Meet Frankie Awful, the newest member of the Awful clan . . .

[ET Awful]

He's an 11 yr. old staffordshire terrier who was about to be euthanized, so the GF and I decided to give him a break and try to save his life. He's SUPER friendly to every person he meets, but does seem to want to chase the cats, so that will be the deciding factor on whether we keep him long term or not.

His previous owners kept him for 11 years, and apparently just dumped him on the side of the road. When animal control picked him up and took him to the vet, apparently the vet recognized him, etc.

We saw a listing for him on Petfinder and he just looked like he could use a helping hand. Hopefully, he can get used to the cats (since the GF is also bringing home more kitties next week) and not try to chase them too much. I get the feeling he just wants to play with them from the way he's acting (no growling or anything, just barking and trying to chase them, so not acting mean, just excited).

Anyway, this is the old man himself, Frankie:










He's a silly dog, he loves to sit in your lap :). If you sit on the floor, he'll come up to you, park his but in your lap, and lie down to chew on his artichoke toy :). He's VERY sweet and loving to people (and has no problems with other dogs either).

We just figured that we'd give him a fair shot and get him out of the high-kill shelter he was in. If he ends up being too much trouble for the cats, we'll try to get him into a no-kill shelter or foster situation, we just wanted to save his life :).

Anyway, maybe one of our resident experts here on DU has some ideas to break him of the cat chasing urge?

[Phillycat]

1. This was the reason we couldn't keep the dog we rescued over Christmas.

She had terrier in her, and she couldn't stop chasing our cats. We tried a variety of behavioral mods, but it just wasn't working. Luckily, we found her an excellent home with a professor at the local college and her family. Even if it doesn't work out for you guys to keep him, at least you can find him a good home at your leisure. You saved his life - you are GOOD PEOPLE!

[ET Awful]

5. For the time being, we have a closed in porch that's bigger than your typical kennel.

He's living in there for now (even has his own AC if it gets too hot), and we only allow him in the house on a leash for a while at a time.

I feel sorry for him when he has to be out there by himself, but if it keeps him away from the cats, it works for me.

I just wish the cat would try to teach him a lesson instead of bolting. I know Quinn could do it (hell, he's mean to to the GF and I, why can't he swat the dog around a bit too?).

[Phillycat]

7. EXACT SAME THING here.

Our cats wouldn't stand up to Molly. We felt sure that one good swipe across the nose would calm her right down - she still had a lot of puppy in her, and our cats have their claws! But the cats had never dealt with a dog and would just bolt, and as soon as they ran, she was off. We lived upstairs/downstairs with a baby gate for a month x( and then finally thought enough time had passed (with leash time and the gate open, them smelling each other through the gate, able to see each other, etc etc) to just introduce them all. We put a muzzle on Molly as a precaution, and opened the gate. The cats bolted, she chased, and she had our little female cat cornered pinned down with two paws screaming in about 10 seconds. She wanted to kill her. After that, we knew it wouldn't work. But we found her an excellent home, and the cats forgave us eventually. :D

[ThomCat]

2. I hope he gets calmer with the cats.

He's a handsome old boy, and he looks so friendly! I hope you can keep him. :)

[ET Awful]

3. You wouldn't believe how friendly he really is with people.

He can sit and take a single piece of kibble out of your fingers without teeth every touching you . . . you might get a little slobber but he's very gentle.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. You're a good person to do that. Hope it works out.

[Madrone]

6. My personal experience has been that the cats will train the dog.

A few well place claw-filled pops in the face does wonders! ;)

What I would do if I caught him going after a cat though would be to make him lay ALL the way down, on his side, head down on the ground in a full submitting position until he was completely complacent for a minute or two before letting him get back up. Wash rinse repeat. That works very well with my dog - and it's something I use no matter where we are (once on the middle of a crowded sidewalk when he lunged for a teenager running by) when he's done something that is REALLY unacceptable. Chasing the cats would qualify as that to me, especially the when the difference between staying and leaving is whether or not he chases them.

[driver8]

8. What a sweet ol' boy...

he has a great face!!

I hope everything works out for you. Please keep us posted.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. What a great thing to do.

After reading that heartbreaking essay that was posted here earlier this week, I'm so glad to hear a real story with a happy ending.

Hope he and the cats will work it out, but no matter what I think there's a good ending to all of this.

[RebelOne]

10. What a sweet-looking boy.

I am really surprised you were able to adopt him from a shelter. The shelters here will not adopt out Staffordshire terriers or pit bulls. They will only release them to licensed rescue groups. They are usually immediately put down.