[Gharrissc]

I think people can sometimes forget that our dogs still have certain instincts. They can certainly be controlled,but never eliminated. Our Cattle Dog Saba has caught a few squirrels and doesn't hesitate to chase a rabbit if she's allowed.Looking at her though most people wouldn't think it. The perception most of the time is that a dog who is cute,can't possibly kill another animal.

 

[shepherdmom]

How would you feel about a wolf also "doing what comes naturally" and killing your dog while it was chasing and killing the rabbit? Or how about just a bigger stronger dog killing your dog and then hearing it's owner praising him for it?

Bunnies = rattlesnakes? WOW, you must have some really nasty bunnies where you live. I have NEVER heard of any bunny anywhere killing a human!!!!!!

If my dog is out where a wolf can kill him then that would be my fault wouldn't it? Same with a bigger stronger dog, if I couldn't protect my dog, though I'm pretty sure I could.

Regarding: Bunnies = rattlesnakes they are both pests in my yard. Bunnies carry Tularemia among other nasties. Rattlesnakes are probably less of a pest but baby bunnies and other small fuzzies attract the rattlesnakes.

 

[shepherdmom]

Just nature, according to some folks!

We are top dogs. They start messing with us to much and I imagine they will change the laws to allow us to shoot them again.

 

[Pepper311]

Update:
Well today I call the bunny Massacre. The death toll is at 5 now. There was a whole family of bunnies under my deck. Stupid Rabits making a home in a yard where there are 3 dogs.

I get a call from my husband telling me 4 more bunnies were found dead. This is how it went down. My inlaws were baby sitting my daughter. My father inlaw goes out and finds Cookie with a baby bunny in her mouth. he said "drop it" she did. He took care of that. He goes back out and finds our old dog meatball with a bunny. Meat does not want to drop it. So my father inlaw had to open meatballs mouth and get it out. Then later my 3 year old daughter is holding a dead bunny. My father inlaw freaked out told her to drop it. My poor daughter started crying mostly because she got yelled at. And the 4th bunny was found just dead no dogs near it. I was at work this whole time.

My 3 year old has sadly already had to deal with the death of 2 pets. She has seen nature shows with me. She saw my pet bird dead. So at the young age of 3 she already kind of understands it. So I hope now we can all get back to our lives and try and forget about the bunny Massacre .

My husband now sees that this is what dogs do and has forgiven cookie. He talked to some friends that are dogs owners. Our friends told him about how Thier dogs kill birds in mid flight. Hd also agreed to joining me in training cookie more. Yes sadly 5 bunnies are dead but we as a family have worked threw it.

I hope this does not happen next spring.

Thank you for all the support.

 

[katieliz]

my husband and i constantly wonder WHY these bunnies continue to make their home in our totally fenced-in yard where there are four large dogs coming and going. last night when they went out they RUSHED over to a tree in the side of the yard and there were three baby racoons up in the tree. great, just GREAT. i think '***** can do more damage to the dogs than bunnies.

well, that's just life. we all have to somehow co-exist. mother earth belongs to everyone, man and animal alike...but there is a pecking order and those bunny mothers seem to be slow in getting the picture.

glad to know your dh is understanding better now that this isn't cookie's fault.

 

[GregK]

my husband and i constantly wonder WHY these bunnies continue to make their home in our totally fenced-in yard where there are four large dogs coming and going.

Yep, same here. We have massive flower gardens in the front yard yet the rabbits want to come in a yard patrolled by 3 Mals and a Dutchie...the other side of the yard has 2 Rottweilers on patrol.

One day the Mals had a 3-way tug on a rabbit; Bree ripped the head off and ate it; Nyka got a leg/thigh; Bodie got the torso and three legs.

Raw diet in it's purest form.

 

[KentuckyGSDLover]

i want to see the video and i might not believe it then. this
kind of story only happens in Disney movies. :laugh:

quote=llombardo;2497006]

>>>>> Last year my oldest dog led me to a hole with a bunch of baby bunnies that were drowning(it was raining very hard),

>>> she continued to paw one that wasn't breathing and it must have been in the right spot because it started to breathe.<<<<

I am VERY proud that she chose to save them and not kill them.<<<< [/QUOTE]

