mistaken identity??

[Stuart]

Is it possible for a dog to get animals mixed up,.. I mean could a dog mis-take a large cat for a small dog?

Every day, our dogs have a wonderful view of a rather large jet black cat, as it patrols the ground in front of our patch,.. the dogs make no attempt to go for it, just intencely watch it

Today, two different things came into play at the same time, with not very nice results.

Our gate is allways locked,.. so when Allison came home, she got out, unlocked the gate, and drove the car in.

Just as she did so, our neigbour walked past with a friends dog, a small, jet black spaniel,... before Allison could react, Kee [ being the first to see it], made a bee line for it, and forced it into the undergrowth,..I saw this, and ran to the gate, stopping Sam and Jazz in their tracks, while Allison grabbed Kee.

There was no damage done, except a small scratch on the spaniel from what we think was the briar patch and Allison skinned knee,.. John [ neigbour ] was good about it and off he went, with the black dog slightly favouring the back leg

Did Kee think she saw that Black cat that she has wanted to meet for months?... or did she simply see a black animal just like the one from across the road?... do dogs know the differnt breeds?

[sams mum]

mmmm??? delierate, mmmmm?? i think a dog would know a dog from a cat even from a bit of a distance and same colour... mayby Kee thought ''yay dog'' but would have done the same with the cat... i think ?

[Tedsmum]

I think it is possible that Kee thought it was the cat.
My dog has often mistaken children for dogs in the distance and stalked them for a while until he realised his mistake. He has also crept up on a concrete badger in someone's front garden and a tree stump once.
I know this makes him sound short sighted but I think that they take notice of movement first and shape second.
If Kee was expecting to see the black cat then a moving black shape was probably enough to convince her it was worth a chase.
I am glad there was no serious injury though as it is hard to get an owner to understand that your dog though theirs was a cat without sounding like you are making excuses.

[Stuart]

I once remember stopping off at the monument to Major Stirling [ of SAS fame ], and Jazz barking like hell at it, I can see how it must have intiminated her,.. the statue is about 12 foot high,...lol,... so they do see things differently to us,..and not always correctly
[ love the concrete badger..lol ]

[sams mum]

Originally Posted by Stuart

I once remember stopping off at the monument to Major Stirling [ of SAS fame ], and Jazz barking like hell at it, I can see how it must have intiminated her,.. the statue is about 12 foot high,...lol,... so they do see things differently to us,..and not always correctly
[ love the concrete badger..lol ]

saying that just had a thought.. up the road from us is the social services building. there is a small mural in black of a baby on the wall. when we walk down the hill so its opposite us his hackles go up and he barks.

[Maddie]

not sure, all i can say is that maddies reaction to cats is completely different to any dog shes ever met, small or large. we even see it in places where the cats hang out, but arent necessarily there at the time we are passing. i thought their noses told them a lot?

[claire_88]

i agree they do see the world in a different light.
I read somewhere that a dog's eyesight isn't great at short distances, but they can see their owner up-to a mile away (how cool is that!)

We pass a quarry on one of our walks and they have a board outside the gate with a big hand held up right like we would use for the stay command and writing saying Do not enter..........

First time Skye saw that, she stared at the post and proceeded to sit and stayed until we caught up (i was proud, yet laughing uncontrollably)

I think if Kee isn't normally bothered by other dog's (i know you don't see many) then she thought it was the cat, coming into her territory and thinking pfft.....you can sod off lol :P

[sams mum]

Originally Posted by claire_88

i agree they do see the world in a different light.
I read somewhere that a dog's eyesight isn't great at short distances, but they can see their owner up-to a mile away (how cool is that!)

We pass a quarry on one of our walks and they have a board outside the gate with a big hand held up right like we would use for the stay command and writing saying Do not enter..........

First time Skye saw that, she stared at the post and proceeded to sit and stayed until we caught up (i was proud, yet laughing uncontrollably)

I think if Kee isn't normally bothered by other dog's (i know you don't see many) then she thought it was the cat, coming into her territory and thinking pfft.....you can sod off lol :P

thats funny. mayby i should make a load of hand signs and place them all over the house

[Caryll]

I think dogs don't think!

What I mean is, mostly a dog's reactions are purely instinctive/reactive. So in Kee's case a small black animal = cat she's wanted for a while, so chase!

[claire_88]

Originally Posted by Caryll

I think dogs don't think!

What I mean is, mostly a dog's reactions are purely instinctive/reactive. So in Kee's case a small black animal = cat she's wanted for a while, so chase!

So she must have been thinking about it............