OMG!!! My dog just killed a squirrel!!!

zaksmum

Took my dogs to the park and let them off lead for a run. My dog Jack spotted a squirrel, shot after it, caught it, tossed the poor thing up in the air and as I screamed at him to "leave it!" the squirrel hit the ground. I rushed over to check it but it was dead.

I didn't know what to do. I just moved it with my foot to the side of the park and had to leave it there. I feel terrible. I'd never see any living thing hurt and I just can't believe my dog did that.

What can I do?

tanith

Nothing really , dogs chase squirrels yours unfortunately caught a slow one.. its a shame but its nature.. if you don't want it to happen again then the only answer is keep the dog on a lead ..

zaksmum

tanith wrote: »

Nothing really , dogs chase squirrels yours unfortunately caught a slow one.. its a shame but its nature.. if you don't want it to happen again then the only answer is keep the dog on a lead ..

You're not kidding! The way I feel now he's never getting off the lead again.

Lobell

There's nothing you can do except keep the dog on a lead at all times if you don't want it to happen again. You can try to work on his recall so that you can call him back to you when he chases but some dogs are very prey driven and it's nigh on impossible to call them off when they spot prey.

However, if it does happen again, it's probably best not to try to get the dog to 'leave it' if he's already caught it as the animal will probably already be badly injured...far better it die a quick death than a painful drawn out one. And do bear in mind that, although cute, grey squirrels are vermin...would you have been as upset if he'd killed a rat? Squirrels can be vicious little blighters and can inflict nasty bites and scratches givn half a chance so you're lucky that your dog killed it quickly and cleanly.

As a matter of interest, what breed is Jack?

picklepick

Dont worry there was nothing you could do. I agree with the above, that it's best to let the dog finish the job quickly than let the squirrel linger on, possibly in pain. In the UK it's actually illegal to rescue, treat, keep or release a Grey Squirrel without a proper licence so there was nothing that could have been done even if the squirrel had survived your dogs attack.

tbourner

I guess your dog is a terrier?

scaredy_cat

if your dog is a terrier, then his was only doing what is instinctual. They are a ratter, and will go after anything small looking like a rat.

paulsad

Good on him - rats with tails - they think nothing of killing baby birds.

zaksmum

Thanks Lobell. Normally Jack's brilliant with the recall, always has been. Usually he alerts me to the fact he's spotted something when he freezes and stares at whatever he's seen. But this time he just zoomed away and the poor squirrel was dead by the time I realised what was happening.

I don't think it was injured as such...more like a heart attack or something.

Jack's a 2 year old whippet/black labrador first cross, runs like the wind!

Thanks picklepick. I didn't know it was illegal to treat or rescue grey squirrels without a licence - why is that? If it hadn't been dead I'd have wanted to help it somehow, maybe call the RSPCA, but then when I realised it was dead I thought it didn't seem right to just leave it there. It obviously wasn't practical to bury it but just walking away and leaving it lying there felt dreadful. It's probably still there and I just feel I should be doing something!

I did think about it being vicious (couldn't blame it) and checked Jack over but there's no sign of any bites or scratches - poor thing wouldn't have had time.

zaksmum

scaredy_cat wrote: »

if your dog is a terrier, then his was only doing what is instinctual. They are a ratter, and will go after anything small looking like a rat.

No, he's a whippet/labrador first cross...his dad was the whippet and he was a racing dog.

elsien

Without wanting to sound callous, if your dog had left it seriously injured, the best thing you could do is to put it out of its misery. When my brother's dog catches rabbits (a daily occurence at one point), a quick stamp on the head, vile though it is to do, is less cruel than leaving an animal suffering.