Puppy killed my quail, need some advice.

Hey guys, Im new to owning a staffy. My girl is 16 weeks old and is well and truly my little girl. I love her to bits. However, today I went out to visit my father and upon my return i noticed the inside of my house and patio was covered in quail feathers. Upon looking, she had killed and partially eaten 3 of my pet quail. I looked at their pen and she had dug a hole, not big enough for her to get in, but big enough for the birds to escape. I have a lot of animals, reptiles, birds, etc I also care for injured and orphaned native wildlife here in Australia so my yard frequently has a lot of pens with various animals in them. So I was wondering is there a way to work with her to teach her to not hunt and kill? I know this is probably a very difficult thing to do but I'm willing to put in any amount of time and effort it takes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi and welcome to the forum

They have a natural prey instinct that can be difficult to overcome. It's best to make sure that she can't get to them if you are going to be gone for a long period of time. The best thing I can think of is to get a long lead and get her used to be around other animals. If she goes after them you can easily pull her back and tell her no. After enough time she will be used to being around them.

Thanks so much for your reply, Il start trying that with with her tomorrow morning

Yes Staffs can have a high prey drive, is there any way to make your other animals more secure in their pens ?

They are all in aviary style cages, she dug underneath so il have to get something to lay down as a base she can't get through too as a precautionary measure. I was just hoping there was a way I could socialise her with them to try and prevent it happening again.

staffies are terriers it's in their nature to hunt and kill small animals. It can be very hard to overcome and the easiest thing to do is keep them separate and make sure theres no way she can get to them

Hi and welcome to the forum, maybe come and post an introduction when you get chance https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

It seems your girl has a high prey drive, unfortunately you can't really train that out of them but perhaps you can get her used to them a little, hard to say.

Cant add any more than what others has said really,

I think when you have pets from all nature its important to respect every animal and it's needs and protection,im sure you have learnt alot from this experiance and know that it isnt the dogs fault but just a bad judgement error.

At 16 weeks I'd say it’s a bit too soon to blame a very high prey drive just yet. At that age everything is to be played with, chewed and jumped on. Anything that flaps about and makes a noise will be fair game.

The big benefit you do have however is her age, she is ripe for learning what’s off limits. Although you won’t stop any drive behaviour altogether you may be able to get her to control it around your other animals.
I cannot give you a definitive guide on what to do as it's quite a complex area, the surroundings and the dogs individual personality play a big part in this. You will most likely need to follow your gut instinct as you watch the dogs behaviour, you won’t believe how in tune you are already with her.  Some general info below that will hopefully help you understand what’s going on in her mind and allow you to formulate a plan.

For a start you are right to be proactive in stopping her getting to them in the first place and this should be your first priority. Next get to understand what the prey drive model consists of, Search-->Stalk-->Chase-->Catch-->Kill. Now understand that in domestic dogs each of the stages triggers a "this is fun" section of the brain, quite the opposite of aggression which is born of "this isn’t fun, I need to protect myself".

So the main thing to think about is how to remove the fun element of all this, distraction training is good. If she is showing signs of "search" and "stalk" then call her to you, treat and throw something in the other direction. She also needs to know that trying to get into the cages is wrong, use a firm "no" and move her away. Do not shout or run over as then she will just think you are in on the hunt too. Just keep firm, calm and focused.  Consistency is the key element to all of this and you will soon begin to learn what her triggers are and hopefully overcome them.
It’s not going to be easy and at best I would hope for partial success then anything else is a bonus. It can however work out well in some cases, the giant lump below will go ape at a faint whiff of a fox and will go thundering about barking yet he lives quite happily with two chinchillas.


On the other hand I can’t trust my two with anything small and furry and if they see deer in the woods I have to anchor myself to a tree.  It’s such a strong instinct to overcome but from what stories I have heard you stand a far greater chance of success in the home surroundings than out in the field.

Thank you everyone for your responses, i truly appreciate it.