# Why do dogs like to kill things? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326 "2018-01-23T21:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/21 "2018-01-24T17:28:11Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > No. They would do this entirely on their own. They are bred to kill with enormous enthusiasm as fast as possible. You can’t really train a dog to do this. You have to breed it. > > For dogs, fulfilling prey drive is its own reward. No praise or cookies needed or wanted. The whole praise and reward thing is something that only is necessary when the activity is artificial, something the dog wouldn’t do on its own. Since that encompasses virtually all of the activities urban/suburban pet lovers require, it is easy to forget this. It also is the reason terriers are called “stubborn” and “hard to train”. Obedience was never a high priority for terrier breeders. Gameness and hardiness was. Thanks for the correction. This is obviously something to be considered when looking for a dog to adopt. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/22 "2018-01-24T18:56:12Z")
Dogs were bred to hunt for food for their masters, not for themselves. They kill and then bring the goodies to their owner. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/23 "2018-01-24T21:00:26Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Thanks for the correction. This is obviously something to be considered when looking for a dog to adopt. Temperament and behavior should _always_ trump aesthetics when selecting a dog. Siberian Huskies, like other sled dogs, needed to overrule their owners when it was appropriate, consider a dog sled team entering an area of thin ice. There was a recent spike in Siberians in shelters that was attributed to the game of thrones. > **['Game Of Thrones' Spurs Siberian Husky Craze At Local Shelters](https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/game-of-thrones-spurs-siberian-husky-craze/)** > > A Bay Area animal shelter is seeing a spike in Siberian Huskies being returned that may have to do with the popular HBO series "Game of Thrones." They are wonderful dogs, but require exercise and respond poorly to training in the style of Cesar Millan. Actually most dogs respond poorly to those methods, but a Sibe will never respond to it. The only reason I adopt them is the prevalence of them in the shelters, as I tend to prefer mutts as they tend to have less health issues. Blue eyes and fluffy often overrules more important long term factors like activity needs and what can be challenging training issues if one assumes a companion animals level of _give a damn_ from them. Terriers are also over represented due to similar unrealistic expectations or misunderstandings of their typical personalities. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/24 "2018-03-03T23:25:34Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Dogs were bred to hunt for food for their masters, not for themselves. They kill and then bring the goodies to their owner. You are confusing a few separately-bred traits. Hounds are bred to track prey down either by scent or sight. They do not retrieve. They’ll kill the prey if they catch it. Normally scent hounds end up treeing or driving their quarry underground. Then the hunters catch up and do the killing. They whip the hounds off otherwise they’d eat the prey. Sporting Dogs (Retrievers, Setters, Spaniels) have the kill part bred out of them. They locate game, wait for the hunters to shoot it, and then bring it back intact. A ‘soft mouth’ that won’t even break feathers, is a sought-after trait. Terriers are bred strictly to kill vermin. They are generally welcome to eat whatever they catch. They don’t retrieve Herding dogs are not bred to kill anything at all, but because they need a high degree of prey drive to stay in the herding game, they can get into situations where they will kill. They are the most versatile of all breeds and many do a pretty good job of retrieving, and also vermin hunting. And there are plenty of other kinds of dogs too. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/25 "2018-03-03T23:46:44Z")
Yeah I can speak from experience that is rare that dogs actually have killer instinct. But a significant minority do (typically terriers as other posters have mentioned) and it is purely a inherited thing, nothing to do with training (the cases I’ve experienced the owners never trained the dogs to kill anything, they just did!). It is actually pretty disturbing when you are used to the typical dog reaction to prey (lots of barking and running around, but not coming close to killing anything), when a terrier just calmly snaps a rat’s neck in front of you! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/26 "2018-03-04T00:11:46Z")
I have a Yorkshire terrier. The rat would probably beat her up. All her terrier instinct is bred out, I guess. I thought her personality would be more like a previous Rat Terrier I had. That was the most murderous dog I ever had. Rats, bunnies, squirrels and she had a special affinity to moles. She would dig great holes looking for them. She stand over the mole hill and cock her head listening, so cute! Then proceed to dig and then dispatch the mole with one quick bite and shake, on to the next. Little dog#1 wouldn’t know what to do. It came natural to my Rat Terrier but not my Yorkie. Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Chopsticks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cab0a1/32.png) [@Chopsticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopsticks)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/27 "2018-03-04T00:44:53Z")
