From: pdsmith.mitre.org (Pat Smith)
Subject: Re: dog and cat problem
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 14:00:02 GMT

In article <HANNAH.92Aug26115551@pomponio.ai.sri.com>, hannah@pomponio.ai.sri.com (Marsha Jo Hannah) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Aug24.160631.13617@linus.mitre.org> pdsmith.mitre.org (Pat Smith) writes:
> 
>   Background:  5 year old husky dog lives with 2 cats.  They do well together
>   including dinner time - all eat together.
> 
>   Problem:  things are fine as long as the dog has food in his bowl.  He is
>   sneaking cat food when we aren't looking as the cats dry bowls generally have
>   food in them cause they are picky eaters.  He sometimes gets caught and hangs
>   his head.  We punish him when he is caught (No and gets put out).  He 
>   understands what he is doing wrong but continues to do it.  Occasionally, he
>   had cornered the cat and prevented her from feeding - he barked at her and 
>   snipped at her once.  He was punished for that and knew he was wrong.  Last
>   weekend we found him taking a mouthful of cat food and tranporting it to his
>   bowl and then he proceeds to eat from his own bowl cause that is okay. 
>   I suspect he has been doing this clever deed for some time as we leave him 
>   alone as long as he has his snoot in his own bowl.
> 
>   Any suggestions.  I really want them to eat together and out of their 
>   respective bowls.  A trainer was amazed that they could eat together.  SInce
>   we achieved that, I would like to keep it that way and not have to put up the
>   cat bowls everytime the dog is in the house.  The dog is also gained some
>   weight due to his increased appeitite and cat food supplements which are not
>   good for him.
> 
> (Sorry to use cat bandwidth for a dog problem, but my reply bounced.)
> 
> Many years ago, we had a Siberian Husky, whom we trained to stay out
> of the cat bowls.  Now, granted, Muka was a female (spayed), and we
> started when she was a puppy.  What we did was, every time we caught
> her with her nose in the bowl, we "telescoped" her into it, THEN told
> her NO!  That is, whoever caught her swiftly and firmly applied the
> instep of his foot to her backside (the move used by soccer players),
> such that her nose made a crash landing either in the cat food bowl or
> with the cupboard door behind it.  Yes, it made a mess, scattering cat
> food and water all over the place.  However, it also made an
> impression on Muka, and as you have probably learned by now, the
> northern breeds are somewhat difficult to impress, when it comes to
> obedience.  She kept "feeling out the rules", and discovered that she
> was permitted to clean up the floor around the cat bowl (which I
> considered to be a plus), but not put her nose into the bowl.  She
> then decided that if she "accidentally" stepped on the edge of the
> bowl and spilled it on the floor, she could clean that up.  We
> "explained" that this behavior was not permitted, either, and
> thereafter, she followed the rules.  Note that this requires
> consistency, which requires vigilence.  Whenever you can't watch the
> dog every second, pick up the cat food bowl.
> 
> With a husky, and particularly with a male, YOU have to be the top
> dog, i.e. what you say has to be THE LAW.  If you are just saying No
> and quietly escorting him outside, you are in a sense letting him off
> the hook.  You should be screaming NO!, grabbing him by the scruff of
> the neck (and of the rump, if you need a 2-handed grip), carrying him
> to the door, and literally throwing him out it.  The proverbial saying
> attributed to mule-training really applies to huskies---first you have
> to get their attention, *then* talk to them!
> 
> Marsha Jo Hannah
> 
> 
> 
Oh - I know about the stubborn husky - this is my second male.  He is 
definately Alpha Wolf or so he thinks and its a constant battle with him on 
some issues. He has been thrown out by the scruff of his neck more than once.
He is smart as hell and he knows it.  Our lastest behavior over
the cat food is he eats with the cats fine till his food is gone and then
stands guard all evening in front of the cat bowls and will not permit them
to feed.  He hasn't eaten cat food in 3-4 days but assumed this guard post
duty.  The cats try to eat but just give up.  He doesn't growl at them he just
paces in front the the bowls and they do not cross the picket line so to speak.

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