New Corgi Puppy Herding the Cats... Help!

beccabuckle

New Member
Hello All!!

I realize I've been gone forever... I've just been super busy, but all that has ended!! FREEDOM!! Glorious freedom!!! Alright... enough of that.

Have a couple of friends who loved our pupppy Lady so much that they got themselves a corgi puppy. Corgis are a herding breed and they just brought little Sienna home last night, the cats don't mind her too much but she's herding them and they are not amused. I want to teach their puppy leave it, but they aren't visitinguntil Saturday. Does anyone have any thoughts about how we can get their puppy to stop herding the cats? I was thinking of some toy possibilities or maybe some activities to mentally tire the puppy out. She is only 9 weeks old, so still quite young.

They are going to sign her up for obedience classes, but until then they just need a little advice and I am racking my brain but coming up wih very minimal. Any ideas? Please?
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Is she herding the kitties or just taking a little too much interest? At this stage, sometimes it can be a bit hard to tell. She is bound to be curious, so that's understandable, but of course it does not need to become a habit. You can incorporate Patricia McConnell's body-blocking method(scroll down until you see "Teaching Stay with Patricia McConnell") along with a firm, "Ah-ah!" before stepping in front of her. (Careful not to step on the little one!)

A puppy Kong would be a good thing to keep her busy. Training, of course. You/they can work on simple things like targetting to busy her mind, along with the basics. She needs plenty of things(training, toys, play with people) to help her understand that life outside of the cats is even more fun! Keep that in mind. If they eventually wanted to get her into some kind of basic introductory herding class this could help her harness these instincts and learn what to herd. The young ones usually start with ducks.
 

beccabuckle

New Member
tx_cowgirl;12842 said:
Is she herding the kitties or just taking a little too much interest? At this stage, sometimes it can be a bit hard to tell. She is bound to be curious, so that's understandable, but of course it does not need to become a habit.

They have told me that the breeder they got her from had cats and all of her corgis were nipping at the cats ankles and herding the cats. Those cats were used to it, theirs aren't. I don't know how long the puppy has been displaying this behavior. She is only 9 weeks; so I would assume she's been doing it since she was possibly 7 weeks old. Though I'm not sure about that. I'm sure she is curious but it sounds like she's actually trying to do some herding... I've sent them an email on teaching leave it. When they visit us this Saturday I will be teaching them stay. Anything else I should teach or tell them?
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Ah okay. ^^ Definitely should learn the leave it. I would suggest also teaching "watch" and coming when called even when the cats are around. This is a good place to start controlling her prey drive, since she's already wanting to herd the cats. Is she interested in the cats only when they are moving about the house, or all the time?
Someone could hold the cat as another person walks with the puppy on leash towards it, and when she tries to go to the cat, they can give an, "Ah-ah!" and start over again until she can focus more on the handler. They may or may not want to put this off for a while. It's good to use once she has begun her leash-training.
 

snooks

Experienced Member
also suggest leave it as your best bet. start with food leave it's---leave a kibble (low interest) for a great high interest treat like chicken. place kibble on the floor and cover it with your foot, when puppy stops trying to get it click and treat with chicken and pick up the kibble. pretend kibble is a poison pill, never let puppy have the "leave-it" food always give another so that not listening is never rewarded. work up to tossing food as you walk on leash leave-it, toss, click for decision to disregard tossed food not pulling and you preventing. once solid with food try a stationary cat up on a bed or couch then maybe a mobile kitty when solid. use a leash as needed to prevent the self-reward of nipping kitty.
 
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