embarrasing scarey walk.

So the other day we went for a walk me and sapphire she has this new toy a sqeeky chicken. She loves it. We were happily off on our walk she went for a run come back with her ball so i threw it for her again with he new ball thrower she didnt come back. So i walked after her up the hill (bearing in mind we live near fields and marshy land countryside) up the hill i went to find sapphire with a phesant in her mouth smaking it on the floor till it was dead feathers and alll alover the place then she thought it was a game to run around with it. I said drop it vvery sturnley and she did. A bloke walks upto us and he says oh dogs new toy never seen one like that before wers it from to which i reply pets at home CRINGE!!!!!! What the hell will she do this everytime she sees birds. Scared me to death. X

Any help? X

Some have a higher prey drive than others I'm afraid there is nothing you can do about it, Steff is the same she got a bird a few days back and she loves to hunt rabbits or anything else that moves in the bushes although she has never been quick enough to catch anything Unfortunately the only way to prevent things like this happening are to keep her on lead It is good that she dropped it on command though

Sorry Katie I haven't any advice, except enjoy your roast pheasant dinner! (Wish my dog could bring me sunday dinner)

It scared me half to death shes never eaven botherd with them before untill her new chicken toy before her new toy she would happily just walk past ducks and pheasants. But now she goes mental and pounces on them like a cat. Do u think if i took away the chicken toy she may forget shes still very young and only had it two days. Xx

I'm sorry I honestly don't know I'm sure someone will be able to offer some more advice on that one..

Chasing birds and small animals is all part of their prey drive and is genetically programmed into them. A line lead would allow them to raom a bit and still let you maintain control

Totally normal. Frosty introduced Monte to hunting and Pigglette is always up for chasing things. Lizards are her fav. Only Frosty is fast enough to get animals though. It isn't pretty but it is natural for them. Best keep her on lead as once they do it, they tend to repeat... Sorry, not trying to be a downer. Just the reality of it.

It's unfortunately normal. Some dogs have higher prey drive than others. Loki's is remarkably low, so I can tell him to leave the birds alone and he will, or tell him to come back to me while he's chasing them. He's never actually caught one though, so if the prey drive is strong like Sapphire's is, I don't think they'd listen to any commands, unfortunately it's just instinct.

Ledger was going crazy at agility on Wednesday and had all 7 of us in the group staring out at the field where he was looking we couldn't see a damn thing for ages then suddenly a pair of baby bunny ears flicked up in the grass. Luckily he was on lead at the time as I dont think the fence would have stopped him :S generally though he takes or leaves birds and has realised that squirrels will only ever be a chasing game .

Darcy hasn't encountered many birds up close as yet except in the garden, and then she chases them like mad, so I think if she came across one of lead she'd pounce

Alfie loves birds too, luckily he hasnt been quick enough to catch one...yet.
Must have been horrible for you to see though

Chiquito so far will sit and watch the bush turkeys, ducks etc we encounter on our walks however that is only ever on lead, I think he would be off if he could be.

As said above, I think it is just a part of their nature and some dogs are bound to be more driven to chase than others.

katie.lm761 wrote:It scared me half to death shes never eaven botherd with them before untill her new chicken toy before her new toy she would happily just walk past ducks and pheasants. But now she goes mental and pounces on them like a cat. Do u think if i took away the chicken toy she may forget shes still very young and only had it two days. Xx

, im sorry, but when ou said cat it tickled me. I know exactly what you mean. On a serious note, i totally understand your concern. Kenny is the same, lucky for me he hasnt caught anything yet as he's allways on the lead. He will chase anything. He once chased a motor bike through a forest , We lost him for a what seemed like hours. I dred to think of what would of happened if he'd caught the bike. Proberly would of killed him. For that reason, he's never off lead.

Oh dear, as been said you may be better using a long line and not letting her off.

Don't worry so much she is a terrier after all.. Cats do this all the time..and you never hear of cat owners trying to stop them doing what comes naturally.

It is just in some dogs, Logan has next to no prey drive but my last dog was hunting on the brain. It's natural anyway, as long as she can't get near other pets or farm animals etc it's ok

We lost Doug for about 30mins the other day as he though it would be the BEST GAME EVER to chase a DEER! Honestly I just about lost my mind as I've only had him 4 weeks and it was his very first time off the lead!

I almost lost my voice calling him, I was fuming! Luckly we were in a large enclosed field so he couldn't actually escape but he was out of sght! He did eventually come back of his own accord but that was only because the deer out ran him!

To top it off he look as pleased as punch! He seemed so proud of himself and I couldn't tell him off as he clearly had no idea that he had done something wrong! Now he is not allowed off the lead and he is going to recall training classes tomorrow!

It's just her prey drive, you might need to be careful around rabbits too. It must have been really upsetting for you seeing her do that. I get upset if the cats kill anything.

Well today we went on our normal walk i remived the chicken toy last night sbe didnt miss it this morning me my oh and our lg went for our normal walk sapphire off lead we walked past sheep rabbits pheasants and ducks no problem at all she didnt even bother with them i think the toy was egging her on to kill lol. No scarey buissness today thank god. Xx

Katie, I would beg you NOT to have Sapphire off the lead around sheep, please remember that a farmer is allowed to shoot and kill a dog that he suspects is worrying his sheep, and it only takes a split second. It's just not worth the risk.

And if the ducks and pheasants are not wild, then the same applies (except for the shooting bit).

Sorry to be a downer.

I would'nt know what to do if I caught Shéara killing a bird! Its horrible but like everyone's already said...its programmed into them and theres not much you can do about it Using a long lead may be an option in places theres likely to be animals.

She cant get inti the sheep im not that stupid to let her off lead were thier are sheep even if she hadnt attacked a pheasant the sheep were up in the fields thier all enclosed we walk on the country road and the pheasants and ducks are wild they dont belong to anyone. Shes only aloud off lead when were walking on country road when other dogs and birds are thier shes on lead. I dont purposley let her off lead to go hunting down animals. X

Ah Katie, thank you for putting my mind at rest. Please don't be offended, I didn't for one minute think (or imply) that you let Sapphire off the lead to go hunting down animals (or birds)!

Its ok i didnt want people to think i let her off being irrisponsable.