 Dog caught and killed a rabbit
#149526 - 07/24/2007 01:18 PM |
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Reg: 04-29-2007
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Loc: Lewisville, TX
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Today my dog (11 months old GSD) managed to catch and kill a rabbit while my wife was walking him. He brought the dead rabbit to my wife and proudly put it to her feet. My wife is happy that he did not eat the rabbit but instead brought it to her. And I am a little concern here: maybe we should not encourage this kind of activities in our dog? What if he will get used to chase _and_kill_ everything what is running from him? And what if he will get more agressive toward other small animals, like cats, small dogs, etc? I would realy appreciate if anyone could advice me on this one. Thank you.
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: AndreiFiadkovich ]
#149528 - 07/24/2007 01:25 PM |
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Reg: 02-09-2007
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Loc: Maine
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We used to have a cat that hunted her own food, rabbits especially, and bring them back home to brag, then eat.
If they have the instinct, I'm not sure you can keep them from doing it, other than by restraint. Leash, fence, crate.
Louanne
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: AndreiFiadkovich ]
#149529 - 07/24/2007 01:29 PM |
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Wild rabbit can carry tapeworm. Be careful. Thankfully he didn't eat it.
My opinion is that since dogs are domesticated and get their food from us, there's no reason to let them start a hunting habit. I've seen what dogs can do to wildlife when they're out for a kill. It's unnecessary since we feed them, and wildlife have enough natural enemies to have to worry about.
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Sandy Moore ]
#149534 - 07/24/2007 01:42 PM |
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Reg: 02-08-2007
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My dogs have been killing bunnies and squirrels forever in my backyard and it in no way affected how they thought of any other sort of small animal. It didn't make them more aggressive or make them want to chase anything that ran from them. If your dog is into killing bunnies, there isn't much you can do about it other than making sure your yard is clear every single time you let them out. If your dog is into killing things when out and off leash, you need to put him back on leash. Letting your dog run loose will encourage killing of wildlife and at some point the dog will run into something with teeth, disease, or you won't be able to get your dog back and you will either loose him or he will get hit by a car and killed.
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Sandy Moore ]
#149536 - 07/24/2007 01:44 PM |
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Reg: 05-23-2007
Posts: 551
Loc: Washington, USA
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Hm,
Well i think you deffently shouldn't correct your dog for doing what is instant for him, you cant fight thousands of years of the dogs history. That bing said Sandy made a very good point. I wouldn't let your dog go out and do it but if it happens it happens. Keep him leashed or in a fenced yard.
Michael.West
"Everything flows down leash"
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: AndreiFiadkovich ]
#149545 - 07/24/2007 01:55 PM |
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Reg: 04-19-2005
Posts: 505
Loc: Mid Missouri USA
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Both of my minpins have caught and killed rabbits, mice, moles, shrews, lizards, grasshoppers, locusts, small possums, birds and such. They have a very large fenced in yard, and I keep an eye on them always when they are outside, but they still run onto critters sometimes. MinPins were originally bred to be "varmint" exterminators on farms, so the drive is there and both of mine have it in spades. They don't eat their kills, and I do try to get them away as soon as I see they've gotten something. I don't encourage it, but I don't see a good way to stop it, either. I can't see that it has made them dog aggressive and neither of them chase cats. However, prey drive is prey drive, and some dogs have more of it than othere.
Edited by Janice Jarman (07/24/2007 01:56 PM)
Edit reason: forgot moles
Janice Jarman |
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Michael West ]
#149549 - 07/24/2007 02:01 PM |
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Reg: 07-25-2006
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Loc: AZ
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I agree with Michael as far as no correction for it after the kill. To keep a dog from chasing a rabbit is one thing, but to correct it after the kill is unfair, since it is instinct.
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Sandy Moore ]
#149564 - 07/24/2007 03:25 PM |
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Reg: 04-19-2005
Posts: 505
Loc: Mid Missouri USA
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I agree completely, no correction after the fact.
You can stop an attack with a solid "leave it".
I discovered that when the baby bluebirds fledged.
We could have had a massacre before I got my two contained, but a strong "leave it" worked very well. I was so proud of them.
IMO "Leave it" is almost important as a reliable recall.
Edited by Janice Jarman (07/24/2007 03:35 PM)
Edit reason: birds fledged, not hatched
Janice Jarman |
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Janice Jarman ]
#149572 - 07/24/2007 04:45 PM |
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Reg: 04-09-2007
Posts: 363
Loc: Riverside, CA
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Starbuck does like to chase the rabbits in the yard. So far they are way too fast for her. I'm not even sure what she would do if it didn't run away.
I did let her "meet" a friend’s ferrets the other day. She did fine with the little furry creatures.
When I was young our collie would kill the rats in the woodpile and leave them on the porch. It never transitioned into anything else.
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Re: Dog caught and killed a rabbit
[Re: Keith Larson ]
#149588 - 07/24/2007 06:40 PM |
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Reg: 04-19-2007
Posts: 47
Loc: Va. Beach, VA
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i have a domestic cat who helped raised my 2 yrs old shep, she hunts bunnies and brings them to my dog who then takes them,and eats as if in the wild, the strange thing is we have a rabbit who lives in the house and plays with the dog and the family with only a friendly reminder not to miss behave, so i have to wonder what is up with that.
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