I Need Advice On A Dog Problem

[Tiger Kitten]

OK, here is the problem.

The dog is eating the cat food. While that may not seem like a terrible problem. The dog is way overweight and the cat and dog food budget is not configured to feed the dog the cat food.

I caught the dog tonight eating the cat food and I told her she was a very bad dog in a fairly stern voice. She then proceeded to pee on the floor and my foot. I have pretty much no experience with dogs. What in the world do I do to get her to 1. quit eating the cat food and 2. stop peeing on the floor when she is in trouble?

I wondered why the cats were eating so much food. They went through two big bags of cat food in two weeks. Granted there are seven cats, but my two who are very big cats seventeen and eighteen pounds only went through a big bad every six weeks. These other cats are normal sized cats and should eat less. I budgeted for 3 big bags every six weeks. Which I thought was a reasonable assumption and fit my cousin's predictions on what his cats eat. Now with the dog eating the cat food it's thrown my calculations all out of whack. My conclusion is the dog needs to stop the cat food eating thing.

I am considering Putting a box over the cat food to keep the dog out of it, but haven't thought of a way to implement that quite yet. Putting the cat food up high enough the dog can't reach it is not an option as one of the cats is not able to jump up on things at this time. The cats prefer to eat at different times or there are fights so food must always be available.

Any ideas would be appreciated.... I am so not a dog person at all. I take her for walks. I let her outside and back in. I feed her per her diet. I give her the occasional table scraps that she likes so much. Now she's peeing on my socks and eating cat food. I tried to get her a ball to play with and she looked at me like I was stupid when I threw it for her. She let it bounce over her head and just stared at me. I have no idea what she wants or what she needs to get this problem behind us. She definitely has difficulties communicating her issues with me. :rofl: Perhaps she needs therapy?

Tiger

 

[Jimmy]

Sorry TK, but I had to read your post all the way through to find out if you were serious. :rofl:

Firstly, what breed of dog and what breed of cat do you have, and how old are they???
Cats and Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for. Let me know and I might be able to help.

Jimmy

 

[rjtransient]

How long have you had the dog? How old is she?

The peeing on the floor sounds like submissive urination. It's most common in puppies, but you also see it sometimes in adult dogs who lack confidence. The key is to reward her for good behaviour (instead of punishing for bad behaviour), especially since it sounds as if she's too timid to respond to verbal reprimands. When she pees on the floor, and hopefully not on your socks again, put down some paper towels and then take the dog and the wet paper towels outside of the house so that she makes the association. She might find your tone of voice and body language intimidating. I don't know to what extent you can de-condition her out of this, but in the meantime, I'd suggest taking a low-key approach. Use indirect eye contact and crouch down when you're speaking to her, as you would with a child.

Reward good behaviour -- which, in this case, would be an occasion where she either doesn't end up peeing on the floor or doesn't lunge for the cat food. I don't really know what to say about that. My dog loved cat food. Sometimes she would obey my commands, sometimes not, but I'm sure she was cleaning out the cat food bowls at every opportunity when I wasn't around. It's higher in protein and calories than dog food. And it stinks. Of course they love it.

Physical barriers are usually the best idea, but the specifics depend on what breed you're working with.

If she's untrained and nervous, she might not understand the concept of "playtime". A dog can be taught to fetch, but it happens in a series of steps over an extended period of time, starting with the goal of getting her to associate the toy with reward. My dog Mollie wouldn't fetch, either. She'd go after the stick, flop down on the grass, and gnaw the stick into splinters. Sometimes training requires quite a bit of patience. :wink:

Maybe some more experienced dog owners can add their expertise.

 

[Tiger Kitten]

The dog is a big mutt. I have had been dog sitting for like a month and an half. The cats are just average cats varying in age I would guess about 6 to 3 years old. The dog is at least 2 years old since that is how long I have known the dog.

She has been reprimanded before for things like trying to snatch my food or staring at me while I eat. She did not pee on the floor then. I think perhaps she has been in trouble for the cat food eating before and knows she is not supposed to do it. Perhaps that was what made her over react to being reprimanded. She did not touch the cat food last night. Maybe I will take her for a very long walk today.

What kind of reward should I give her for positive reinforcement. My cousin who's dog it is just called and I asked him. He said that she occasionally gets into the cat food and when she gets caught she generally pees on the floor because she knows she really is not supposed to do that. He also said that when she gets caught she tends to stay out of the cat food for a month or two until she decides to get brave and try sneaking it again.

Tiger

 

[ISupportHer]

Or perhaps putting the cat food where the dog can't get to it? This may sound weird but we have the cat food on the floor of a small pantry and just open it occasionally for the cat to eat. The dog food is out all the time


ISH

 

[Marlene]

We had the same problem with the dogs eating the cat food. Basically they were bullying the cats away from the food. We fed the dogs first and put the cat food on a higher level so they could enjoy it in peace. Now that was years ago and we're down to one old dog and one old cat. The dog would STILL roll over the cat for her food so we feed the cat on a table outside (she's and inside/outside cat) and the dog gets fed in 'her' room. Dogs just eat whatever is in their line of vision with no thought that 'Hey! Is this really my food?' Yeah...they could care less. It's there, it's theirs.

