Walking Savannah's Outside/Behavior as a Result

[Ashley]

Thank you so much. My profile picture is a picture of him at 9 weeks, pretty big huh. That is too funny about Kovu. Maybe Spartacus will be that way too. Then I wouldn't feel so bad to not walk him. I just think it is great exercise for him...and makes my husband and I exercise a bit too

Paul, that is an AMAZING idea. See I knew I came to the right place.

We live in the county but only about 3 miles from the city, and there is a major road alongside of our subdivision, which is why I am so concerned...not to mention, if I saw a Cheetah looking cat running down the street, I would run inside and hide, but I don't doubt that there are people who would reach for a gun.

I know, I was super excited about walking him because Glenn refuses to get a dog, so I thought, well I'll walk Kovu when he gets here. And he isn't a big fan. He actually only enjoys it if its raining. He likes trying to chase rain drops. Silly boy.

 

[admin]

Hello everyone. My husband and I are new members of this social website, and proud owners of an 11 week old F2 Savannah. Spartacus will be flying "home" next Friday. We are so excited to meet him and finally have him with us. We only have a week left, so we are doing final touches on things for him.

I have been doing a lot of research on harnesses, walking Savannah's, and leash training. I asked our breeded about it, and she now has both my husband and I terrified. She said once you start walking them and they get used to it, they will start trying to dash out the door every time one is opened. She said most never come back or end up as road kill. I want to see if I can get some feed back on this...

We want to be able to walk him because we are not home near as much as we would like to be, so we want to be sure to walk him once in the morning and once at night to be sure that he gets all the exercise he deserves. We will obviously play with him as well, but we just aren't sure it will be enough.

Anyways, we don't want to have to spend the next 20 years sneaking in and out of the house. We don't have kids right now, but who knows what the future holds and we all know how kids can run in and out. We also like to have guests over frenquently, and I don't want to have to worry about locking Spartacus in our bedroom so I don't have to worry about him running out with a guest.

Should we be truly concerned, or is it no different than what maybe a dog would do. Do Savannah's really "dash" out the door if given the opportunity, or do they simply run to the door in hopes of going out on the leash? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.... Walking him on a leash was one of the things I was most excited about, but I am not willing to risk his life if there is a high chance it could be a recipe for disaster.

THANKS EVERYONE!!

Welcome Dave and Desiree! I changed the text color in your post because it was difficult to reads on my monitor...you may want to do the same for your signature I think you will find many useful resource here...you can always do a search for the topic you are looking for...or one of us can point you in the right direction, as Pam has done. Or...just ask away and we will be sure to answer you.

 

[Spartacus]

thank you so much!

 

[andygravity]

Pixel and Kato are leash trained. Kato took it well, but Pixel is the jumper, and really bolts like lightning.
Kato needs the leash because he is completely fearless around cars.

They have a cat wheel and 6ft cat tree to play on...and the walks help too.

We take walks in the morning and evening...one at a time. I've tried to establish 'group walks' but they still go off in different directions. ;-) Also, Pixel is easily spooked; car doors slamming, big truck noises and such just send him into full afterburner runs ... but the walks have shown him where his home is, so he goes straight for "his" door.

Both cats are 'chipped'. Pixel went awol at one point, and the chip allowed him to be recovered. Highly recommended.

The key to leash training is to start inside. Let 'em play with the leash and harness first, before trying to put them on. This allows them to put their markers on the new toys...
Harness only, at first. There will be struggles...and once in place, they may fall over, lie down or stagger around, off balance until they get used to the feel. Once used to the harness, add the leash, inside, and follow them around to let them feel the differences.
Once they are okay with the leash & harness, venture outside during a quiet time...

The goal is to establish that the harness and leash are the only way they can go out.
Harness and leash in place first, then go out and bounce around.
Remember that they generally will NOT walk like a dog..Spartacus will lead, starting and stopping as he wishes, and probably not in a straight line. ;-)

Enjoy!

 

[Dantes]

Another successful leash walker here. Duma does not door dash (at least not so far, he's only just over 4 months), neither does my Ragdoll who is also leash trained. I too had them on harnesses from day 1 but just inside at first and graduated to inside with leash before going outside. Nobody walks outside alone, they are carried out of the threshold. I haven't tried to do 2 at a time yet. Duma's pretty good about walking in a straight line, even if he does get sidetracked at times.

 

[admin]

Taj walks on a leash - Zuri does not. Taj sits and howls at the front door to go out - Zuri does not...is this sounding like a theme? Taj attempts to dash out the front door every now and then - Zuri does not. But..I still love walking Taj - he knows my development now, so doesn't really get spooked like he did when he was a baby.

Now that they have an outdoor enclosure, they are getting fresh air and outside time together. I can only walk one at a time because Taj trots like a dog at times

Between the all encompassing catwalk, cat wheel, many tall cat scratchers, a cat condo and play time, I would say they live very well

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I'm a fan of the putting the cat in the carrier to take outside on leash concept, here in our house we also take them out via our garage so we carry them into the garage and go out that way....so they don't associate our front door with going out. And if they doordart into the garage we just have to catch them in there and put back, they can't get out of there.

I think the cats that door dart though, will do it whether or not they are walked. I actually think those are the cats that owners decide need to be leash walked because of that behavior...cats that don't seem as curious about the outside world the owners figure don't want to go out there.

 

[Michelle Anderson]

Welcome Dave and Desiree'!!!! Can't wait to see photo's of your new baby!! He looks adorable! Shyla wasn't to fond of being outside at first....but now she seems to like it, but she doesn't try to dart out the door...She will wait in the window, if she sees me outside. I put her harness on and CARRY her outside(as I think Paul B, and Brigitte said), but as soon as I grab the harness out of the closet she jumps on the kitchen table, ready to roll!! lol She's getting much better...and hasn't been a door dasher(yet); but she is still young; 7 months; so hopefully she will not. My other cat Saki (big, fat Siamese), does not like the outdoors and has not even once attempted to run out..I brought him outside once, and I think that was enough for him. He likes to enjoy the view from the window. So hopefully he will set Shyla straight..and she's take after him. Again CONGRATS on your new baby!!!!

 

[Eolsurion]

So true. I think it's the element of surprise of that rather forceful jet of water coming out of nowhere. And they didn't choose to get wet. It's a whole 'nother thing when they choose to play in water.

I found fang marks in one of the spray bottles last week so they definitely know it's the bottle that attacks them.

That is too funny !!! But I can easily see a little stealthy retaliation being done to the squirt bottle.

 

[Eolsurion]

Taj walks on a leash - Zuri does not. Taj sits and howls at the front door to go out - Zuri does not...is this sounding like a theme? Taj attempts to dash out the front door every now and then - Zuri does not. But..I still love walking Taj - he knows my development now, so doesn't really get spooked like he did when he was a baby.

Now that they have an outdoor enclosure, they are getting fresh air and outside time together. I can only walk one at a time because Taj trots like a dog at times

Between the all encompassing catwalk, cat wheel, many tall cat scratchers, a cat condo and play time, I would say they live very well

Paige, I want to be reincarnated, and come back as one of your cats =}