My Old German Shepherd Is A Bird Watcher (rabbits, horses, bunnies)

Melvin.George · 01-23-2011, 06:33 AM

Dandi is almost twelve years old, weighs 100 pounds and loves to watch birds.

We've had her here with us since she was a few weeks old. We gave her to our male german shepherd Mack who was about six years old at the time. He would not let her eat a bite at mealtime until he finished his food and sometimes he would just lay beside his food bowl for 15-20 minutes just to annoy her(or show his male dominance.) They were a riot to watch. Every time she would try to take a bite from her bowl he would growl loudly and if she dared to defy him the chase was on. He couldn't catch her but he would run her away from her bowl.

Old Mack showed up with cancer in his mouth and we had to have him put down about two or three years ago. Dandi became a different dog. It took her a while to realize that she was the new governor around here. She has seen me restock the bird feeders around our lake house all her life and now one of her favorite pastimes is lying within 10-15 feet of two of our most popular feeders and watching the birds as they gobble up the seeds. She really does watch them and they know she's no threat so they completely ignore her. It's obvious to us that her favorite birds are the doves and cardinals.

We are fascinated by the whole thing.

suedonym · 01-23-2011, 09:55 AM

I have an 11 year old GSD that watches them too LOL. He also likes to lay near the bunny nests in the spring and watch them. What's even odder is one of my cats will bring me baby bunnies (alive, and very carefully). I think the cat thinks we need to help them LOL

Melvin.George · 01-23-2011, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suedonym

I have an 11 year old GSD that watches them too LOL. He also likes to lay near the bunny nests in the spring and watch them. What's even odder is one of my cats will bring me baby bunnies (alive, and very carefully). I think the cat thinks we need to help them LOL

That's funny. Our gsd isn't nearly as sympathetic concerning new bunnies...If I can't manage to see her pick one up and get to her within seconds I hear that crunching sound which is it's skull. I think she learned that from our old male gsd before it met it's demise. She can eat a small rabbit and completely swallow it within a minute or so. We never notice any decrease in their numbers. This place is covered with rabbits and squirrels.

Yzette · 01-23-2011, 11:15 AM

That's great! Do you think you could snap a picture of it?

suedonym · 01-23-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melvin.George

That's funny. Our gsd isn't nearly as sympathetic concerning new bunnies...If I can't manage to see her pick one up and get to her within seconds I hear that crunching sound which is it's skull. I think she learned that from our old male gsd before it met it's demise. She can eat a small rabbit and completely swallow it within a minute or so. We never notice any decrease in their numbers. This place is covered with rabbits and squirrels.

yeah, pip doesn't bother the local wildlife, and deer and horses confuse him LOL

Shadow is the cat we have who tries to save the bunnies... the others will gladly kill them (and birds).

Geneyus · 01-28-2011, 02:59 PM

My german shepherd likes to sit by the back door and watch the birds through the window. We have a bird feeder out there and will have about a dozen birds out there in the afternoons. I sprinkle seed in the grass too so they'll walk around on the ground.

He amazes me sometimes with how intelligent he is. We were playing the other day, and an airplane was flying overhead. He stopped and looked straight at it like he was trying to figure out what it was. I've never seen any other dog focus on an airplane. Mine is a little over 1 year old.