I will be talking to the rescue group about this as well, but thought I would get some opinions from the good folks here as well.

Trinkett (greyhound) and Rana (cat) seem to be settling in well in the house. Rana is still occasionally hissing, spitting, and swatting at Trink, but that's really died down, and mainly seems to be when Rana is frustrated at not getting to go out. But other than that, life inside is mostly quiet.

The new problem is outside. I had Rana and Trink out this evening. Trink was going to the bathroom and nosing around the yard when Rana saw a squirrel up on the fence. Rana being a high prey-drive cat, she tore off to go run up a tree towards the squirrel (and no, I don't know why she thought going up that tree was going to help her get the squirrel, since the fence was no where near it.) And Trink... decided to go after Rana. I yelled at her and she stopped, while Rana doubled back to the porch and inside, thankfully untouched. She doesn't react to the cat outside when they are both just walking along, or sitting around. I figure that seeing a small furry body running at full speed was just too much of a trigger for Trink to resist.

So, do people think that this can be trained out of Trink? Or is it an just instinct too strong to resist, the same way Rana can't resist trying to catch squirrels? I'd be willing to work with her, but the problem is that I can't predict when it's going to happen since it depends on the local wildlife. The other option would be to only allow them out separately, or to have Trink wear her turn-out muzzle when they are both outside. She's not thrilled at the muzzle, but it would keep the cat safe, and provide a distraction to Trink.

In case it matters, this does definitely seem to be an indoor/outdoor thing. Inside, Rana can still keep the dog from going through a doorway just by sitting in it. So it's a bit shocking to see Trink take after her outside. But I know that some dogs will do that, so it's not entirely unexpected.

Any thoughts?

Interesting observations you have made. I would apply the same thing to the cat as I use on the sofa, older dogs that don't want to play, my slippers, etc. A sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' to divert the dog's attention you, and then offer it a chew. I wouldn't expect a half dozen repetitions to be enough. Keep trying. The sooner after the dog alerts to something, the better. Once in full pursuit, nothing may get through to it.

Greyhounds are trained to chase white fluffy animals,and seeing the cat run is her signal to run after this as fast as she can.More than likely this is something engraved in her brain,but perhaps she will not harm the cat if she were to catch it.Unlike a hunting dog or a pitbull that will grab the animal by the neck and shake.If you are worried something like this may happen,you might let them outside at different times to be safe.I have a border collie,and he chases my cats,but he will nip at them but will not attack.He is herding,which is engraved in his brain.:)

Froggy, I highly doubt you will be able to retrain Trinkett. As Pompano states, greyhounds are trained to chase. Besides the human training that occurred, it is hardwired into her breed. In any event, I wouldn't want to risk the chance that she might, or might not, grab Rena and kill her. I don't know if this will make you feel a tad better about it, I have never met a rescue dog that did not chase a small running animal. I think you are going to have a very tough time trying to retrain her to keep her from targeting Rena on those occasions that she stalks and runs like that. Rena is also just doing what cats do. So, as difficult as it is trying to find the time and the right balance, test Trinkett with the muzzle when you decide to allow Rena outside at the same time. If it becomes too much of an issue, then I suggest the best way to ensure Rena's safety is not to allow them out at the same time. With rescues, sometimes we have to just accept their limitations and find a way to work around them.

Yep, that's what I was thinking. It's such a random thing that I would have a hard time correcting it (which is why the fence is almost finished being cat-proofed). If it was something like counter surfing, you can set the situation up and work on correcting bad behavior and rewarding good. I can't get the squirrels to appear on schedule, so that's much harder to fix. And, of course, it doesn't help that Trink triggers on squirrels as well, so that she is getting a double hit of prey-drive and redirected aggression (from the unreachable squirrel to a reachable squirrel-sized tabby cat).

So it looks like the muzzle and separate times is going to be the best solution. Which is actually not going to be that hard, since Trink doesn't want to be outside all that much, while Rana is more than willing to be outside almost 24/7. I'm actually a little bit interested about what would happen if she chased Rana while muzzled. She won't be able to bite her, and I'm 90% sure that if cornered Rana is going to swat her hard with all claws out. Wonder if doing that a few times would convince Trink that catching (as opposed to chasing) is not that great of an idea?

Oh... and I have seen the result of a greyhound succumbing to his instinct to chase. Got loose from his foster, and chased a remote control car (that apparently sounds like the mechanical rabbit at the track) on an asphalt parking lot. The poor dog could barely stand, he'd torn up his paw pads so badly. So yes, that instinct is very strong.

My S&S Dog Guide describes the Greyhound as ''an implacable enemy of cats''. I hadn't mentioned this before because I was hoping the rescue would find one for you that was a exception. I am sure there are Greyhounds out there that don't chase cats, but it sounds like yours does.

