Bird catching retriever

[lhg0962]

One of my female golden retreivers (1 yr old) has discovered that she can catch birds. Once she has captured one, she carries it around all day (of course it dies in the process). Does anyone have any ideas of how to correct this behavior? I am not promoting the birds to come into my backyard by feeding them and I can't seem to catch her in action, but she is fast and is probably catching one a day at this point.

[Karen]

Have you tried scolding her as soon as you see her with the bird in her mouth and saying "drop it" to get her to release the bird? That might at least start to give her the message that she is doing a bad thing. And, knowing how sensitive Goldens are, if the bird is still alive, and you showed it some caring, she might realize this is another animal, and not a plaything.
I suppose as a last resort you might get a warning bell for her collar, as many cat owners do.
She sounds like an incredibly fast girl - have you considered agility training for her? http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif It might be fun for both of you, and give her a different hobby than bird-catching!

[Louise]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lhg0962:
[B]One of my female golden retreivers (1 yr old) has discovered that she can catch birds.

Unless you are going to be there to correct the behavior every time she does it, I doubt you can get her to stop. She is still a pup, however and may grow out of it. In the meantime get a bell...a good sized one with a ring that can be heard....not one of those tiny tinkly ones. Goldens need to be working, learning things and getting lots of exercise every day in order to be well adjusted, happy dogs. "A good dog is a tired dog"