Have your dogs eaten a bird?

[MariaM]

Yeah, he's done it again. I suppose its his hunting instinct...

Ok, no time to explain. Major ate a bird. Should I be concerned?

I'll try to give more details later...hopefully at school, but I have to go there right now.

[pitc9]

It's just an instinct, you can't train instinct out of a dog. That's part of what makes your dog a dog!

Sierra has killed a baby bunny (the day before Easter no less!!:( )
And had wounded a baby Morning Dove.

[cloverfdx]

Yes unfortunatly it is instinct, Clover leaps up into the air and just plucks them right out of the sky :eek:. She has also gotton a couple of wild Rabbits in her time, but cannot keep up with them anymore.

[Glacier]

many of them. Muskwa is a grouse killing machine. Kayleigh prefers the Ravens. They harass her and try to steal her food. No one messes with Kayleigh's food!

[chrissycat21]

No, but Snowy eats baby bunnies whenever she finds the nest.

[Kfamr]

I've never given them the chance to.

[CamCamPup33]

Nope.

Cami would love to im sure, but she hasn't. :p

[lute]

no. Beanie would probably be scared of the bird.:D

i did have a beagle cocker croos once that killed everything she could. bunnies,birds,squirls,cats.

[Pam]

I think I have posted this before so if you have already heard it please bear with me. One day I was out back working on the lawn, pulling weeds and such, and I noticed Bella had something in her mouth. When I got closer I saw that it was the limp body of a small bird, maybe a baby that had fallen out of its nest. I went inside and got her a doggie biscuit and offered it to her so she might put the bird down to eat the treat. It worked, and I was able to pick up the bird in my gloved hand (because I was weeding) and toss it over the back fence. Well, unfortunately I am not a good thrower. The bird hit the inside of the fence and fell back into the yard and Bella got it again. I raced back into the house and came back outside with the entire box of doggie biscuits and she would not fall for this trick again. I stood there, doggie biscuit box in hand, and watched her eat the bird, beak and all, and felt like gagging! :eek:

[micki76]

Not eaten, but certainly killed. I have always had terriers and most of them have had high prey drives. Neither Chester or Millie have killed a bird, but they have killed many other small animals in the yard. :(

Oh, Pam. :( http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/otn/other/pukeface.gif

[Cincy'sMom]

Nope. Cincy found a baby bird in our backyard...she sniffed at it, and pawed gently trying to get it to play. When I realized what was going on, I put the dogs inthe house, got a shovel, and lifted the baby birs over the fence to safety.

[talia22]

yes a birds,rats,squirrels,opposums and 1 raccoon

[KYS]

Killed but not eaten.

:(

[kingrattus]

RB Max would never kill a bird. He LOVED to watch the birds eating out of the feeder a few feet away from him. Once a big bird flew over (he was taught to chase the big ones away) & a little bird ended up flying in to the chicken wire in the fence.

Max went up to the bird & took it out of the wire, spat it on the ground, gently set his paw on it, licked it a few times, & then let it go. He watched it fly away & then went back to his steps to lay down & watch the birds again.



EDIT: after reading this again, RB Max would kill a bird if it attacked me. Not meaning to kill it, but I'm sure a few shakes & a toss would kill a bird. But I've never heard of a bird attacking a human for no reason, so I couldn't ever see that happening :)

[dogs_4_me]

Emma chased alot of ducks but never hurt one.

[daisyshuman8]

MariaM, nah you shouldn't be worried. Your dog is a retriever and it's their instinct to hunt. My dog is a beagle and has killed several birds over the course of her life (she's 8). I scold her, but my father says not to because it's in her blood to attack animals because she is a hound. Has she ever killed rabbits since she's a beagle? I haven't seen her do that..she's chased some rabbits off but that's about it. But basically, if you have a breed of dog that has an instict to hunt animals (or in your case, eat them), you really can't do anything about it if they come to you with a dead bird in their mouth..you just have to let them be!

[Oggyflute]

Flute actually jumped up and swatted one out of the air once. I managed to rescue it before she inflicted any real damage to it. But we sure don't get a lot of birds in our yard know.