Oh, I believe it. My old GSD, Buddy, has the above personality. He is so tuned into humans that he comes and gets me to make decisions about wildlife. Though he will sometimes have fun with a short chase (showing off for Rey has seemed to restart this), he stops there, turns around and comes back, and has never killed anything. When I had a diabetic cat, Buddy would herd me to him when something was wrong (blood sugar too low), and 9 times out of 10 he was right to do so. He has also alerted me to injured wildlife which enabled me to save bluebirds and wild ducklings through DNR rehabbers. Now the beagle I had that lived to a ripe old age - no way I could stop her from eating rabbits, no matter what I did, because that is exactly what beagles are bred to do. The difference with a GSD is choosing whether to allow/train to rid your garden of critters or training not to, and how strong their prey drive vs. need to please humans is. This young GSD I have (Rey) is very prey-driven. My first GSD, Bear, killed a bobwhite quail once and got in a lot of trouble (never did it again!). I understand why people allow their dogs to protect their yard/garden area. My preference is to train to alert me to make decisions, though. How difficult that is depends on the dog, but there are dogs that will protect wild creatures like llombardo describes. Again, I partly do what I do for the dog's own good, so it doesn't tangle with the wrong critter, and because I don't want my dogs going after wild goslings, etc. But chasing critters does come natural to most canines.

 

[KentuckyGSDLover]

my husband and i constantly wonder WHY these bunnies continue to make their home in our totally fenced-in yard where there are four large dogs coming and going. last night when they went out they RUSHED over to a tree in the side of the yard and there were three baby racoons up in the tree. great, just GREAT. i think '***** can do more damage to the dogs than bunnies.

well, that's just life. we all have to somehow co-exist. mother earth belongs to everyone, man and animal alike...but there is a pecking order and those bunny mothers seem to be slow in getting the picture.

glad to know your dh is understanding better now that this isn't cookie's fault.

Rabbits do tend to nest in some weird places! A friend of mine has a privacy fence of about an acre, across the road is hundreds of acres of fields, yet rabbits nest in her mowed, fenced yard where two dogs roam regularly, and her lab/chow mix loves to eat them. Go figure. They reproduce at a high rate because they are nature's bottom dwellers of the food chain for carnivores. I sometimes wonder if I have created my own coyote problem with springs on both sides of my house that have dense cover around them where rabbits nest in profusion, and get some protection from me shooting to ward off coyotes. However, most disappear mid summer, as Mr. Redtail Hawk does not fear me at all and will swoop down right in front me to snatch a bunny up!

 

[msvette2u]

You should be here, when adopters come visit and find a mouse carcass or the head off a ground squirrel.
Our cat has become a master butcher and can decapitate, slice and dice, and disembowel with great artistry.

On that note, why do we accept vermin killing from cats yet not dogs? Granted, most of us don't consider rabbits vermin but I'm sure they can carry mange, fleas and the like.

I would never encourage our dogs to kill things - but if/when they do, and they have, I don't consider it a death sentence for the dog.

The main thing to keep in mind is the law generally sees dogs killing domesticated animals (chickens, cats, pet rabbits) as a death sentence, so it's good to keep your dogs properly contained if you know they do kill these things.

 

[KentuckyGSDLover]

Update:
Well today I call the bunny Massacre. The death toll is at 5 now. There was a whole family of bunnies under my deck. Stupid Rabits making a home in a yard where there are 3 dogs.

I get a call from my husband telling me 4 more bunnies were found dead. This is how it went down. My inlaws were baby sitting my daughter. My father inlaw goes out and finds Cookie with a baby bunny in her mouth. he said "drop it" she did. He took care of that. He goes back out and finds our old dog meatball with a bunny. Meat does not want to drop it. So my father inlaw had to open meatballs mouth and get it out. Then later my 3 year old daughter is holding a dead bunny. My father inlaw freaked out told her to drop it. My poor daughter started crying mostly because she got yelled at. And the 4th bunny was found just dead no dogs near it. I was at work this whole time.

My 3 year old has sadly already had to deal with the death of 2 pets. She has seen nature shows with me. She saw my pet bird dead. So at the young age of 3 she already kind of understands it. So I hope now we can all get back to our lives and try and forget about the bunny Massacre .

My husband now sees that this is what dogs do and has forgiven cookie. He talked to some friends that are dogs owners. Our friends told him about how Thier dogs kill birds in mid flight. Hd also agreed to joining me in training cookie more. Yes sadly 5 bunnies are dead but we as a family have worked threw it.

I hope this does not happen next spring.

Thank you for all the support.

It will happen next spring. And your daughter will be okay. Mine grew up in the country and saw the reality of nature and she's just fine. In fact, she's more realistic about it than the average kid that thinks ground beef was born in cellophane.

