How do I stop my Catahoula Leopard Hound from attacking people walking, running or on a bike by my House?
How do I stop my Catahoula Leopard Hound from attacking people walking, running or on a bike by my House?
by Erin
(Newark IL)
I have a 1 year old Catahoula Leopard Hound (Clyde) 2 Mini Wiener dogs and a 5 yr old Maltese. All the dogs get along great even with our 4 Farm cats. He plays with my two girls (4 & 11) all day but as soon as he sees or senses a stranger coming he will attack. It doesn’t matter if they are walking running or riding a bike and if i’m not right there to shout at him he won’t stop, but the minute he hears my voice he stops runs to me and flips onto his back belly up. Showing his submissive side. I am being sued by one of the guys he bit.
He left an inch long cut on the back of his leg. I don’t know what to do, he chews through rope lead or cable tie out leads doesn’t respond to electric underground fence. Please Help!
Our Response
Hi this is very extreme situation that needs extreme action. I would strongly advise that you contact a local dog trainer or whisperer and get one on one support. It is just way to difficult for me to solve this problem in an email and it would not be fair for me to try. Some trainers may advocate the use of a shock collar due to the seriousness of the possible consequences if your dog continues to run off and possibly attack other people. This breed are a formidable breed and will always let you know that you own a dog – they will test you and push the boundaries and they need very strong leadership from their owner. Your Catahoula must respect that you are the ‘top dog’ and ‘pack leader’. Follow some of the steps below to achieve this effectively…
1. Regular exercise is an excellent way to let your dog know that you are the boss. When you walk your dog he must walk to heel, can only sniff things you allow him to sniff – you are walking your dog and not the other way around.
2. Never feed your dog from the table.
3. Don’t allow your dog to jump up on you, jump on the Sofa or sleep in your bed.
4. Constantly train your dog using basic dog training techniques like ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘come’ etc.
5. Do not let your dog walk through the door first – you are the leader and walk through the door way first.
6. When you leave the House and return home don’t give your dog lots attention – ignore him for a few minutes.
7. Don’t crawl around on the floor and play with your dog – you should always be in a position where you are higher than your dog.
8. If your dog is in your way – do not walk around him – get your dog to move.
9. Do not play tug of war games as by letting your dog win the tug of war you are reinforcing his dominant position in the pack.
10. Be very careful – a dog especially a hunting breed such as the Catahoula should never be left unsupervised with young children.
11. Do not allow your dog to pull on the leash – he must always walk to heel.
12. Ask your dog to lie down and if he attempts to get up say ‘stay’ – he should lie down until you say he can get up.
13. Make your dog wait for his food – he has to earn it and understand you are the one feeding him. Put the food down ask him to sit and tell him when he is allowed to east.
14. Never allow your dog to bite or mouth even in play.
15. Train your dog to understand the ‘Leave it’ command and the ‘Come’ command.
I know you are a loving owner but I would strongly urge you to seek specialist one on one support before anything bad happens again.