[bckrazy]

eww, thank gawd no. I doubt he would ever try to kill or eat a bird... he would try to herd it, or just lay down and stare at it for a long time though.

[cyber-sibes]

Yes, there's still a few feathers from the cardinal she ate still blowing around out there *sigh* huskies are extrodinarily efficient at killing things. (I tell myself -what a good provider she would be in the wild!) Her favorite seem to be rabbits - especially babies. I'm always amazed to find leftovers INSIDE the kennel - dumb bunnies.... but she only eats the birds & rabbits. (she's also killed numerous squirrels, possoms, raccoons, mice, and a skunk) Sherman ate a rabbit or two last year, too.

[vinjashira]

she is not fast enough to catch a bird thankfully... but she never gave up trying to chase them.

[Logan]

Honey has killed birds before, but she has never tried to eat one. She just carries them around in her mouth like a proper Retriever. :rolleyes:

[IRescue452]

Autum has broughten me an overtired goldfinch she caught in our frontyard, but she didn't hurt a feather. She also tried to fetch a blue teal in our backyard but it was too big for her. I wish I was a hunter so I could try her out in the field sometime, but nither of us like killing animals. If she came across a baby bunny or a squirrel she would try to get it to play, but Pepper would kill it in seconds. Only thing Autumn kills are the bees and wasps we get all over our yard. She likes something that will put up a fight.

[sirrahved]

*sighs* Muffin ate my lovey-pet Skittles when Muffin first came home. I now keep my birds clipped so they cannot fly (which is what brought on the hunting instinct)

This is not something to be worried about, because dogs are animals. They still have the instincts to survive in the wild, including hunting for meals. Dogs are carnivores. It's very sad when they kill something innocent without reason, but there isn't much you can do.

*hugs to you*

[iceyshiver21]

>.< A case of the instincts. I about cried when Odie ran through my legs and pounced on a baby robin and killed it. =[ I couldn't really yell because it really wasn't his fault. Awe.
Rip, for the little birdy.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Sadly, yes, Drake has eaten several birds in his lifetime :( Birds are not the only lil creatures that Drake has "hunted" and consumed. It has been a while though since we live in an apartment now. He has gotten ahold of a few bunnies in the nature park. I shrieked so loud that it startled him and he dropped them numerous time. Fortunately, the bunnies were able to hop away unharmed.

[wolf_Q]

We found a dead baby robin in our yard many years ago (before Nebo or Syd lived here)....not sure if Reggie or Smokey did that. I also found some feather in the yard not too long ago, I don't know if one of the dogs killed/ate a bird or a cat did it...there's several cats that roam the neighborhood and they've been in our yard before.

My mom said that one day she saw Sydney in the corner of the yard all excited and she wouldn't leave the corner. So my mom went down there and there was a baby bird, Sydney had not harmed it. I think Reggie and Nebo were in the yard at the time too but they may not have seen it.

Whenever Nebo sees the birds or small animals at Petco he acts like he wants to eat them, so I'm sure he would if given the opportunity. He doesn't react that way to cats he's seen (they have them in a cage for adoption at Petco...he just sniffs and wags his tail like he wants to play with them) so I'm hoping he would not harm a cat.

[wolfsoul]

The only animal Timber can't stand is birds. She hates them. Every time she sees one she chases it (although she has never caught one). One time I brought her over the her playmate's house, and they had a cage with doves in it, and one of the dove's tails was sticking out. Timber walked right up to it and carefully pulled the tail feathers out. Atleast she was ladylike about it. :rolleyes:

Otherwise she loves small animals. She would never hurt my rats ever.

Forgot to mention -- Timber once found a dead bushrat. My grandpa had found it, dead, and he through it in the bush and Timber ran after it. It took a while for them to get her to finally let go of it.

[Kevin Farmer]

Maximus chewed on a dead rabbit once, we believe it was dead when he found it because he is not that fast, however, we found it in the living room floor the next morning.

Maximus got sick, would not eat so we took him to the vet and he said that Maximus got some kind of intestinal virus from the dead rabbit.

but dont know if birds would be the same.

