So, after shopping around I found a farmer that is letting us use his back field for off leash training and more importantly, play. Unfortunately the rabbits in this field are stupid.....

If I don't feed Ryuk before playtime out in the field (and I usually don't as I don't want him running around on a full stomach, I'm also trying to encourage food drive) he is catching these rabbits, killing them, then bringing them to me and waiting for permission to eat them.

Now I can call him off a chase and he has NO issues around livestock or other small prey animals (except mice and rats but he's always been encouraged to kill those. My grandmother has a mouse problem and when he's there it's always "KILL THEM" with her). He's okay around chickens and turkeys (we had some escape and wander into the area were were playing frisbee in my apartment complex, he was curious for a second since he's never seen them alive and clucking but ignored them as soon as I told him to). He's even okay with pet rabbits with no fear of dogs when they escape from our neighbors apartment and end up in ours. Outdoors and hungry however...bye bye rabbits.

Now...I CAN call him off the chase when he actually runs for one....so he's gotten smart and seriously, these rabbits are stupid. He pretends to be sniffing around in the longer grass. He is a silent stalker and will pretend sniff around then BAM he does this super jump and has one. He then brings it to me drops it ON my feet (ewwwww) and looks up like he does before I give him permission to eat. The grass is longer in this area, I can usually see him....I can't always see that there's something there he's stalking until he has it. He will come off mid jump if I can catch him at it (he's rather quick) and will come off the rabbit after the jump if I call him but then I get to go snap it's neck and that's really not fun. He doesn't play with his catch, he grabs and kills instantly.

The farmer loves this and so far has taken all the rabbits off out hands (his elderly dog eats raw and he feeds them to her as part of her meals. His wife also makes lots of stew). He's also lost a lot of crops to rabbits as well as his wife's garden. I think if I attach a command to it I can let him continue to hunt since the farmer is doing us a favor letting us use his field and clearly encourages the behavior.

Should I let Ryuk eat his some of his kills (these are plump healthy rabbits)? Should I let him hunt in the first place? He does kill well (grabs and either one shake snaps the neck or crushes the skull, it's VERY quick) and only goes for one animal even when he can get more than one in a jump (he's not killing for "fun"). He will only catch another one after he returns to me and is sent out again to play without eating anything. I have put this to the test, if I feed him when he comes back to me he won't attack another rabbit even if he's in striking distance.

What would you do if this was your dog? I'd assume if I actually wanted to let him do this I'd have to look up the legality of it but until then, input?

I personally wouldn't let my dog kill rabbits. But I guess it's more of a morality issue for me, because I love rabbits. But I would never let my dog kill any living animal. If you're not hunting I don't see a purpose for it. Wildlife is wildlife and it's there for a reason. I would take other measures of protecting my crops and gardens before killing off the rabbit population in the area.

How is he with stray cats that run?

I don't know... If it doesn't bother you, and he does not "critter" elsewhere, and the land owner is happy about it, then I see no issue. Around here it is common for ranch dogs to be encouraged to go after rabbits and squirrels, as well as 'yotes at times.

Honestly, if I lived closer I'd ask you to bring me the dead bunny for my dog's dinner...

Dogs can get tapeworms from eating raw, wild, rabbit meat.
Top 3 google results...
http://www.vetinfo.com/dtapewrm.html
http://www.dr-dan.com/tapeworm.htm
http://www.safe-guard-for-dogs.com/intestinal-Tapeworms.asp

If the hunt and kill behaviour is not transmitting to other places / creatures that's not too much of a problem.

In fact I'm willing to bet that local gardeners will love to 'hire' your services. You could have a nice little sideline in rabbit killing.

If you gut the rabbits and worm him regularly it shouldn't be an issue but I would feed him something equally good in return for the bunny - so keep the killing as a trained behaviour, not an eating one.

I would also put a command to it. And otherwise correct him if he acts without permission.

Are these cottontail or domestic gone feral rabbits? I am rather surprised that he is able to catch cottontails so easily, rabbits may be dumb but they have decent survival instincts and will usually not stray too far from a thicket or burrow to which they can escape when pressured. Plus, their max sprint speed of 35 mph and agility makes them difficult for a dog to beat in short sprint (long distance in an open field is a different story).

With the dogs I've had and have, bringing them to a field where they could catch and kill rabbits every day would teach them only one thing: that catching and killing smaller mammals is not only OK, but super duper fun. Everytime he's successful with the catch and kill it re-enforces the chase. Because catching and killing is extremely self-rewarding.

This type of re-enforcer, for my dogs, would be stronger than food or tug or any toy I could come up with. I can't imagine that even a frisbee for a frisbee obsessed dog could beat a living, breathing, tasty rabbit.

New England cottontails are considered rare in Massachusetts, I'm not sure of state regulations. You might want to look into this.

 Quote: Kiersten Lippman

Because catching and killing is extremely self-rewarding.

This type of re-enforcer, for my dogs, would be stronger than food or tug or any toy I could come up with. I can't imagine that even a frisbee for a frisbee obsessed dog could beat a living, breathing, tasty rabbit.

Heck, forget the killing. Chasing alone is super self rewarding!! I know my dog freaks when he sees a squirrel even knowing I won't let him chase it.

Where I used to live on Vancouver Island, the rabbit population was out of control, and Toro would get them from time to time. I didn't let him eat them, but he still did get tapeworm, so either way, you might want to use a dewormer.

Sounds to me like you have the dog under good control, keep up the good work Jamie. The farmer is happy, the dog is happy, the dumb bunnies are getting weeded out and everybody is getting getting some 'free food'.
At least for the moment, don't worry about the rabbits they'll smarten up.

I don't really see any down side to this outside of perhaps an occassional deworming regime. And you may be able to take care of that by a good freezing before feeding it to the dog. (any food experts out there?)

According to the CDC, (regarding Taenia - tapeworms)...
"•Freezing (23° F, –5°C) meat for 4 or more days will kill cysticerci"
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-5/taeniasis.aspx

This is for Taenia in pork or beef. I imagine the same applies for Taenia in rabbit, but I couldn't find anything on the CDC website related to it.