My dog knows when she gets caught doing something she's not supposed to do (like drink out of the toilet) and her body language is very submissive and she goes to her room and hides in her bed. It's the tone of voice and the getting caught. The dog is submissive to you as you're the leader of her pack.

Hopefully things will get better for you and the animals.

Lisa

 

[popeye]

I cannot offer alot of advice but what we did is put the cat food on top of the piano. since you said one of the cats cannot jump right now why not just put the disabled cat up to where the food is like twice a day to feed the cat?

My problem is having the dog eat the cat litter. I tried closing the door where the cat litter is but that kind of defeats the point. since then the cat cannot get to the liter box.

But good luck with your issue.

 

[2quilt]

1, If you can, don't leave dry food out for the cats and dog all day, but feed them while you stand there and keep Bad Doggie away from the cats' dish. If the dog approaches and you say NO! and the dog pees, then before you feed everyone, take him out to wet the trees so he will be empty when you tell him NO!. Depending on how old the dog is, he may be too old to be trained NOT to pee when he knows he's in trouble. Sounds like my husband. If there's food he can reach, it's gone.

 

[Tiger Kitten]

The dog seems to be doing much better with the not eating the cat food thing. I have taken to feeding the dog several times with smaller portions. That way if she gets hungry there is food available for her and it helps her resist the cat food. She seems to enjoy that. I have moved the cat food into a location that is harder for her to get into as well. Perhaps out of sight out of mind for her? I feed the cats at the same time I feed the dog now. Hopefully this will work, at least until she decides to get brave again.

Tiger

 

[suzie q]

I have two cats and one huge dog. The cats came first and were hand raised since 4 days old. Their mother died, and my friend couldn't take care of the kittens. The huge dog, a rottweiler about 180 lbs now, came to us a 6 weeks and grew up around the cats. We've had rotties and cats raised together before, and found that the cats calm the dog and make it much more sensitive to its surroundings.

At first, the rottie wanted cat food also. I think he just liked eating more than breathing. We elevated the cat food, and the attempts stopped. Of course, if anything was on the floor, it was game to him! We found out that it wasn't good to leave food out all the time for your animals. We started with a twice a day schedule, feeding at the same times. Each cat has their own bowls so no fighting over the group food bowl.
Popeye.. when our dog was younger, he loved to eat the poo out of the litter box. Naasty!! We purchased a covered litter box and the feeding stopped. Cats actually prefer a covered box for more privacy. Turning the opening towards the wall helped also. Its under a table. Keeping it cleaned out every day or other day helps stop the dog nibbles.

Positive reinforcements that I give my dog are: In the beginning of the learning, I give those dehydrated chicken strips. They are healthy and can be given often. Any small bite sized doggie biscuit will work. I also raise my voice cheerfully and tell him "what a good boy/girl you are!" The combination of those words seem to make the dog happy. Lots of touching, scratching, and repeating the phrase lets him feel the positive. With the dog only being 2, I would suggest that you try and stay consistant in his praise. Repetition seems to be the effective way to get dogs to learn their boundaries. It will definately effect your patience, but hang in there.

I've also learned that dogs will go through anxiety when the owner is gone. This is even when others that have known them are care taking. The alpha dog is gone and they feel nervous as to how to handle the caretaker. ie..playmate, stranger, alpha??? As adults they will grow more familiar with others taking over the alpha role when the owner is gone, but it takes a while.

 

[Still Trying]

I have two cats and a dog. I adopted the dog from a rescue organization, and she had been starved on more than one occasion. If it even remotely resembles food, she'll eat it whether I'm telling her no or not. When I first had her, she went through two loaves of bread, plastic sacks and all, in less than a minute. She has (and still will if she can get it) eaten cat food, cat litter (both new and used), bird seed, coffee beans, toothpaste, and bar soap to name a few. Basically whenever my attention lapses, it's in her stomach. My vet tells me dogs are notorious for "garbage gut." They'll eat the entire garbage can if they can. Apparently, they also have a pretty straight shot through the stomach and out, so it rarely causes them problems. As to positive reinforcements to stop her from eating food, there is no such thing. After she's eaten something she knows she shouldn't, she'll hide and act guilty, but I don't think she can stop herself.

I have a cat who also cannot jump due to a back injury. I am able to leave dry food out for the cats by basically making a step for them up to it. The cats figured out they could jump on the storage tub and then to the bookcase to get to the food, but the dog hasn't figured that out yet - it's worked for four years. As to the litterbox, I got a covered litter box which the dog promptly crawled into and removed the lid. It is now wedged under the open basement stairs and the cats have to crawl between the step to enter it, but they don't seem to mind.

My dog will also pee when she's really scared or if she's mad at me. Growing up, we had a dog who could read our moods, I guess, and if we had someone stop at the house that we didn't like, he'd go over to them and pee on their leg or foot. It was funny, embarrassing, and useful, depending on the location.

Good luck!

 

[Tiger Kitten]

Still Trying,

I burst out laughing about the dog the screened visitors. Thank you, needed the laugh hehe.