Hello All, Hope your summer is going well. I can use a little help from my friends. My daughter Nicole's 10 month old pit mix Nala is chasing down birds in the yard and killing them. Some she brings to my daughter and others not.

She seems to be very pleased with herself when she does this and I suspect Nala is doing this as a way to show her appreciation to Nicole. Nala is a very submissive dog and this behavior is something new.

Whats interesting is that Nicole has a Parrot. Nala doesn't show must interest or aggression towards the bird.

Any thoughts?

 Quote: alec s. garrison

I suspect Nala is doing this as a way to show her appreciation to Nicole.

Any thoughts?

Very unlikely. Dogs don't show appreciation in this type of manner. Too complicated.

She is killing them because she has prey drive and has self rewarded and it has become a habit. By this I mean that after she killed the first and realized that a) it was possible and b) it was REALLY fun, she decided to do it again and again and each time reinforces the last. Bringing it to mom is also habit and a "look at what I have" type of thing. She is used to bringing things to mom, so she does.

For most this is a behavior that is "wrong" but if it does not bother your daughter, just don't let it become compulsive. If all she does when out side is look for birds, then I would stop the behavior.

Also, as a side note, it sounds like this dog needs more exercise. A tired dog when left in the yard will lie down in the shade and relax, not try to kill birds. She is bored and has energy so she found a way to entertain herself. If she is drivey enough to catch and kill birds, perhaps fly-ball, agility or disk dog training would suit her?


ETA: The leaving of the parrot is like my dogs leaving our cat alone. They know she is part of the family group and actually lie with her on the beds, but any cat outside... This would not be pretty.

I spoke to Nicole and she said that Nala is pretty well exercised. 45 minutes of ball playing every day in the yard. Rope pulling, jumping, the works. I think you are right about the high prey drive. it does bother my daughter because we are crazy animal lovers and don't want to see any animal killed just for our dogs entertainment.

What would you recommend as an activity to replace bird killing and how do we train her to stop?

First of all, don’t leave the dog to its own devices in the yard. Don’t leave her alone and if her recall is not very reliable (and I mean REALLY good) then keep her on a long line. You can’t let her ever chase them. Never again. One bout of chasing will remind her how much fun it is and set you way back.

45 min may not be enough. Some dogs will need that three and four times a day. Road work is not an option at her age, but she likely needs more exercise. As an example, for my 8 month old pup, he get three 30 min sessions of ball play, three 30 min walks at a high speed (not ambling around but really moving) many training sessions thrown in throughout the day, and usually a romp with the older dog, and he STILL needs more because he is starting to dig…

Does your daughter allow the parrot to fly around when the dog is in the room?
If not, that would explain why she doesn't show any interest in the parrot.
It's her prey drive kickin' in with the outside birds.
As jessica pointed out, it's now a self rewarding behaviour, and i find those are the hardest to control if you aren't with the dog all the time.
I would personally start with a long line and constant supervision while the dog is outside so you can correct or re-direct as soon as she see's the dog is even thinking about taking off after a bird.

I agree with everything. Thanks for the feedback. Nicole's parrot is never allowed loose around the house when Nala is around. In fact I explained to Nicole that her caged bird might be something that is helping to set Nala off. She sees this bird all the time and has no access to it. So when she is left to her own devices out in the yard and she can get to a bird...she attacks.

I know this from Jeter. He has very high prey drive. Interestingly he has no interest in birds. Squirrels are quiet a different story. Two so far have made the mistake of wandering in to Jeter and Dakotas run. They never made it out.

I think the long lead and constant supervision is the way to go here.

 Quote: alec s. garrison

Nicole's parrot is never allowed loose around the house when Nala is around. In fact I explained to Nicole that her caged bird might be something that is helping to set Nala off. She sees this bird all the time and has no access to it. So when she is left to her own devices out in the yard and she can get to a bird...she attacks.

It isn't that she is getting mad at the parrot and redirecting, our pups don't think like that. It is that the pup does not see the parrot flying around and acting like prey, so does not try to go for it. The dog has also likely been corrected for showing much interest in the parrot (or if not, should be). I'd bet if the parrot started flapping and screeching that Nala would show a LOT of interest!

The birds outside are acting like prey, so she sees them that way. They fly around and she wants to catch them, and now that she can, she wants to do it more and knows how to do it. They have nothing to do with the parrot inside, and if your daughter did not have a parrot, Nala would still like to "play" with the birds outside.

ETA: If your daughter wants to send Nala out to CA, we have a million pigeons that just move into the neighborhood. She can catch them all if she wants!

Although I completely agree with Jessica, I also know that my girl definitely sees a bird as pray even if it's sitting quietly on it's perch. She has a meltdown with excessive drooling, panting, the whole nine yards if we go into a store with larger birds. The smaller birds not so much, although she definitely tries to catch them outside if she can.