[acurajane]

This morning my 11 mo female pup who happens to have an amazing nose on her, smelled out a rabbit who has been under a bush by our house for a while. I have caught her sniffing around before and knowing the rabbit is there called her away. Well today she was out on the hunt. She caught sent of that rabbit and BOOM. The chase was on and ended in a dead rabbit. My 3 yr old lab who has never even attempted at killing something joined in after it was caught.

So here is my question: My gsd pup( Mya) is scared of anything and everything, chasing a rabbit? Is this normal or do I have an odd dog? And knowing that she has a nose on her should I start making use of it?

 

[acurajane]

O and I should add that Mya hasn't left my side since she killed it and is so gosh darn proud of herself. She has never acted like that before. LOL

 

[littledmc17]

good girl
brady chases after them too he hasn't gotten one cause of the electronic fence

 

[Heidibu]

Just all part of being a dog. Its perfectly natural for them to hunt and kill. We live on an acre and half in a semi-rural neighborhood...so we have lots of critters. Buddy, my lab is the king of hunt around here. Heidi watches and learns tho, so will be soon. She caught her first mole recently and before anyone could do anything about it...she popped it and swallowed it whole.

I only hoped that it was dead when she swallowed it...i feared those sharp claws causing internal damage. All turned out ok...after a few days of upset tummy.

Rookie move, eating it. Buddy never eats them, he just prominently displays his kill for all to see .

 

[BlackPuppy]

My brother-in-law's GSD used to jump the fence at night and hunt rabbits. I saw the dog coming back early one morning with a half eaten rabbit in his jaws. I'd say it's pretty normal. Sounds like a good supplement to his diet. LOL!

 

[jypsykoda]

Sounds like Mya could teach my BEAGLE Jypsy a thing or two. The only thing she's ever caught is a turkey!(It got away)

 

[GSD07]

I discourage running after critters. First because I don't want anybody's cat or small dog killed, second, I don't want my dog to be killed by coyotes that hunt the same rabbits. If your dog goes after a critter can you call him back?

 

[arycrest]

Some of the Hooligans are small wild animal killers, some aren't. I don't like it but there's not much I can do about it. Niki was my worst killer - trespassing chickens and wandering rabbits - we had the buzzards circling the yard almost daily while he was alive.

 

[aaron.whitney]

Sounds like Mya has a good prey drive. Are you already taking advantage of that with her training?

 

[acurajane]

I am not sure where to start on taking advantage of that. I have taken baby steps towards tracking and she amazes me. What would I do with her and her prey drive?

 

[dd]

Quote: I discourage running after critters. First because I don't want anybody's cat or small dog killed, second, I don't want my dog to be killed by coyotes that hunt the same rabbits.

I agree wholeheartedly. Further, wild animals carry parasites and diseases that you dog can catch from them by handling and ingesting them - not a risk I wouold wish to take with my dog.