Froggy you must also remember that while trink may be muzzled, harm can still come to rana by trinks sharp toenails. But I think it would do Trink good to get slaped a few times by Rana. The only downfall to that is would it make Trink afraid of her or aggressive to her?

A greyhound like any well developed predator has more than enough ability to kill a cat. I have worked with various rescue groups through the years, REGAP (RETIRED RACERS AS PETS) for one and Greyhounds are highly attuned to motion, unlike other dogs that tend to hunt by smell. Greyhounds were specifically bred to hunt by motion, being able to see a small moving object up to 1/4 mile away. Another fact about Greyhounds is that they have a tremendous prey drive and if you combine that with motion i.e.. A running cat the propensity for a fatallity on the part of the cat increases dramatically. In the home the stimulus is different as the sudden motion or fleeing action that a Greyhound instintively keys on is not present. I have seen Greyhounds become excited and attack each other, as well as kill a litter of kittens, and chase down and grab a squirel 60ft away before it can make the 3 feet back to a tree and safety.. The reason that they wear the muzzles during races is so they do not attack each other while in high prey attack drive.. As for training it out of Greyhound it may be possible, but it would be difficult.. They also happen to be the 2nd fastest land animal on the planet

Have to spread it paws, but wanted to let you know that was an excellent explanation you have given. :)

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Originally Posted by labman

My S&S Dog Guide describes the Greyhound as ''an implacable enemy of cats''. I hadn't mentioned this before because I was hoping the rescue would find one for you that was a exception. I am sure there are Greyhounds out there that don't chase cats, but it sounds like yours does.

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Implacable enemy is a bit much. That's like saying "pit bulls are implacable enemies of other dogs". It's going to take a certain amount of work and vigilance to ensure that their instincts are handled correctly, but it's not impossible for them to get along.

The trouble with greyhounds is that they will generally trigger to something... but what depends on the dog. Rabbits are generally a trigger, but there are some that live happily with them, and trigger on chickens instead. Cats, squirrels, ducks, geese, birds in general, rabbits, small dogs (a real problem, because people think nothing of letting something like a Yorkie walk right up to a greyhound, and there are greys that will happily eat them), there is a greyhound somewhere that triggers on that animal. The difficulty as an owner is that you can go a long time before finding out what the trigger is, if it's not one of the common ones.

And yep, Paws, I agree with the motion triggering them. Actually, they are rather cat-like that way, now that I think of it. My Rana is a ferocious hunter, and will pounce on anything that moves. But if she has cornered a mouse, and it just hunkers down and sits there, she doesn't seem to know what to do, and will even walk away eventually. But let the mouse try and run away... she's on it in a flash.

The behaviorist in the group has recommended working on an emergency recall. And close supervision.

My S&S guide was a gift from somebody that doesn't know a whole lot about dogs. It has its uses, but may explain my jaundiced view of breed descriptions.

It's OK... writing that out also made me realize that she doesn't actually trigger on cats. Which is good in one way, but bad in another, because I think that she is one of the ones that is going to chase _anything_ small enough and fast enough to trigger her instinct to chase. (The way it came clear to me is that she doesn't see a cat and try and chase it, but presented with a running cat will chase. So it's the running, and not _what's_ running, that seems to be the trigger.) Which means being alert to her surroundings and not assuming that an absence of cats means that she is going to be sedate. So it was a helpful learning experience for me.

I want to share this email from my son:

''So I got bit by a cat tonight. Leslie was worried about the deep bites and rabies, so I went to the emergency
room and they of course panicked about the injury and even x-rayed my hand to make sure there were no tooth
fragments left in the joint. Its all fine now, but I do have to go back for follow-up rabies vaccines just in case.

I was walking Princess and she got ahold of a cat that was too curious & friendly for its own good. Well, it wasn't
so friendly once she had the cat in her mouth, so it was clawing and scratching everything it could reach. I got
my hands in there to pry Princess mouth open to release the cat so both my hands got cut up pretty bad, but the
worst was my left hand which the cat managed to bite. The cat ran off, so I am sure its not in bad shape, and we
cleaned up some scratches on Princess' face. I was happy to see it go, so I didn't check for a rabies tag. But I
went to the emergency room for 3 hours 'cause that's how long it takes them to assign a doctor and clean it up.
Oh, and I got 7 shots - tetnus, the first of 5 rabies vaccinces, and some antibiotics that went right in my finger.
Those were the only ones that actually hurt. Anyhow, I have gause on my hands but its all fine now and that's
my adventure. ''

Princess was adopted from a shelter about a year ago, seems to be a fox Hound. Leslie is his wife.

I am glad that he went and got treated. Cat bites, especially if they get into a joint, can be really nasty things. Hope he's doing better!