Dogs and Prey Animals

BD, one of my dogs, just loves chicken. Unfortunately, he doesn't differentiate live ones from cooked ones. My neighbors have a bunch of chickens that often enters our fenced home. BD would immediately chase them like he's never been fed in his entire life .

The next day, I would see a clump of feathers in his mouth or some bloody chicken feet under our home.

Does your dog chase and devour live prey? I know some dogs still love bunnies...

My dog doesn't prey on other animals. She is somewhat afraid of other animals. I think it's because most of them are bigger than her.

My sister's dog is another story. Her dog is usually very gentle. But, don't let any other animal get in the yard. She will chase after them, corner them, and kill them. Last year, at a family party, she killed a squirrel that made the mistake of getting in her territory. She has killed rats before, too.

Candy, my Bangkeaw, hates mice. She hates them because they steal her food. So whenever she sees one, it's dead meat.

I can still remember one night when Candy was inside my bedroom. All of a sudden, she dashed out to the kitchen. I followed, switching on the light, just in time to see Candy giving the unfortunate mouse one last shake before dropping it on the floor. Dead. No, she didn't eat it. Candy is very choosy about what she eats.

I don't have any dogs, but I grew up with a Pocket Toy Poodle. The only prey he ever went after were people's ankles! haha

Victor, I had to look your dog up since I'd never heard of it before! Cute breed. She sounds like a good mouser! I'm curious now which is a better mouser, your dog or cat?

My brother always had hunting dogs, so of course, they would always chase after any living animal they considered prey.

haopee, I'm wondering if you have trouble/"bad blood" with that particular neighbor since your dog kills and eats his chickens? He shouldn't be mad if his chickens come onto YOUR property though before getting killed. If it were the other way around, your dog going onto his property to grab his chickens, it would be a different story.

A guy my husband works with owns a horse ranch with a great many acres. He's always complaining about a neighbor's dogs that run free and kill the deer on his land.

(06-26-2012 02:25 AM)laurasav Wrote:  I don't have any dogs, but I grew up with a Pocket Toy Poodle. The only prey he ever went after were people's ankles! haha

Victor, I had to look your dog up since I'd never heard of it before! Cute breed. She sounds like a good mouser! I'm curious now which is a better mouser, your dog or cat?

My brother always had hunting dogs, so of course, they would always chase after any living animal they considered prey.

haopee, I'm wondering if you have trouble/"bad blood" with that particular neighbor since your dog kills and eats his chickens? He shouldn't be mad if his chickens come onto YOUR property though before getting killed. If it were the other way around, your dog going onto his property to grab his chickens, it would be a different story.

A guy my husband works with owns a horse ranch with a great many acres. He's always complaining about a neighbor's dogs that run free and kill the deer on his land.

Well, that's the thing. BD doesn't care about the ducks. Only the chicken. And right now, so far no chickens were victimized but occasionally, it still does.

I was wondering if feeding them raw meat was affecting their outlook in food.

It was their chickens that came into our premises because all their animals are loose. My only trouble with that neighbor is that their dogs get to roam free which annoys me because they will travel in a pack and come into our dogs' turf which is the road beside our home. And my dogs would go bonkers at them. Other than that, we're pretty much good neighbors.

It sounds like you have an extremely irresponsible neighbor! I would be really annoyed to have their animals running all around my neighborhood, bothering my own animals! I say start eating ALL their chickens that roam into your yard. If they come over, they're DINNER! Get 'em before your own dog can! LOL
I'd be calling the dog catcher on their dogs too. I hate when people can't take care of their animals like they're supposed to! Grrr!
I don't even like my neighbors cats in my yard, upsetting my own cats, looking out at them from inside our house. Keep them at your own home!

I used to own two Jack Russell terriers and so I'm perfectly used to the little blighters chasing live animals! They particularly enjoyed chasing rabbits and squirrels but weren't too bothered what it was if it was furry and ran fast. They even chased the occasional deer!

Now the dogs I have right now are far more sociable and it's rare that they chase anything at all. Oddly I trust the Lurcher (sighthound) with other animals more than the little Cairn Terrier cross.

When I just had one dog, she was very good and didn't bother with other animals. Since introducing the second dog, the situation has changed. Because the second dog, Harry, will chase anything that moves, Millie now joins in. I need to be particularly vigilant because they will kill anything that they catch.

dogs are the pets who, like chicken also. they like non-veg.

The most prey driven dog I have ever had is my weenie dog. That is a shocker if you are not familiar with dachshunds. I wasn't either, she is my first weenie. But after all they were bred to be badger hounds. Almost everything unless it's another dog or a human is prey to her. She is a powerful hunter. Some people on the dachshund group online DO hunt with their weenie dogs.

She has caught and eaten rat, squirrel, and helped the other dogs kill even more. My other two don't actually eat anything, but miss Ayla does for sure.

Power driven one minute and super cuddly the next minute, both Ayla and the breed is awesome. Not for everyone obviously, especially because of their backs, but definitely an awesome breed.

I have a little yorkie/shitzu mix that would not bother a fly. HOWEVER, my daughter has a rat terrier that is a terror. He is in a fenced yard when he is outside and beware any bird that lands on the grass or squirel that gets brave enough to cross the fence. He will chase them right out. He also goes bonkers if he sees an animal outside the fence. If he ever caught one, I am sure it would be history.

Tootsie, our Blue Heeler mix, is great for going after mice. She doesn't eat them, but she dos seem to know that they do not belong in the house, and when she would see a mouse, she would go right after it.
We don't have any mice here, but before, we lived in a run-down trailer house out in the country; that place had more holes in the floor in the closets than you could count, so the mice would easily come right in. We had some food stored on the back porch, so I had to be careful not to put anything out there that the mice might get into. Tootsie was a great patrol dog, but she could not be everywhere at once.
Now, we have an opossum that comes up by the back door at night looking to see if there are any scraps of leftovers out there for him to eat. Tootsie sleeps just inside the back door, which is mostly glass, so she has a complete hizzy fit when she see that possum out back.