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I am so sad right now. The dog killed a baby bird this evening. The dog was trying to get up I to the shrub at the nest, and the baby jumped out.
I can't even look at the dog right now, I am so disgusted with her. I built a make-shift fence around the shrub to keep the dog from getting too close, so hopefully, whoever is left in the nest will have a chance. (I don't know why these birds always, every single year, nest in that shrub. It is a danger zone! I took my bluebird house down a few years ago. No point in setting the bluebirds up for murder...)
By the way, the dog also caught a baby opossum a few nights ago. The dog was out of her mind screaming when she (apparently) had it cornered. Then there was a scramble and the opossum finally played 'possum. The dog carried it around until she got bored.
The vet said this instinct is hard wired. But I just hate it that she wants to catch any moving creature that comes into the (fenced) yard. And forget the squirrels. I cannot win that battle, but I doubt she'll ever catch one, so it's just a matter of managing the barking when she sees one up above.
She's a mixed hound plus who knows what dog. I feel she has sight hound in her somewhere, as she is highly sensitive to moving objects and can see things that I would never notice. If a fly gets in the house she goes berserk. Bugs are short-lived in our house.
Has anyone had luck getting their dog to com down and walk away upon it seeing a "prey object"?
Never tried and never wanted to. The vet is right. I think you're going a little over board taking a birdhouse down because your dog killed a bird that jumped out of a bush. About the only way to keep him from catching and killing anything is to keep him in the house.
I DID have a friend who stopped his bird dog from chasing deer. He caught her when she started to chase a deer, cut off a switch with plenty of thorns on it, and wore the dog's butt out! After about 3 outings like that, the dog could care less about deer!
It can be controlled but not eliminated; it's instinct and hardwired.
Please don't be mad at your dog for this! Dogs are carnivores and hunters and also scavengers and opportunistic eaters....if they weren't all of these things they would never have become human companions and pets and working animals and breeds.
Your dog did nothing wrong. No more than a cat killing a moth or mouse, or a spider killing an aphid, or a bat eating a mosquito.
A friend of mine who is a wildlife rehabilitator puts it this way: Most prey animals and birds have two litters per season. The first (spring) litter is food for the predators who have been hibernating or had a lean winter. The second litter is what keeps the generations going.
Circle of life and natural selection. It doesn't matter if all your dog eats are dry commercial pellets, she is still a hunter and a carnivore.
Herding, hunting and retrieving in dogs is all modified prey drive.
It can be controlled but not eliminated; it's instinct and hardwired.
Please don't be mad at your dog for this! Dogs are carnivores and hunters and also scavengers and opportunistic eaters....if they weren't all of these things they would never have become human companions and pets and working animals and breeds.
Your dog did nothing wrong. No more than a cat killing a moth or mouse, or a spider killing an aphid, or a bat eating a mosquito.
A friend of mine who is a wildlife rehabilitator puts it this way: Most prey animals and birds have two litters per season. The first (spring) litter is food for the predators who have been hibernating or had a lean winter. The second litter is what keeps the generations going.
Circle of life and natural selection. It doesn't matter if all your dog eats are dry commercial pellets, she is still a hunter and a carnivore.
Herding, hunting and retrieving in dogs is all modified prey drive.
I didn't punish or yell at the dog. I know it's her instinct. But it's going to take a little while to get over it...I saw it happen and it was so sad...
I'm not going overboard. This isn't the first baby bird casualty, nor the second, if you get my drift...
Activity during nest building and then during feeding (all the flying back and forth and peeping), is a magnet to the dog.
Perhaps this is Darwinism in action. A fairly dumb mama bird keeps on nesting in the same place, and her slow progeny keeps getting eaten.
That is Darwinism. We don't want the slow and dumb breeding and surviving, really. We want the fast and smart ones surviving, to keep the gene pool strong and healthy.
I didn't punish or yell at the dog. I know it's her instinct. But it's going to take a little while to get over it...I saw it happen and it was so sad...
It is and I understand, it is sad. At least from our human point of view.
My dogs have killed several critters and I really don't like it at all. But it is what it is.
The only time it bothered me when one of our crew killed a bird was when it didn't eat it. I understand the food chain and the need to practice but don't kill unless you eat it. It's wasteful.
The only time it bothered me when one of our crew killed a bird was when it didn't eat it. I understand the food chain and the need to practice but don't kill unless you eat it. It's wasteful.
Dogs, especially hounds, are hunters.
True....but then you get the tapeworm issue.
I have had to give Droncit to my adorable little JRT mix three times and counting. Because she catches (and eats) what she catches.
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We don't want the slow and dumb breeding and surviving, really. We want the fast and smart ones surviving, to keep the gene pool strong and healthy.
