Considering adding a small mouser

[RocketDog]

Originally Posted by wolfy dog

Kids are allergic to cats. Very sad.

Aww. Well, JRT's are awesome, and sound like what you want.

[GSD2]

A Miniature Dachshund, perhaps? I believe they are bred for routing out moles and critters that burrow in the ground.

[Caitydid255]

My best mouser was an oversized rough collie. He would spend all day patrolling the yard for small creatures to eliminate. He made our cats look lazy.

I would suggest a Jack Russel Terrier. My friend has one and nothing small is safe.

[meldleistikow]

We have a Jack Russell/Cattle Dog mix that loves to hunt moles. It is cute to watch him watch the ground before he starts digging. The only thing I hate is that he plays with them before he kills them. It upsets the kids. We got him from a rescue. He spent the first seven months of his life in kennels, so no training. He also herds cattle at my in-laws farm.

[Konotashi]

Our miniature schnauzer and her daughter (mini schnauzer/pit bull) would kill anything they could catch.
They were both highly skilled in the art of catching birds out of the air.

One time, someone broke into our house and released several hundred (if not over 1,000) feeder mice and rats.
We came home and it looked like it rained headless rats and mice outside.

Another time, we left them at a friend's house while we went out of town. He was also babysitting an African Gray parrot for someone else.
My mom told him to keep them away from the cage, because they would try to kill the bird. He assured us that there's no way they could get in the cage.
Well, before we even left his house, they busted through the bottom of the cage to try and kill it.

They also almost killed themselves trying to get a ground squirrel once.
It was mid summer (so well over 100 degrees outside), and I came home from school one day and noticed they were gone. I looked EVERYWHERE for them. When I went out back, I called for them again, and I could hear heavy panting from underneath our concrete patio.
They dug themselves a good 8 feet underneath. Shelbye (the mix) had gone in first with Schatzi (mini schnauzer) right behind her. Schatzi tried turning around and got stuck, and heaven only knows how long they were down there. We called the fire department, the humane society, police - NOBODY would come and help. Our neighbor was a mechanic, so I ran over there to see if he could help us. He rigged up something real quick - a PVC pipe with a hook on the end so we could reach down and get them out by their collars. They were overheated and dehydrated, but they ended up being okay.

So my vote is with schnauzers or any other sort of terrier....

(And mind you, we didn't train them to kill anything - they just did it).

[Stevenzachsmom]

Another JRT vote. My new puppy is only part JRT - from a shelter. He is incredibly smart and he can keep up with a GSD. The two breeds seem to make a good match. (In additions to the killing small critter thing.)

[LARHAGE]

Originally Posted by wolfy dog

Not a cat but a small dog that will hunt and kill gophers, moles and mice. Our property is overrun with these little critters.
I was interested in adding a small dog in the future but I guess it has to be sooner. It would need to be a size that can fit in a Sherpa bag in an airplane.
Anyone of you have experience with good small mousing breeds? Also if you have a good mouser, did he learn it form his mother or by instinct alone?

I LOVE Cairn Terriers, they are fantastic rodent killers, my male just killed a very large rat Friday in my barn, they are not as high strung as JRT's and because they are not a fad are still very true to their heritage, I have 2 and they have decimated the squirrel population on my property and really keep the mice and rats in check, they are much more efficient killers than my barn cats and to top it off are full of personality and charm, just wonderful little dogs .

[wolfy dog]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

I LOVE Cairn Terriers, they are fantastic rodent killers, my male just killed a very large rat Friday in my barn, they are not as high strung as JRT's and because they are not a fad are still very true to their heritage, I have 2 and they have decimated the squirrel population on my property and really keep the mice and rats in check, they are much more efficient killers than my barn cats and to top it off are full of personality and charm, just wonderful little dogs .

Yes, the cairn seem to be the one I'd like best. JRs are too much for me. How about this killer instinct; will they kill the critters without having been taught by hunting parents?

[LARHAGE]

Originally Posted by wolfy dog

Yes, the cairn seem to be the one I'd like best. JRs are too much for me. How about this killer instinct; will they kill the critters without having been taught by hunting parents?

They have natural prey drive and it is deeply ingrained, my second Cairn was a rescue I got last year from a shelter, she was 5 and her 85 year old owner passed away, she sat in a shelter for 6 weeks till I rescued her, with no training whatsover she came to my house and has become a completely different dog, she is living her dream and is an unbelievable rodent killer, just last night I had to literally grab her by the tail and drag her out of a hole so deep and tight it pulled her collar off, she doesn't care how long it takes, she ALWAYS gets her varmint, the thing I love about Cairns is they are super hardy and tough, and the best thing is the personality will have them wrapped around your heart in no time, they are adorable dogs, I absolutely will never be without one. Von Hena breeds beautiful Cairns as well as German Shepherds, my next is coming from her.

[arycrest]

Originally Posted by wolfy dog

Yes, the cairn seem to be the one I'd like best. JRs are too much for me. How about this killer instinct; will they kill the critters without having been taught by hunting parents?

My next door neighbor has a Carin, nice little dog, not real hyper or yappy.