Today's Cloud

I've said it before but I'll say it again: cats.

What!?! WHERE!?!

It's now official, cats really are more difficult than dogs by now. Today we were meeting a man and a dog so I hurried forward to reach a side street before they got too close, only to find a cat sitting in the middle of that street looking at us. Monster fixated completely on the cat, freezing up and staring, every muscle in his body tensing up. I couldn't get him away, I couldn't move him forward (why do nearly all cats just sit there calmly staring!?), and on the other side of the road was a passing, not very relaxed, dog. Monster knew they were there - he'd been staring at them before we came across the cat after all - but all he could spare was a quick look over his shoulder at the passing dog since there was a cat right there. Nothing beats a cat...

Caaaaaaaaaaat...

People think it sounds funny when I say I have a problem with Monster hating cats. I try to explain that it's actually quite serious, but nevertheless it seems all people hear is "silly"... But it's far from silly. Monster's fixation on cats is damaging to all other training - once he's spotted a cat his nerves are shot, he will react to any trigger simply to get an outlet for his tension. His stress levels make him unmanageable on leash, and he can't listen to a word say (unless that word is "cat" or "kitty"). And there are cats everywhere. I don't know what to do, I have no clue how to relax him around cats. I've tried BAT but haven't gotten it to work, I've tried classical conditioning but nothing works as a reward with cats at any distance, I've tried just standing out by the road for hours where I know cats pass by regularly (friendly ones, not the psycho cats who actually attack us), but nothing seems to make even a dent... I need to fix this but so far I'm lost. And blind. Possibly dizzy too. And the compass is broken.

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