Obligatory reminder that the level of prey drive can vary as much from dog to dog in one breed, as the average can vary between breeds. Identifying the strong drives in a dog is the beginning of some of the most successful training methods. If you watch videos of police dogs & agility dogs you’ll often see the handler using a throw or tug toy as a reward right after doing something. Guide dogs frequently use praise or food. (eta: IIRC, prey drive, pack drive, and food drive are the big three in dog training) There is a theme/joke (less than a consensus?) among Airedale owners that the dog has the drive and intelligence to be trained. But, they get bored easily and can outsmart their owners. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/28 "2018-03-04T01:38:00Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Temperament and behavior should _always_ trump aesthetics when selecting a dog. > > Siberian Huskies, like other sled dogs, needed to overrule their owners when it was appropriate, consider a dog sled team entering an area of thin ice. Side note that everything that applies to huskies also applies to Malemutes, plus they’re much bigger and stronger. Mals are the semi trucks to the husky sports car. They are incredibly independent and smart as hell, and I’ve often said you can teach a Mal to do _anything_–once. After that you’d better give them a damned good reason to go on with it. They’re escape artists and consider the entire world to be theirs to roam at will so if you don’t have good fences you won’t have a dog for long. They also have a very high prey drive and it can be a little disconcerting to the uninitiated. I had a big, gorgeous Mal bitch who weighed in at 135 pounds at her peak. She taught my poor grandson all about what big fast dogs do around small skittery rodents by catching some small unlucky creature while we were out on a walk and she ate it right in front of his horrified eyes. She likewise traumatized a good friend of mine by translocating seven feet to the left to snag an unwary baby bunny then swallowed the poor little thing whole. She loved the hell out of MY cats, but any OTHER cat who ventured into her yard was going to get chased and if she caught it, it was done for. I once went out back to discover her and my big orange cat sitting a couple feet apart, both of them staring at something on the ground between them that turned out to be a very deceased star nosed mole. I don’t know which one did for the mole and it’s a mystery why it remained uneaten–perhaps it was a collegial Alphonse and Gaston moment between them. They’re funny, adorable, goofy and no dog for the inexperienced, that’s for sure! Plus, SO MUCH SHEDDING. So…so much. Twice a year and the sheer volume of it is unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/29 "2018-03-04T03:08:44Z")
The first dog my wife and I got, and her first dog ever, was a yellow lab who wouldn’t hurt a fly. The beagle\Australian Cattle Dog mix we have now has both the herding instinct and the chase\kill instinct. She loves her cats, but would make short work of a rabbit or squirrel of she caught it (the only squirrel I’ve seen her catch survived because of how ingrained the “drop it” command was. My wife was shocked when the dog killed a rat in the yard. We never had them in the house because of the cats; now we don’t have to worry about them inside the fence. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/30 "2018-03-04T03:28:19Z")
Ha, my young dog is a heeler mix and she sure does love to chase the squirrels–the next door neighbor’s yard has a cedar tree with multiple trunks growing from a single base and she chased a squirrel up it then freaked the squirrel out by leaping into the middle of those trunks and climbing a good ten feet up after it. The squirrel was pissed off and after it got far enough up the tree she couldn’t follow any further it had an absolutely apoplectic scolding session at her for a good fifteen minutes while she danced around the trunk trying to figure how to go after it again. Prey drive is fun! ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/31 "2018-03-04T03:31:01Z")
Ours has had acorns dropped on her head by pissed off squirrels a few times. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/32 "2018-03-04T03:46:27Z")
There’s been a low grade war going on between the squirrels, my dogs and the dogs next door–the squirrels just can’t get over the fact that they don’t rule the world nearly as much as Rick and Morty would have you believe. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/33 "2018-03-04T05:23:05Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Ha, my young dog is a heeler mix and she sure does love to chase the squirrels–the next door neighbor’s yard has a cedar tree with multiple trunks growing from a single base and she chased a squirrel up it then freaked the squirrel out by leaping into the middle of those trunks and climbing a good ten feet up after it. The squirrel was pissed off and after it got far enough up the tree she couldn’t follow any further it had an absolutely apoplectic scolding session at her for a good fifteen minutes while she danced around the trunk trying to figure how to go after it again. Prey drive is fun! My Rat Terrier would climb if there was fork in the tree. She got higher than I ever thought possible a couple of times, and had to be rescued. She was absolutly insane on the chase. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/34 "2018-03-04T20:34:23Z")
