Dog catching rabbits

Lieja

Two days in a row now my dog has caught and killed a rabbit while out on walks. They are absolutely everywhere where we live, and he's always on his lead so he's catching them as they sit literally next to the paths in the long grass. The only way I can think of getting him to stop is by muzzling him, which I'm prepared to do if I need to.

The real issue is that I'm worried he'll start seeing other small animals as viable prey, namely the baby Shih-tzu next door! He's usually friendly with other dogs (except the big dogs two doors down who he hates) but I'm scared that now he's managed to catch and kill something, he'll start thinking he can do it to other small animals too!

He's a malamute btw, so a lot of dogs are considerably smaller than him

I know it's natural for a dog to chase rabbits and this is probably a totally stupid question, but does this prey drive extend to small dogs too?

PasturesNew

Lieja wrote: »

He's a malamute btw, so a lot of dogs are considerably smaller than him

... and babies
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/18/alaskan-malamute-dog-seized-pontyberem-baby-death

Person_one

Most dogs can very easily tell the difference between small furry things that are prey, other dogs of any size, and people of any size. There are exceptions who do chase small dogs, but I think these tend to be mostly sighthounds.

Has your dog ever showed any signs of wanting to chase anything other than rabbits/squirrels/mice etc?

Lieja

I meant shih tzu next door, btw. Not Shar-pei!

I'm not worried about babies, they don't seem to have a tendency to tear up to my dog while their parents idly stand back and watch.

Next door don't have a baby either, but thanks

elsien

My brothers lab is an expert rabbit catcher (and my poor Bro is now expert as dispatching the half dead ones) but he's always been fine with other dogs, even small ones.
The rabbits he does tend to catch are the mixy ones which are unlikely to survive anyway, and bro didn't want to muzzle him his if this was the only reason. Dog has got lazier and slower as he got older so he catches less nowadays.

Lieja

Person_one wrote: »

Most dogs can very easily tell the difference between small furry things that are prey, other dogs of any size, and people of any size. There are exceptions who do chase small dogs, but I think these tend to be mostly sighthounds.

Has your dog ever showed any signs of wanting to chase anything other than rabbits/squirrels/mice etc?

Since he's always on his lead it's hard to tell the difference between wanting to chase and eat, and wanting to chase and play!

He happily lunges towards rabbits, birds, squirrels, sheep, cows, horses - if it breathes he wants to be near it. When I do let him approach dogs though he's always just had a sniff and a play. I have no idea what would happen if he got close to a sheep though, and we have lots of those around too!

I've let him have a sniff of next door's dog before (he actually ran away when it barked at him) but I'm worried, probably stupidly, that now he's managed to catch a rabbit he'll think that everything smaller than him's up for grabs.

Person_one

Is this your first dog?

Don't worry, I'm sure he knows the difference and if he's always on his lead anyway its fine. Are you going to go to training classes? Might be a good idea to build your confidence a bit!

codemonkey

CD chases rabbits and squirrels but thankfully he's too stupid to catch and kill them. He's never chased a small dog in any way other than play though. They know they're dogs.

Lieja

No - I grew up with a GSD/border collie cross and upon meeting OH 4 years ago I lived with Bumble, a food and dog aggressive American Bulldog, until she passed away last year. We also had a malamute !!!!! before Oscar, who unfortunately passed away at just under a year old from a very complex illness. She was as good as gold while she was well though, but Oscar has a very different personality.

I know how to deal with him if it is going to be an issue, and he could never be as difficult as Bumble was to manage, but I really don't want another dog that's quite as stressful as she was!

Maybe that's why I'm worried - it's probably nothing and I'm just assuming he'll want to eat everything with a pulse because that's what I've dealt with before!

I'm more worried about next door's dog because the fence stops half way down the garden, and their dog often runs freely around the grass and wouldn't think twice about approaching my boy. Oscar's always tied to a long line in the garden so he can't get next door, but I don't expect next door to restrict their pup so he won't get eaten! It probably is reasonable to ask that the dog doesn't get in our garden I suppose...

elsien wrote: »

My brothers lab is an expert rabbit catcher (and my poor Bro is now expert as dispatching the half dead ones) but he's always been fine with other dogs, even small ones.
The rabbits he does tend to catch are the mixy ones which are unlikely to survive anyway, and bro didn't want to muzzle him his if this was the only reason. Dog has got lazier and slower as he got older so he catches less nowadays.

I'm inclined to think that what he's catching is probably not doing too well if it can't get away from a dog on a lead, but how do you tell? I wouldn't feel so bad if that's the case. I can't possibly 'finish them off' for him though, and there's no way he'd give it up once he's caught it. Hanging around for him to put the half eaten thing down long enough to drag him away is no fun at all though, and really ruins an otherwise lovely walk!

jm2926

Person_one wrote: »

Most dogs can very easily tell the difference between small furry things that are prey, other dogs of any size, and people of any size. There are exceptions who do chase small dogs, but I think these tend to be mostly sighthounds.

Has your dog ever showed any signs of wanting to chase anything other than rabbits/squirrels/mice etc?

I had a sight hound who was happy playing with small dogs but would chase prey animals, and one who thought anything fluffy was food e.g. Spaniels. The difference was a combination of prey drive and training as the later had been trained in Ireland on live prey (rescued by us eventually). Muzzle the dog if you're worried.

Merry_Wanderer

My greyhound will lunge toward rabbits slightly, but mostly it is cats she pulls toward when on lead. She is ok with horses, sheep etc. Scared of other dogs, even ones smaller than a cat - she just wants to avoid them, but I wouldn't let her off-lead with small/toy dogs around none-the-less. I walk with my eyes open for rabbits, and half the time she doesn't even notice them!