Train a German Shepherd to like a Cat

by admin · March 10, 2021

How to train a German Shepherd to like a Cat

by Andrew Garf

If you’ve found yourself reading this article, you’re likely a pet lover like me, which means there’s always room for one more furry pal. We’ve all heard the old saying, “fighting like cats and dogs,” but it doesn’t have to be that way.

There’s no reason that, with a little preparation and forethought, your German Shepherd and cat can’t live cohesively together. There are good strategies you can employ to make the meeting and marriage of dog and cat work well. Below you’ll find a step-by-step guide for getting your furry friends to live in unison.

Train a German Shepherd to like a Cat- Consider Your Approach

In the case of introducing a Shepherd to a cat, you should approach the introduction from the cat’s perspective. Cats are cantankerous little furballs that must be handled with kid gloves.

Dogs are way more chill in comparison to their feline counterparts. Our friends at the TrainYourGSD have a full-proof system for training your German Shepherd and cat to live harmoniously. Adhering to the five-step process, we outline below will prepare you for success.

Five-Step Process

Separate

To begin with, it’s important to keep your pets separate while the new resident, whether it be the cat or the dog, acclimates to his/her new home. If it’s possible, keep each pet in a separate room, so they can neither see each other nor interact with each other. Be sure to create a comfortable space for each pet, separated from the other.

You should place the pets’ personal belongings, like beds, toys, and food, totally separate from the others. Also, be sure that each pet is individually receiving your attention. You don’t want the pets to feel like they’re in isolation and being punished.

So, spending quality time with each pet will let them know they are loved and valued. The purpose of complete separation is to let your pets know that they have a safe place in your home and that they’re loved.

Introduce Scent

This step is exactly what it sounds like. If you’ve ever had the joy of introducing your newborn baby to your dog, you probably remember bringing the hospital receiving blanket home to your pooch so he/she could get used to the baby’s scent before bringing him/her home.

Essentially, introducing your pets to each other’s scent is the same. By allowing your Shepherd and cat to become familiar with the other’s scent, the first face-to-face introduction will not be as jarring. If your pets are naturally inclined to protect their homes and people from intruders, the familiar scent won’t feel scary or intrusive.

Introducing scent is super simple. Give each pet a towel or blanket to spend some time with. If they’re not interested in the towel or blanket, you can simply rub your pet with it.

However, you want to be sure that it smells like a cat and dog. Following this, you swap the towel/blanket, giving the dog-scented towel to the cat and the cat-scented towel to the dog.

Cats and dogs both explore and understand their environments through scent, so making the scented towel a part of their environment communicates that it’s a safe scent that belongs there. You may consider doing this for a week or so.

Foster a Positive Interaction

The next step in this process is to foster a positive initial interaction. Don’t be confused though, this is not their first face-to-face or physical interaction.

In this step, you want your pets to associate something positive and exciting happening in the other’s presence. One way to do this is by feeding them in separate corners of the same room. Maybe spice up this meal with an extra something special, perhaps a well-loved treat added to their dinner bowls.

Cats and dogs both have very strong senses of smell. As soon as they’re in the same room, they’ll sense the other’s scent. So you want to make sure that they associate something positive with that already familiar scent of the other. If this interaction goes well (no negative or aggressive responses from either pet), then you’re ready to move forward.

Face to Face

So long as the aforementioned steps have gone well, you may feel ready for their first face-to-face interaction. This should be a gradual process that allows the cat and dog to become familiar with the sight of the other. You may work on this step for many days before moving on.

To facilitate this first face-to-face interaction, you’ll want to have total control of each animal. We suggest that you place the cat in a carrier crate in one corner of the room while the leashed dog begins in the opposite corner under your control.

Slowly begin advancing towards the crate. By slow, we mean one deliberate step at a time. With each step, you’ll gauge the demeanor of your pets. If they remain calm, it’s safe to advance.

However, if either has a negative reaction (hissing from your cat or growling/lunging from your dog), put it in reverse. You’ll move back to square one and begin again. Continue this process until your pets can come face-to-face without negative reactions.

Again, this could happen in one day, or it could take many days. Be patient; it’s a process. Once your pets can come face-to-face without negatively reacting, you can finally move onto introducing physical contact.

Train a German Shepherd to like a Cat- Physical Contact

In this final step, you’ll want to leave the ball in the cat’s court, so to speak. In a common room, where you can close the door to ensure your cat doesn’t take off, place the dog in a playpen or crate.

Allow your cat to take his/her time approaching the pup. You’ll want to encourage your pooch to react favorably, so this may be a good way to introduce treats as rewards for calm behavior on the cat’s approach.

You will repeat this step for days at longer clips of time each day until they finally become so comfortable in each other’s physical presence that you feel it’s safe to remove the barrier.