No trick :lol: just consistancy. It was much, much easier cat training Pixie than it was training Amber. Amber took 4 months, Pixie took maybe a month. I'm very lucky as I am at home most of the time and could take the time to do it.
With Pixie it was getting her used to the cats. For the first week I think it was- they didn't meet, the cats stayed upstairs of their own choice and Pixie sniffed through the bars of the babygate of their room. When she made keen noises we were very firm, said No firmly and quite loudly, and put her outside. This stage I think got rid of the very worst of her 'must get it NAAAOOOWWW' approach to cats. I mean, she had grown up with a cat so I knew she could do it- that was why Amber took so much longer, because she was not used to them at all apart from as lunch.
I started working in the room, and let her in a few times. If she snuffled around the floor, she was allowed in, if she went manic and tried to climb everything to get to the cats, she was straight out with a firm No.
The trickiest bit was the cats OUT of the cat room, where they were- in her mind- fair game. The best thing was that she is really clever and wants to learn so I put Tig, my calmest girl, in a cat box in the corner. I put Pix on a lead and secured her so she couldn't reach the box and we started trick training. I used distraction and treats mostly, if she started getting too interested in the cat box I would use a squeaky toy to get her attention, then resume trick training. We did about 10 minutes at a time, and I gradually moved Tig closer in the box.
The next step was cats roaming freely. At this stage Pix was used to the cats, so as long as they were staying still, she ignored them.
Bring on the final stage... not chasing moving cats, and this was just being really, really bloody vigilant. You spot the signs and say NO before any chasing- praise lots for listening, and if that doesn't work then the cats are quick enough to get to their room safely, and Pix went outside for time out.
The helpful thing is the cats getting used to her as well- now they know she is not a threat they parade around her quite happily- and she has started to try to get them to play, she has a *thing* about Tig, she'll play bow and lie in front of her and zombie-crawl forward with her legs dragging along behind her. If she gets too close Tig will bop her on the nose (warning bop- no claws) and she'll leave her alone.
If Pix is very excited, after a bath for instance, she will still chase the cats, but not with any intent, and only to the bottom of the stairs. Tig has a safe place under the stool in the living room which Pixie knows not to go near as well.
Sooooo distraction, treats, trick training, and patience and luck, really :lol:
