What is wrong with my German Shepherd?? She is soo fascinated by my new kitten....?

Question

I dont think my dog will hurt the kitten but she stares at it and follows it everywhere. This will last for hours. Why is she like this??

Answer 1

WOW! Cute. We have 4 dogs and a cat. 2 of the dogs are German Shepards and they are the only ones that seem to have an issue with the cat. One of the other dogs is a poodle and she plays with all of them the same but the shepards are normally very gentle with the "little dog" The cats probaly starts messing with the dog when you are not around and you would never know. We have seen our dogs do that and after we caught them they would play dumd and just chase after the cat.

Answer 2

As long as the kitten is moving slowly may not be a problem but if it starts darting around your dog may very well make a lunge and attempt to kill it , The intense staring is usually done by dogs with high prey drives

With greyhound adoption the intense staring and not being easily distracting is a sign that the dog should not go into a home with a cat , if you are able to distract easily then maybe but careful training should be done to ensure the safety of the cat and the 2 should never be left together unsupervised

http://www.greycanine.com/greytfiles/Cattesting.htm

Answer 3

You have to learn the pup that it has to get along with your cat. A GSD is a working dog & has to be worked & walked for at least 1 hour max a day.
You should still play with the cat but the dog was there 1st & will get cheesed off if you show the cat more attention. the dog has to know its place. You should start to learn the dog by staring at it is actually a sign of aggression. The dog must not stare into another animals eyes.
When you see the dog starting to stare make a noise to snap it out of it & as for it following it everywere the dog is curious it has no idea what it is & wants to know everything about anything.

Answer 4

There's nothing wrong with the dog because of this - after all, aren't you fascinated by your new kitten? So it's not strange your dog would be! All animals are intrigued by new things, just as humans are.

I'm sure if the dog was going to hurt it she will have done it already - all the same best not to leave them alone in case doggy decides kitty wants to play and gets too rough!

Chalice

Answer 5

She maybe wants to herd it. However, until you know exactly how your GSD will act I wouldn't leave them alone. I raise shepherds and I've had some that were very unfriendly to cats, but for a long time there were only random cats that ran through the yard. My daughter has a cat, and now all the dogs are cat friendly, but it did take some time.

Answer 6

Maybe she percieves the kitten as a new member of her pack that needs protection, maybe she has maternal instincts, or maybe she's just waiting till kitten grows big enough for dinner.