I have a Shiba Inu. They’re small and cute, but they’re hunting dogs. Mine decided to hunt birds.
She likes it out in our small, fenced yard, so yesterday we left her sunbathing while we ran an errand. When we came home there were bird pieces near her favorite spot.
This afternoon I left the door open while I did dishes, only to be bombarded by frantic chirping from outside. I found my dog with a still-living small bird (possibly a chick) between her paws. I told her to let it go and get in the house, which she did as the bird scuttled into a corner. I rinsed my hands and went out to check, but it was gone.
I have no idea how a bird, especially a chick, would get in range of my dog, but I guess she’s a better hunter than I expected.
In this thread I asked for suggestions to scare off birds because their chosen tree is doomed. Now I have to scare them away to save their very lives.
My youngest dog, Sirius, comes from a family of blood-thirsty killers. Two weeks after we adopted him, the remaining members of the litter and the parents killed a flock of chickens, apparently just to watch them die.
No, I said. Not my little Sirius. Look at his sweet little face, and those big, innocent eyes. He’s no killer.
He is. Behind those gentle-looking eyes lurks a black soul. About a month ago, I went to bring him back inside after letting him out to go to the bathroom and he trotted up to the door, his mouth full of mouse. A little leg dangled, twitching, from the side of his mouth. I shrieked, and dove to pry open his mouth, thinking of all of the parasites he was likely consuming, but, sensing my intent, he quickly gulped down his prize.
Those are pretty cute dogs. I have a cute dog with a pleasant dispostion and charming personality. Imagine my surprise when one day I found Goliath standing over a dead squirrel. I’m still not convinced that he killed it since his legs are so short, I can’t imagine that he could catch one. He still is my little buddy no matter how many dead bodies he leaves in his wake.
garygnu - cute!!!
My Dolly is a golden retriever and when she was 2 she killed two rabbits. It broke my heart something fierce.
Last week she found a mole’s nest. But apparently she wasn’t TOO interested in killing the baby mole because I was able to just open her mouth and retrieve it.
However, she has since encountered her first adult mole. And it screamed at her. Every time she pawed at it, it screamed. She was scared. She does NOT like animals that talk back to her!
I am torn between being sad that nature is such that my cute furry mammal wants to kill other cute furry mammals, and the fact that my dog is a big weenie.
That’s an easy one. When young birds are first learning to fly and leave the nest, they aren’t very good at flying and they can end up in places that aren’t particularly safe for them. And sometimes they forget they can fly. They try to run from danger and they end up getting caught. That’s probably what happened with your dog. It’s happened with my dogs a couple of times.
I also had a foster greyhound at my house a few years back who caught a bird mid-flight as it flew low over the yard. Oops.