Kevin

[GraciesMommy]

No, but she will beat the snot out of any bug!

[Samantha Puppy]

Only the chicken I give her from my leftovers.

[cali]

lol the birds and bunnys are extremly fast around here, and the birds are friggen brave! the birds actually tease my dogs, like swooping down really fast in front of there face but so close that the dogs have no time to react, they will dance in front of the dogs just behind the fence, they will land on the other side of the yard when the dogs chase them they fly to the other side of the yard and so on lol the dogs have only cought one bird and they did not eat it, they just killed it and left it. Rabbits they chase but the wild rabbits here are extremly fast around here, so the dogs chase em but the rabbits remain a mile ahead lol I would actually be suprised if a greyhound could catch the rabbits around here lol

[jennifert9]

Duncan has never caught a bird and if he did I don't know if he would eat it, or just kill it....
He tries very hard however....It's actually funny becuase he doesn't mind small birds like sparrows or songbirds in general. But, man, if those crows or doves come in his yard.....:mad: :mad: He chases them onto the roof and then barks at them and tries to climb the house to get them....I don't know why it's only the bigger ones....he sits and watches the small ones eat out of the bird feeder and on the ground....:confused:

[Suki Wingy]

i found Nino in the backyard with a dead bluejay in his mouth! I don't think he killed it, though.

[Vette]

Unless the bird ate a rodent of some kind that might have been posiend....thats the only thing i worry about when my dog finds any kind of 'treasures'

[animal_rescue]

I've never seen any rabbits in our backyard. But the dogs love to chase the birds and squirrels. We do our best to make sure they don't kill any of the animals, mainly because we foster wild animals, so it would be even harder to keep them in the house with the dogs. I know one time a squirrel electricuted itself and the dogs picked up, they dropped it almost right away since 5 REALLY loud voices came at them!

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Never. Tango tries to herd birds when they come into the yard and Tia's afraid of them lol.

[Amber]

nope. The only thing my dogs eat are flys. :rolleyes:

[GiantSchnauzer]

Originally posted by Oggyflute
Flute actually jumped up and swatted one out of the air once. I managed to rescue it before she inflicted any real damage to it. But we sure don't get a lot of birds in our yard know.

Zoey has done the same thing but I didn't save the bird in time. :( Another time I had her off leash and she started to take off after a rabbit. Thankfully, her recall is perfect.

[tikeyas_mom]

Tikeya has the common "Prey drive" instinct... I thought I was the only one with a prey drivin dog here.... *odd sigh of relief..*

Tikeya has givin a bunny a heart attack, she did NOT bite it.. just chased it.

She once caught a blue jay out of the sky, mid air.. i couldent believe it... she just jumped and got it..

poor thing. i think its neck broke...

I know she has caught several wild mice. she just plays with them, she doesnt eat them.

Tikeya doesnt like kittens either...

When ever i take her to the petstore to see the rodents and stuff, she always acts so prey drivin, her ears purk right up and she just stares with a slight wine to her voice, she will lick her lips... I dont like it when she acts like that..

[schteve_d]

Yep, hate to say it (I was so freakin' mad at him that day), I won't go into detail but Buddy can swim faster than ducklings. He didn't eat them, but.....

[Shelteez2]

Given the chance I'm sure the shelties would catch something. Especially Emily. She has such a high prey drive. She would love nothing more than to chase down....well anything that ran from her....LOL
She used to love flushing rabbits from near by my mom's work, but mean old me wouldn't let her chase them. LOL

I'm not sure what she would do if she ever caught anything though. She might kill it, but I doubt she'd eat it.....

[senorita02]

No my dogs have never eaten a bird, but i will tell you i caught Face with a cat in his mouth, and Rita tried to get in on it, luckily i yelled just in time he let him go and the cat was fine, i returned him to his home, but the people to owned the cat , let him roam the streets. Not such a good idea, everyone on my street has a dogs almost and the cat came into our yard. Regardless i was very angry at my dogs that day :mad:

[ramanth]

Not to my knowledge, but I'm sure she would if given the chance.

She gets this wild, crazed look in her eye when she's near the rodents or birds at Petco. It's kinda creepy.