dog question: why does my german shepard bite my cats/ kitten on the head.

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - dog question: why does my german shepard bite my cats/ kitten on the head.

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:54:46 AM EDT

Its not to hurt them just a real soft bite right on their heads. I kinda concerned me the first time I saw it on my new kitten but it obviously doesn't hurt the kitten. The cats will lay right next to the dog but sometime when its walking away it will just bite it and hold it there

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:57:26 AM EDT

[#1]

Because it has good instincts.

It belongs to a dog's nature to bite the heads off of cats.

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:57:57 AM EDT

[#2]

Most likely it is a gentle dominance move.

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:59:25 AM EDT

[#3]

Sounds like the dog is going through "motherly instincs".dogs will do the same thing to puppys to keep them there right beside them.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:01:53 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Because it has good instincts.

It belongs to a dog's nature to bite the heads off of cats.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:03:07 AM EDT

[#5]

My female Sheperd would do that to my cat. Most of the time she would just hold her still or steer her one way. I always thought it an odd trait just to her.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:03:33 AM EDT

[#6]

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:03:50 AM EDT

[#7]

Its funny to watch, "hey be nice to the kitty!" then he looks all sneaky and bites it right on the head.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:04:41 AM EDT

[#8]

Not too concerning if the cats don't mind. Is your dog male or female, and if female, has she ever had a litter? It may be a mixed up maternal instinct going on. Since a cat would be about the same side as a sheppard pup your dog might be sort of grabing the cats to hold them as she would a pup. As long as it doesn't seem agressive and the cats don't seem to react much, it sounds weird, but fine.

I did have to put down my previous dog because he started chewing cats. He left my cat alone, but after he put a neighbor's cat in the cat hospital (intensive care unit, as if I even knew there was a feline intensive care unit) I got cited, fined, and layed out $850 for medical bills on a worthless cat. That caused the dog to develop a terminal illness.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:05:22 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
tinypic.com/f9g1j

Yeah like that, theres really no reason, just holds it for a second then lets it go.

Posted: 10/31/2004 9:19:57 AM EDT

[#10]

With a little bit of finishing work you could have your dog doing great things!!

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:19:40 AM EDT

[#11]

My dog does the same thing with my cat. He likes to chew and lick on her ears, but never does it hard. The cat actually seems to enjoy it!

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:22:54 AM EDT

[#12]

Normal mothering behavior in a dog.

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:23:15 AM EDT

[#13]

My Corgi does the same thing. She likes to herd the cat too.

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:24:11 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Sounds like the dog is going through "motherly instincs".dogs will do the same thing to puppys to keep them there right beside them.

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:46:23 AM EDT

[#15]

she's prob hungry ya know cat is the other white meat

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:55:31 AM EDT

[#16]

IBTsgtar15.

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:57:55 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Because it has good instincts.

It belongs to a dog's nature to bite the heads off of cats.

+1

And because it can.

WHo doesn't like a little pussy in their mouth?

SGatr15

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:58:15 AM EDT

[#18]

I'm sure all is fine, the dog probably is either being motherly or wanting to let the cat know who's in charge.

Posted: 10/31/2004 10:58:38 AM EDT

[#19]

"...like cats and dogs..."

Posted: 10/31/2004 11:00:29 AM EDT

[#20]

Yeah my dog does that too occasionally, it's a discipline thing, she thinks the cats are her pups.

I brought a kitten home for her last year and just gave it to her, poor kitten wasn't dry once for the first six months of its life for the dog slobbering all over it and fleabiting it. Cat still thinks the dog is his mama.

Funny story same dog ex-girlfriends cat used to climb up on her back and ride around, Lucy raised that one from a kitten too. Anyway one day when the cat was about a year old a strange dog showed up in the yard, first dog the cat had ever seen besides Lucy, same colors/size big black and tan. So the cat jumps up on it's back and the dog freaks out, runs all over the place trying to get the insane cat off its back, cat thought it was a funny game. big Rott ends up running off whimpering tail between legs.

Wish I'd had a camera I'd be $10K richer.

Posted: 10/31/2004 11:01:04 AM EDT

[#21]

"Who's the boss?????!!!!"

LOL.

Posted: 10/31/2004 11:03:26 AM EDT

[#22]

my shorthair will do a similar thing to me. like if im petting and praising her she will kinda gently place my hand or arm in her mouth but not really bite.

i guess i just think of it under the conventional dog wisdom of "a dogs mouth is also like its hand"

Posted: 10/31/2004 12:38:15 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Its not to hurt them just a real soft bite right on their heads. I kinda concerned me the first time I saw it on my new kitten but it obviously doesn't hurt the kitten. The cats will lay right next to the dog but sometime when its walking away it will just bite it and hold it there.

Pussy tastes good. Duh.

[beavis]
Does not the gator wrestler brave the maw of the gator?
Does not the kitten brave the maw of the herder of German sheep?
Does not your scrotum need kicking?
[/beavis]

It's either a domination thing, or a "Hey buster! You get back here and sit down now!" kind of thing.

Posted: 10/31/2004 4:59:03 PM EDT

[#24]

We had a Shepherd that did that to kittens. She would mother and protect them up to a certain point. When the kitten became a "cat" she would kill them just like every other cat she saw. Grab it by the back of the neck and throw it up in the air then catch and kill it. damnedest thing I ever saw.

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:39:39 PM EDT

[#25]

Dunno why it does that but my 87 lb. Golden Retriever likes to try to nurse on female cat. Cat lies on her side and purrs. Cat then grooms dog. Later, she hawks up huge dog-colored furball.

Posted: 10/31/2004 8:46:32 PM EDT

[#26]

Whenever any of our ferrets "escape", my German Shepard will follow them all over the house, with her nose within 1/2 an inch of them. She will lick them as they run also. But they've been loose in the house for many hours and she just follows them around. Actually she will let me know where they've excaped to

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - dog question: why does my german shepard bite my cats/ kitten on the head.

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