Q: We have a male Siamese that we got from a private breeder when he was 12 weeks old. He is now almost 2. He seems to be more attached to me than to anyone else, following me around the house and often sitting near or on me. He can be very sweet one minute, sitting on my lap as I scratch his head and neck. He'll be purring away and then suddenly he'll turn on me and start biting my feet.
If I'm lying down he will come over and start biting my feet for no reason (that I know of). Another thing he does is randomly attack me or my daughter while we're walking around, biting and scratching our ankles and lower legs. I am covered with scratches. He doesn't do this to my husband or son. I thought maybe this was his way of being playful, but he really seems angry and ferocious when he does this. Can you help me understand and deal with this behavior?
A: Some people would say that your cat was isolated from other cats at too early an age and is regarding you as a play toy, but that does not seem to be the case here as you got him at 12 weeks and he does not lash out like this to the other members of your family. To me it just seems as though some cats have too much time on their hands and they just come up with these weird games to amuse themselves. At any rate I can offer these suggestions:
First, do not allow him to become overly stimulated when you are petting him. It seems that some cats, especially Siamese, go into some kind of "red zone" when you pet them with a lot of pressure at the end of their spines or around the glands on their chins.
When he chooses to sit next to you on the couch, just pet him a couple of times and then spend the rest of his visit talking about current events. Stay calm around him with as little stimulation as possible. If he pushes the issue and starts to rub himself against you and you know that he is getting stimulated, then just get up off the couch and walk away. Do not grab him or push him off the couch as that will just create drama.
For his ambush attacks, you have to try a different approach. Go to the dollar store and buy plastic misting bottles. Fill them up with water and leave them all over the house so that one is always within reach. When he is rushing toward you or your daughter to slash at you, just grab a mister and spray the water at him in as calm a manner as possible. You must do this consistently every time. You do not want him to think that you are doing this in response to his behavior as that is a punishment and cats do not react well to punishment. You just want him to think that when he decides to scratch you to see the drama that ensues then out of nowhere all this water rains down on him. That should make the situation less entertaining for him. When he realizes that the behavior is no longer fun, he will most likely stop doing it.
Q: We have a Malti-poo and two Pomeranians. Every time our doorbell rings, all three rush to the door barking hysterically and we have to pick them all up before we can open the door. We had a professional trainer come in to show us what to do, but he could not do anything. We are at our wits' end. Any advice?
A: This is not an easy problem to solve in a house of multiple dogs. If you have only one dog that does this, then all you need to do is stand in front of the door and block the dog's way to it until the dog calms down and sits and waits for your command. Obviously this is not possible with a pack of them. There was a time in my life when I had eight dogs, and you can imagine the drama that occurred when the doorbell rang. Guests who looked in through the window could not believe their eyes as the pack ranged from my big dog Garfield, who looked like a cross between a German shepherd and a donkey, down to little Dixie the Dachshund, who actually had the loudest bark. I finally solved the problem by keeping a candy jar full of dog treats by the front door that was out of Garfield's reach. When the doorbell rang and the pack sprang into action, I would wade through them to get to the jar and then grab a handful of treats and throw them to the other side of the room. Then I let my guests in.
Soon the dogs figured out that the doorbell ringing meant that treats were going to appear on the other side of the living room and, of course, the first dog there ended up getting the most treats. So the whole pack then learned to run to that spot in the room as soon as the bell rang and would wait there until I threw the treats at them. They no longer focused on the door at all.
That situation taught me how with positive reinforcement you could teach an animal to do just about anything you wanted, and my whole life got a lot easier.
However, this method does not work with all dogs as some dogs have a higher food drive than others. Alternatively, a spray bottle full of water kept by the door and then sprayed at the dogs while they are barking may be just the thing.
