Originally Posted by badger

He's kind of an old kitty dealing with a veritable revolution in his life.

Unfortunately, I think he's had alot of changes in his life in the last year and a half - first we moved, then 2 months later was the birth of our second child, then 7 months later my 14-year old kitty passed on (Nanuk's only animal companion - they were together 12 years), then 4 months later I started a childcare dayhome, and then 5 months later we got a puppy (Roxy). So these may add up to alot of change, but none of them are reversable, so we have to deal with the present situation.

Originally Posted by badger

I think distraction probably works better than the spray bottle. Plus it risks making things worse for the cat, who probably thinks it's also directed at him!

"distraction" - that's funny! This puppy has tunnel vision when it sees the cat - she becomes totally focused on him. But I agree -sometimes my aim might not be so good - the thought that Nanuk might think he's being sprayed has crossed my mind also.

Originally Posted by badger

If he hasn't been to the vet lately, have him checked for a urinary infection, which could be part of it, and just checked generally.

Both the cat and puppy were at the vet a few weeks ago for check-up and shots - clean bill of health for both.

Originally Posted by badger

As the dog gets older and less crazy, they may become pals, although given the cat's age, I'd settle for tolerance and non-interference

The thing is - Nanuk doesn't seem to mind Roxy. I'm not saying he hasn't given her a number of smacks on the nose (which don't seem to phase Roxy in the least!), but he'll sit there while she licks his ears - I've even caught him allowing the humping action... All-in-all, I thought that Nanuk liked his new puppy-friend - which is why the peeing on the bed has me now thinking otherwise.