 

[KentuckyGSDLover]

You should be here, when adopters come visit and find a mouse carcass or the head off a ground squirrel.
Our cat has become a master butcher and can decapitate, slice and dice, and disembowel with great artistry.

On that note, why do we accept vermin killing from cats yet not dogs? Granted, most of us don't consider rabbits vermin but I'm sure they can carry mange, fleas and the like.

I actually have a BIG problem with free-roaming cats. Too many of them and they really changing the natural equation. And that comes from a cat-lover.

 

[KZoppa]

I dont know if its been mentioned yet but your mix is mixed with a pretty prey driven breed. GSDs can be worked with on a lot of things. Huskies.... they're a bit more wild and there is a reason its not advised for people who have small animals or small animals around they dont want to see hurt to have a husky or a husky mix. Just something to remember for the future

 

[msvette2u]

I actually have a BIG problem with free-roaming cats. Too many of them and they really changing the natural equation. And that comes from a cat-lover.

We are 5 miles out in the country - "the boonies" if you will. Our cat is on mouse patrol 24/7.

Oh, and every day almost, the field workers go out with .22s and blast away the same ground squirrels. I'm sure they get as many or more than my kitty

 

[KentuckyGSDLover]

We are 5 miles out in the country - "the boonies" if you will. Our cat is on mouse patrol 24/7.

Oh, and every day almost, the field workers go out with .22s and blast away the same ground squirrels. I'm sure they get as many or more than my kitty

I live in similar circumstances. Can't even see another house from mine. Yet cats come prowling around my bluebird boxes and wait for the fledglings to emerge. Really ticks me off. I can keep out snakes, *****, etc. with predator guards and I shoot the non-native English House sparrows that peck the bluebird and tree swallow babies heads off. When I had cats, I kept all 4 of them indoors (lesson learned after an incident with a coyote on one's tail right in my front yard). I have someone's cat right now that they let run (and yes, I called them, they decided they didn't want it anymore and made it my problem) living in my master bathroom so it can't kill the nesting birds and won't get killed by coyotes, Mr. Great Horned owl or Rey (who I am trying very hard to work on her propensity to want to go after little furry things). Got it shots this past week, wormed, and it goes to its new home this week! Some state DNR researcher believe the massive overabudance of the non-native housecat is causing some bird species to dwindle. They also believe the huge population of them fueled the coyote's evolution in the east. I will take in and find home for strays. Ferals are another story entirely, but the coyotes usually get them within a week or two anyway.

 

[jetscarbie]

My dogs love catching all sorts of things. They even eat butterflies sometimes.

My female LOVES field mice. She never eats them, just kills them and trys to sneak them in the house. We were in the middle of a huge remodel and I left our backdoor open one day. I looked down...and she had her catch laying right beside her.

 

[msvette2u]

I never see other cats here. I was told our neighbor to the north is a collector of them of sorts, so you'd think we'd see some, but we don't.
That said, one day our kitty had a bite and infection on his arm, but I never did see the cat that did it. I think it was a cat, and so did our vet.
Our cat has always been an outdoor kitty since we rescued him 7yrs. ago. He used to be indoor/outdoor but my allergies are bad (cats are high on the list ) and he doesn't like the dogs.
I don't want another when he passes as I don't think our place is conducive to kitties but he manages just fine and sticks right on our property. We've lived here 4yrs. now and he's still here and 99% of the time, healthy
And gets a raw diet every single day.

 

[Daisy&Lucky's Mom]

Lucky is the rabbit hunter extordianare. Daisy loves them to death ,same w/ mice. She grooms them and they die. Lucky doesn't eat his kill he wants then under our bed. He and I are working through our difference of opinion on this. I try to discourage the dogs but rabbits keep coming into the fenced in yard and make nests under the deck.Im not sure rabbits are very good at spotting danger. I call our bushes in front of the fence by our gate the thicket of death.

 

[Dainerra]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/magazine/02cats-v--birds-t.html?_r=3

very interesting article about the effects of cats on bird populations

 

[shepherdmom]

Mr. Great Horned owl or Rey (who I am trying very hard to work on her propensity to want to go after little furry things). Got it shots this past week, wormed, and it goes to its new home this week!

Do you rescue Great Horned Owls? We have a nesting pair living in our trees which would be really cool except they leave owl pellets all over the yard and my dogs think these are scooby snacks or something.

 

[msvette2u]

Oddly we never see that many cats up here.
Lots and lots and LOTS of stray and "loosely owned" dogs, but only a small handful of cats.
Down in town there's hoards of feral cats though.