Cats keep repeating the same behaviours everyday despite knowing they shouldn’t

Question

I live on a farm turned into an open-face apartment complex. The landlord’s dog has free roam of the grounds, so my cats have to remain indoor cats or they’re dead.

Anyways, there’s a large window by the entrance that extends from the waist up and has a window perch, which my cats find as an opportunity to jump up to even though they know they’re not allowed to do. My cats use this window to taunt the dog. They have no interest in this particular window until they see the dog outside. The dog would go crazy, jumping and biting at the window, and continuously barking until the cats were reprimanded. I usually give them a firm “No” and carry them away from the window then send the dog to another part of the apartment complex.

It wouldn’t be so much of an issue if it didn’t cause trouble with my not-so-friendly neighbours. I’ve been told it’s because my cats are bored, but they have two cat trees and plenty of toys. They get playtime multiple times per day and have each other to chase around the house. Would there be any reason why they would be acting out like this? According to the vet, they are also perfectly healthy cats so it couldn’t be a health issue either.

Answer 1

Imagine you are a cat (or maybe a child is more relatable) and all you know is the inside of a big apartment. You know all your toys and every person in that apartment and honestly, after some time they all become boring.

As a child, watching TV (or some streaming service or whatever) would be more interesting, because it allows you to see something new. For a cat, watching birds or other animals outside the windows is the equivalent to watching TV. And since there's a sturdy glass between them and the dog, they don't have a reason to be afraid, just like you don't have a reason to be afraid of an alligator or alien on the TV screen.

So yes, your cats do that because they are bored. A big apartment and play mates and toys are all very good, but the crazy dog is just more exciting. In my honest opinion, the dog may be just as bored if he's barking at cats like crazy and biting the window, but that's a different topic.

If I were you, I would either hang a light curtain on the low window or apply some privacy screen that distorts the image, like this random example:

Answer 2

Decades ago, my grandparents had a cat who liked to jump at the fence post and wait there until the dog of the neighbors (a big shepherd dog) came along. When he was near her post, she jumped down on his back, hissed, attacked him and disappeared behind the fence. The dog was furious, but he could not do anything against these attacks coming out of the blue from above.

I have been a cat owner for many years, and I would say that the behaviour you describe is absolutely normal for cats. There are some cats that get along well with dogs, but generally, cats and dogs do not like each other, partly due to their different body language.

For your cats, this is big fun. The dog goes crazy, but he cannot harm them, as they are safe behind the window. Hey, let's play that again!

Frankly speaking, there is not much that you can do. This has nothing to do with being bored. The only thing I can think of is either using curtains or blinds so that they cannot see the dog any more, or block the window perch in some way so that they cannot jump up.