Mickee wrote in
:


O.K.

I have mine tethered to me. Remember he is 16# and almost 7 years
old,
not a puppy. No opps so far today, but he is pulling and tugging my
arm
out of socket to get to the cats and chase them. What now? He is not
barking as much, but is anything but calm. He keeps us constantantly
tangled. It has only been this one day and only a few hours. I am
not
ready to give up, but wonder if he will ever get over his obsession
with
the cats and really get housebroken, or will the obsession with the
cats
override the housebreaking?

Any suggestions?

Something that I find helpful is this:

in general, when on the tether, every time the dog stops pulling, or
especially looks up at you, PRAISE and sometimes give a yummy treat
right after the praise. That should get the dog looking up at you more
and more often. Every time the dog pulls towards something,
automatically STOP. No forward motion *whatsoever* if there is pressure
being put on the leash. As soon as the dog does put the slack back in
the leash, praise and treat. Rinse, repeat. Remember that you are
actually much bigger than the little guy and get to pick which direction
you go in :-)

I'm teaching my new pup, Little Miss Anniepants (ok, Annie) to Leave The
Cats Alone. She was waaayyyyy too interested in them when she first
arrived (being part Jack Russell and all), so I used a clicker to
click/treat every time the cats were nearby. Pretty soon, I didn't have
to do it that often, so I started doing the click/treat every time she
*looked* at the cats. So, she started associating looking at the cats
with returning to me for chicken (she was on a leash when I did this). I
also make sure to crate her and tether her (to a stationary object) for
a while each day where the cats frequent....AFTER she's had a vigorous
exercise session. That way, she's too tired to actually get frustrated
by their presence, but she still gets used to their presence without
getting overly stimulated. It takes time. She still tries to chase the
cats about once a week, but that's a far cry from two months ago when
she was obsessed with their presence. Plus, she's only a puppy, so I
don't expect her to be over it yet.

I think you could really benefit from some overal obedience training,
from the sounds of it. If your dog is more focused on you, and able to
tune in and follow commands, the tethering would be a picnic (leash
training rules apply *anywhere* as far as I'm concerned. If the leash is
on, the rules apply).

Remember, its easier to keep your dog's attention than it is to get it
back. So, don't wait until your dog has already lost it and is trying to
get to the cat to try to get his attention. If you teach him to pay
attention to you overall, and then work to KEEP his attention in the
presence of the cat, things will probably go a little easier.

Tara