The dog in my avatar is a GSP x Weimeraner- such a lovely dog. He is the runt of his litter, and his hunting instinct never really kicked in, perhaps because he was really well socialised with animals or, perhaps he had oxygen starvation at birth. I’m inclined to the latter, as both breeds have a reputation for being intelligent, but he… is just not.
My other dog is a GSP cross random farm dog, mostly labrador, but plenty in the mix.
She is really intelligent and has a full on prey drive. She kills rats all the time, but I did habituate her to everything from horses, cows, goats, sheep, cats etc. She points, the other idiot just blunders about with tail wagging.
She has killed cats, even though she grew up as a puppy with a cat, who put her in her place. She lived with that cat for more than four years, so I thought she would be OK.
Fortunately for me, only in my garden, and apparently strays, because for each cat, I would have the horrible task of asking the neighborhood if any cat is missing, posting notices at our local vet, etc. Never got an answer. She is leashed outside, and with a harness, rather than a collar, because she knows how to escape.
I did keep a water spray loaded with citronella and water and would shoot it at cats that I spotted on the property, so the killing eventually declined. I guess the cats got a much less deadly message.
She’s now 14 years old, and I think she has given up on that career path. I hope so.