I find it astounding that no one has commented on _whatever_ a poster in this thread named **rat avatar** has to say should be treated with the utmost respect. He’s speaking from on high, almost. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/35 "2018-03-04T20:56:59Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Part of the domestication process was to (intentionally or not) select for animals which would prefer to avoid conflict over shared resources. Food aggression, toy aggression and other similar behaviors are dangerous and pretty useless if your dog helps you on a hunt but consumes the prey before you even get there. I’m from Bucharest, Romania. In the early post-communist era, stray dogs proliferated to such an extent that packs of dogs often attacked, sometimes killed and even consumed people. I wonder how the theory accounts for the cats I’ve seen killed by these dogs. Killed and left in the road. Quite creepy. Thank goodness it is a thing of the past. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/36 "2018-03-04T21:14:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I just popped in to say that it took me over 2 minutes to realize they were speaking English. > > (The people, not the dogs. ☺) Northerners i think. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/37 "2018-03-05T18:15:12Z")
A number of our pit bulls and pit bull mixes have had low-to-entirely-absent prey drive. Sadie, some sort of Pit/hound mix, used to find small animals and inspect them at close range, almost touching them with her nose while sniffing them. She was very interested in hamsters, to the point that we thought she might want to eat them, but after the hamsters died of natural causes, we her inspect the bodies and she just seemed sad. Simone, a straight-up street pit, had no recognizable prey drive whatsoever. Diamond, however, was a Plott Hound/Pit mix and she had relentless drive to kill other animals (dogs included, if she’d been allowed to have her own way), even animals larger than herself (like deer). Of course, Plotts are _bear-hunting_ dogs. ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/38 "2018-03-05T19:48:51Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Hah! I’ve seen that one. > > The dogs in the video are mostly terriers, and terriers are bred specifically to capitalize on and increase their strong prey-killing drive. And, even more specifically, to kill rats. > > Yes, they’re killing for the sheer joy of it, and not for food. And they’re very efficient. I think every one of those rats died more quickly than if they had gotten snapped in a trap. > > Some even more impressive ratting videos can be found by looking for “plummer terrier ratting”. A Plummer terrier isn’t found in any show ring. They’re bred purely for working, and not to be exhibited in an arena. They’re hell on rat populations. As an aside, it is probably difficult to get hold of now but Brian Plummer’s (The guy behind Plummer Terriers) book - “Tales of a rat hunting man” is well worth a read if you ever see it anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/39 "2018-03-05T20:04:09Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > … > > Sporting Dogs (Retrievers, Setters, Spaniels) have the kill part bred out of them. They locate game, wait for the hunters to shoot it, and then bring it back intact. A ‘soft mouth’ that won’t even break feathers, is a sought-after trait. > > … Interesting thread. And you obviously have a lot of experience and interesting things to say. Thanks. I’d appreciate your take on a couple of things. We’ve had 4 golden retrievers over 30+ years. Yes, very soft mouths - carry clothes and things around but don’t chew them up. They do, however, at times like to chase animals - such as rabbits in the backyard, or rabbits/deer when out walking off leash. Seems somewhat at odds with the “wait and retrieve” behavior I’d expect they’d been bred for. More like a greyhound sight/pursuit behavior. I remember one time we took our 2 goldens to a dog park, where several clueless rabbits had apparently built nests. They found a number of baby rabbits, and when we told them to “drop it,” instead, they rapidly gulped them down. The behavior I would expect related to food scraps or garbage, rather than living things. Had a similar situation. Long story short, a mason disturbed several baby squirrels rebuilding a chimney, and placed them in a box he hung from our fence. My dog ignored them, but the mutt directly behind was going nuts. The neighbor mutt jumped the fence, tore down the box, and my golden joined her in a bloodbath. But a contrast was when I saw a prior golden out in the back yard. I thought she was playing with a squeaky toy, until I saw her gently toss the object, and it squeaked while in the air. Yep, baby squirrel (somewhat the worse for wear.) I’m not a cat person, but my impression is that housecats will kill for sport. In fact, if I hadn’t thought of terriers, I would have said cats were the only animals that killed other than for hunger. Do most people WANT their cats to kill mice and such, such that it has not been bred out of them? Do other species/breeds kill for sport/enjoyment.reasons other than hunger? ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326/40 "2018-03-06T05:14:23Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Do other species/breeds kill for sport/enjoyment.reasons other than hunger? Humans of course and [wolves](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/25/wolf-pack-kills-19-wyoming-elk-in-one-night.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-dogs-like-to-kill-things/807326.md?page=3)