Greyhounds and Cats

Before you bring your new greyhound home set the scene in readiness for the training. If the cat flap leads into your kitchen then place your cat's bed and feeding dishes in the kitchen. Acquire a child's safety gate or dog gate and fit in the doorway between your kitchen and its adjoining room so your cat can come and go from the kitchen to outside but still allowing your cat and greyhound to see each other and get used to being near each other. Don't simply close the door to keep them apart as that could end in a fight and make both animals anxious causing further complications. Your aim is to get them used to being in each other's company but ensuring they don't hurt each other in the early stages.

There are two phases to introducing a greyhound to a cat:

1. Teach the greyhound the command 'LEAVE' until he fully understands what it means.

2. Introduce the greyhound to the cat.

The command 'LEAVE' means "whatever you're doing, or even thinking about doing, don’t and look at me!" Practice in a controlled environment to re-enforce the command so your greyhound knows what it means. At this stage we want to be able to put a treat on the floor and get him to leave it alone, to walk around it or away from it but he MUST ignore it. He must never pick it up without your permission. NEVER let him go and get it himself because you wouldn't ask him to leave the cat alone then tell him to go and get it.  

1. Place a treat on the floor in a separate room to your dog ensuring you have enough space to walk to and fro past it.
2. Put your dog on the lead, with his collar properly fitted (right at the top of the neck by the head, buckle uppermost, and tight enough so that only two fingers will fit inside - this will ensure he can't twist or pull his head back out of the collar) and walk him casually towards the tit bit on a two foot lead, so he can see it but cannot reach it.
3. As he looks at the treat, say 'LEAVE' firmly (but not aggressively) in a strong, deep forceful voice. Don't delay the command until he makes a lunge but say it as soon as he looks. If after your command he stops looking at the treat and looks at you, then praise him. Repeat this several times so you are sure he understands. If the verbal command is not enough to divert his gaze from the food to yourself, then walk him past the treat again and this time drop the tone of your voice lower and almost to a growl. Say 'LEAVE' and give him a quick squirt in the face with cold water from the water spray. As your dog feels the cold water on his face he will turn to see where it came from. At this point you have broken his train of thought from the treat to you, and this is the time you must praise him. He will briefly enjoy the praise and then return to the more interesting sight of the food again! As soon as his gaze starts to go back to the food repeat the 'LEAVE' command and then praise him when he looks at you again.
4. It is imperative that your dog looks away from the treat and at you as soon as you say 'LEAVE' and check him. If it takes many attempts you are not asserting yourself strongly enough, and your dog is gaining control of the situation - knowing you don't really mean business! Therefore, you must learn to drop your voice lower and strengthen the tone before you continue. It is also imperative that praise is given when your dog looks away from the treat - he needs to learn the difference between right and wrong in this new world - wrong is looking at the treat and right is ignoring it and looking at you.
5. Once you are confident your dog really does understand the word 'LEAVE' test and train him with other distractions such as rolling a ball across the room, children running, your sandwich on the table or the open rubbish bin so he learns that 'LEAVE' means 'stop what you are doing and look at me'.

After a few attempts you should not have to check your dog, the word alone should be enough and soon he will anticipate what is going to happen as soon as he sees the distraction because he will look straight at you for his praise without you even needing to issue the command. Now, the lesson has really been learnt because he realizes how to get praise for being good! Most dogs learn this in a matter of minutes, but he will need repetitive reinforcement by you over the coming days to enable him to remember the command.

Once you have REALLY trained the 'LEAVE' command in phase 1, you can start phase 2 by introducing your cat. Set it up like this:

Ask the help of someone who knows your cat and can hold it safely. Ask them to go in a room and hold the cat so they get the cat scent on them. They can either go upstairs or in a closed room other than the one you are going to introduce the greyhound and the cat in.
In the living room put your Greyhound on the lead and muzzle him, then settle him down.
Ask your helper to come in without the cat and greet the dog, get sniffed and then sit down somewhere. Repeat this without the greeting until your dog loses interest in your helper coming in the room.
Ask your helper go out and come back in holding the cat in such a way that the cat can't escape as this will appear to your dog as running prey. Ensure your cat is held firmly enough so it doesn't bother struggling to escape.
As your dog looks at the cat, say "Leave" so he stops looking at the cat and looks at you. If he looks at you praise him but you must only do it whilst he's looking at you. Do NOT praise him whilst he's looking at your cat, or he'll take that as an encouragement for what he's thinking, which could be he wants to chase it. Having said the word 'Leave' if he doesn't take his eyes off the cat and looks at you then squirt him in the face with cold water and when he looks at you praise him. If he still looks at the cat say 'Leave' more firmly, squirt him in the face again and pull the lead so he comes nearer to you even if it means you walking backwards to turn him towards you. If he tries looking over his shoulder at the cat say 'Leave' more firmly and squirt him in the face again.

At this point you can do one of either two things depending upon how your dog and cat are coping.
You can either:

Repeat the entry until your Greyhound has learned not to look at your cat and the cat has got used to the dog enough so that when your helper lets go of her, she doesn't immediately run. Depending on your dog's nature and how thoroughly you did the phase 1 "Leave" training, this stage may take an hour, a few days, or even longer.
OR
Keep your Greyhound and cat in the room until your Greyhound loses interest in your cat. You want to prevent your dog looking at your cat throughout the session, so end each session while you're winning.

Once the situation is calm you can let your cat free, and then train your dog to ignore the moving cat.
Once you have both animals relaxed in the same room and ignoring each other you can take the lead off your dog, but leave the muzzle on.
Now the dog and the cat tend to go through a period of ignoring each other, to the extent of passing each other in a narrow passage as if the other was not there!
The next stage is touching noses and becoming friends, although sometimes they just continue to ignore each other.

The first few days

Don't take chances in the early stages - if you go out don't leave your dog and cat in the same room.
Don't force them to be together, if your cat is struggling to get out of a tight hold this will make your dog more anxious; try to make meetings as natural as possible.
A hiss or swipe from your cat is acceptable, but never allow your cat to attack your dog as it is likely to make his behaviour worse rather than better. Also don't forget his eyes are vulnerable. 
Never feed the two together, and don't let your dog eat your cat's food! 
Also bear in mind that your dog and your own cat may become great friends, but he may need more supervision with other people's cats.
Make sure that your cat has a place to escape. If necessary, put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs in addition to the one on the kitchen door. If your cat can't get through the bars or jump over it mount the gate a bit higher than normal so that your cat can get through but your greyhound can't.
Even when you have a dog that apparently shows no interest in cats you should be aware that it is possible, even if your dog eats and sleeps with the cat, that if your cat runs or comes charging through the cat flap, your dog may chase it. Not having cat flaps avoids the situation.
When letting your dog into your garden alert any cats in the garden and allow them time to leave before letting your dog free. Even if he's cat-friendly he'll see the garden as his territory and may not accept another predator in it.

It's probably true that any greyhound can be trained to coexist with cats - eventually! However if you own a cat and are thinking of getting a greyhound its much better to find one that has been 'cat tested'. If you choose a greyhound that hasn't been cat tested and he is very keen to chase it may take so long teaching him to learn to live with your cat and cause both you, your cat and your greyhound so much anxiety it may have been better to have had a different greyhound, one with a more suitable basic temperament. Unfortunately, if this is the situation you find yourself there are only really two choices - persevere or it may be better to bite the bullet and get a different dog. If this is the case do it quickly because your attachment to your unsuitable greyhound will only grow.