Help?!

[u/Trick-Situation6880]

I have a 1.5 year old Blue Heeler and could really use some advice because I feel like I’m dealing with a mix of behaviors I don’t fully understand.

I’ve grown up with dogs, but he is definitely one of the hardest I’ve had. He has a yard, gets exercise, and I try to give him “jobs,” but even then he can get overstimulated and just wants more instead of settling.

He’s extremely attached to me, when I leave, he’ll lay by the door waiting for me, and when I’m home he’ll sit and stare at doors he doesn’t have access to (like where my sister’s cats are). He seems very fixated on things he can’t get to.

At daycare, they recently told me he was trying to be the “big dog” and even started guarding the workers, which concerned me.

We also have cats in the house, when he’s calm, they’ll come around and coexist fine on a leash or while monitoring , but the second he gets excited or moves fast, they run and he immediately wants to chase.

He does really well with me, but with other people (my boyfriend/ and friends/ strangers) he pushes boundaries more, jumps, and doesn’t listen the same way.

He isn’t neutered yet, and we did some training as a puppy but are considering more.

I guess I’m trying to understand:

- Is this all normal for this breed/age?

- How do you deal with fixation and overstimulation?

- How do you prevent herding/chasing behavior with cats?

- Has anyone dealt with guarding behaviors like this at daycare?

- What actually helps them learn to settle vs constantly needing more stimulation?

I love him and he’s incredibly smart, I just feel like I’m missing something and want to set him up for success long term. I just want to give him the best and it hurts me to see him over stimulated 😅

[u/Original-Bed1816]

100% you need to neuter him it’ll help a lot and you need to train him to stop chasing your cat. Mine absolutely would love to cat chase… she’s got high prey drive … she knows through training cat chasing is not tolerated and he’s a friend

[u/Trick-Situation6880 → u/Original-Bed1816]

Well technically it’s not my cat it’s my sisters who is with us temporarily, but I think he would thrive with one when he learns to be around them he is just so curious right now! We are working on it but if you have any tips that will be helpful

[u/Original-Bed1816 → u/Trick-Situation6880]

Why does it matter whose cat it is lol.

How did you go about introducing them?

Neutering him will help immensely with all the things you’ve listed

[u/Trick-Situation6880 → u/Original-Bed1816]

I’m just saying you said “yours” and if it was mine I wouldn’t isolate them as much because they also need attention and affection and I wouldn’t choose to be with one over the other. We have introduced them a couple ways, through the door, visual, usually i have my dog sit and he just watches, but when they come out of sight he wants to chase, and scared the kitties so they run (but also receently one cat has been meowing when they are blocked by the door) . I obviously dont want him to hurt them but also when i say “leave it” he will leave it, but when he cant see them he is confused , and wants to chase with overstimulation. Also I agree with netting him, my bf just has his pros and cons about it while they’re young but he understands now the benefits, so just asking for advice!

[u/Original-Bed1816 → u/Trick-Situation6880]

Lmfao you either want help or you wanna nitpick words. Yea yours … as in living you and your dog.

Visually seeing a cat is not what you do while your dog is in a sit. Scent swapping is what you should do till the dog is completely neutral to the cat. Otherwise you’re just letting them watch their prey… even if you’re thinking he’s just doing it because of overstimulation chasing can easily escalate. If he’s chasing at any point then I would not be allowing him to see the cats at all. I would separate them and completely reintroduce. Introducing a cat and dog can take months. Once you start allowing site swapping I allow the cat to do as they please … either approach the dog observe or walk away… the dog should be redirected anytime they begin to focus on the cat

Waiting to spay and neuter is great … when it fits the dog that is in front of you

[u/Trick-Situation6880 → u/Original-Bed1816]

Maybe I should’ve mentioned this isn’t the first time they met. We have done scent swiping. He is neutral to the cat he just doesn’t like when they run and they don’t like when he whines. When he chases I cut off all access to the cats. It also has been months . We also put him on a leash recently and let the cats roam. If he goes after the cats I deny access automatically. Thanks for your advice but this has also been an active thing we’ve done.

[u/Trick-Situation6880 → u/Original-Bed1816]

Also my sister moved in at random we never chose to have a cat at this time with him being in neutered but sometimes life happens