Aggression Again

Hi Our 2 year old staffie Miley, caught a cat in the garden yesterday and lunged at it, she shook it around and went in for the kill i think!, the cat managed to try and scarper back up the fence but miley jumped and pulled it back again. My husband shouted like mad at her and she eventually let go and the car managed to bolt it over the fence. Im pretty sure it must have been injured. It is just another issue in along line of issues we have with Miley, she is becoming less obedient, she can only have leash walks now as she will attack smaller dogs or puppies if she sees them.
We have 3 children and Im constantly paranoid that she will eventually turn on them.
We have been to puppy training then earlier this year we went to other training classes to try and help with her issues with small dogs. Its such a shame as she loves playing ball yet we can no longer do this as she is unpredictable off the lead now.

Staffys are notoriously people dogs especially with children they have a strong connection having said that the kids need to know what is acceptable behaviour around the dog and never left unsupervised .
I would say issues outside the house would not alter her behaviour inside were her family are your avitar pic says it all really

She is simply following her prey instinct I'm afraid. They all have it some more than others. I would keep her on lead and not be concerned with the welfare of your children they are known as the nanny dog for a reason. However if you have small children they shouldn't be left alone and unsupervised with her and should be taught how to properly act around dogs.

jstaff wrote:She is simply following her prey instinct I'm afraid. They all have it some more than others. I would keep her on lead and not be concerned with the welfare of your children they are known as the nanny dog for a reason. However if you have small children they shouldn't be left alone and unsupervised with her and should be taught how to properly act around dogs.

Definitely. If you've not noticed any problems with your children then it's unlikely there will be any. As long as children know not to tease or pull a dog around, there really shouldn't be an issue.

With regards to the cat, I'm afraid that's a prey instinct that a lot of dogs have. You just happen to have one that will follow that instinct. There isn't much you can do, I'm afraid. However, once cats realise that she's like that, they won't come into your garden, so that's a plus!

With other dogs, you may well have a staff that just doesn't like other dogs. You can try keeping her on a long line so that she can still run around but you'll have her under control if there's another dog near. You could also try distraction - when there's another dog, get her to sit & look at you & try to tempt her with a treat. This may or may not work, it really depends on how strong her dislike of other dogs is.

Cats will come into the garden unless the dog has already chased that cat. I have ten house cats and three dogs who all sleep in a heap but the dogs still react if a strange cat is in their garden or runs past in the street. In Dundee at the moment there is a staffy cross that has been sentenced to be destroyed for escaping and grabbing a neighbours cat .Lots of press coverage and most people are horrified at the decision even the cats owner expected to be recompensed for vet bills but not the dogs death. Hope the dogs appeal shows how silly that judge was being.I would make sure you scare off any cats just so your dog can't be blamed for a natural response to finding prey in his garden.

In England, as the law stands, a cat is considered a wild animal. Therefore, as long as you don't 'set' your dog on the cat, it's considered to be a 'natural' occurance!

However, the decent thing would be to pay for any vets bills!

I agree however i have no idea who the cat belongs too? Our neighbour has 2 cats which purposely torment miley by sitting on our shed roof, but they would never come in the garden, this other cat has been in the garden before and miley chased it, yet it chose to come back again...
We didnt even know it was out there as it was dark and we hadn't the security light had not triggered.

As already said...... No reason why she should turn on uour kids at all just beacause she doesnt like cats or dogs. But saying that dont leave them unsupervised anyway....im sure u already no that tho. As to the attacking cats its instinct im affraid and same with dogs. Obviously do as u are doing and never let her off lead around other dogs and just keep working on her commands x

hose the buggers off the shed? it is damn hard to get rid of cats from your garden , in 40yrs as a gardener i've never been able to help clients keep cats out ,which is why i keep mine inside.It would be sad if he gets a cat but not really your fault and probably not the most important issue .

if the cats stupid enough to keep coming in there's not alot you can do,guess she's just protecting her garden.sasha is just the same she's straight out the garden if she hears one,she just is'nt quick enough to catch it!i know she does'nt like other dogs,so soon as i see another dog i put her straight back on the lead,she looks so good ,sure she would'nt harm your children.

Dempsey also hates cats & for a while he used to chase them out of the garden with a couple of very near misses! It was only when he actually caught one, though, that they stopped coming in. We don't get cats in the garden any more!

Our next door neighbour has 5 cats, and they are all left to fend for themselves outside. Not sure if they are fed at all, but certainly not enough as they constantly raid our bin bags for food of any kind. Tinkerbell hates them and has on one occassion caught the little kitten, she did no damage though as she is watched whilst in the garden. Which allowed us to be there and shout at her to leave it, which she did. They all still come in the garden and have only learnt to leg it when she goes out. So not much we can do about it.
But her behaviour inside with our small children is not a matter of concern at all. Even if they run around like loons, she will get excited and watch them but would never dream to attack them like she would a cat. I don't think you should be worried about your children just because the cat episode. As long as she knows her place in the pack of your family and the chidlren are never left unattended with her then there should be no problems.
Like the others have said, it is a prey instinct and she wouldn't see your children as prey!

Citronella oil sprayed around the garden perimeter may help to keep cats away. What definetely works is lion poo. We can get that here fairly easily from the lion park nearby but I suspect it may prove a little difficult elswhere.