Dakota is scaring me.

Friday night I had went outside to bring the dogs in. Dakota was standing over something white. He usually eats my 4 yr. old's socks and throws them up. I said, what the heck, are you eating daddy's socks now too? Well, the next morning I woke up and went to let the dogs out. I noticed that this white thing had flies on it. Upon further examination, I realized it was a stray (no-one in the neighborhood lost one) kitten, about three months old. Apparently (I'm assuming) it had wanderd into our yard and Dakota "played" with it a little too rough. This is not his first killing. He has killed mice, birds, bunnies, a skunk, a duck and once when he got loose he drug a deer hide home. With the exception of the duck and deer, they were all things that came to him in our yard. Since I am not out there the whole time he is, I don't know of any way to stop this and I'm worried it's going to get worse. I can't keep him in the house more. He LOVES to be outside. I'm worried that this is something that I cannot change and I'll just have to learn to live with it. Does anyone have any advice?

Our Buddy has killed four squirrels since last summer, all of which were in our backyard. I was so shook up the first time it happened, but I have come to terms with his animal instincts. I know he would kill a bunny if it came into our yard, but so far they have all been smart enough to stay on the other side of the fence. He is fine indoors with cats, but I don't know how he would react if he saw a stray kitten in the yard.
Buddy is the most gentle, loving, sensitive dog I have ever owned, and I would trust him around any people, including babies. He just has a high prey drive, and it's something that we have to plan for. We don't open the door to let him into the backyard without first jiggling the door handle loudly, to give the squirrels some warning to get up in the trees!

I'd agree that it's just a strong, natural prey drive. Our female mix Kobie has killed 4 bluejays since spring 2000--killed and then left in the middle of the lawn, without eating or mauling the carcasses. I was freaked out the first time it happened too, but people say that most dogs will do this kind of thing whenever they're able to. It's challenging, fun, and totally normal for them! Squicky for us people, though.

Our cat Lucy is a stray. Her mother was dropped off when she was pregnant several houses down from us and left to fend for herself. After the kittens were born,I would occasionally see them around the neighborhood until they were about two months old and then they all disappeared along with the mother. All except Lucy. Turns out we have some people with two Lab mixes and a doberman that let their dogs go loose at night so they won't bark. They killed all the kittens and the mother. A couple of months later, I found two stray kittens which still hadn't opened their eyes and the bodies of their litter mates and their mother. I found homes for them. This is natural for dogs, what isn't natural is that in our neighborhood, people would rather let their dogs loose than teach them not to bark all night. Go figure. All you can hope is that cats won't stray into your yard. If they do, unfortunately they are fair game, literally. :(
P.S. Cats are safe with Ricky only because they are bigger than him.

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: MHMama ]

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Originally posted by Stenograsaurus:
<STRONG> I can't keep him in the house more. He LOVES to be outside. I'm worried that this is something that I cannot change and I'll just have to learn to live with it. Does anyone have any advice?</STRONG>

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Is your yard fenced in at all? If it is, maybe you could add an extra fine screen around the bottom to keep small critters out?

My beloved first dog, Sheba, killed anything she could catch. The neighborhood cats learned to climb the closest tree, the squirrels and wild rabbits were quick or dead, and there were no woodchucks within miles of my parents home even several years after she died. She was an efficient killer.

That said, my family got her as an adult stray when I was a toddler. I, a strange baby, toddled up to her and yanked her tail with all my might on our first meeting, and she just turned her head and growled very softly, then looked to the adults to rescue her from me. She was, simply put, wonderful with human beings of any size and shape.

You have a predator as a pet - enough said.
It's not nice but you should always keep this drive in mind when your dog is around small kids, cats etc. Keep an eye on the dog and be aware....but he is just being a dog.

It isn't his fault; he is a dog and dogs come from wolves, and wolves hunt. Just because dogs are domesticated doesn't mean they don't have some wild insincts left over. Dakota has a high prey drive, obviously, and that is no one's fault. Daisy has a high prey drive too but luckily she isn't fast enough to catch anything. However, my neighbors used to have chickens and sometimes they would just let them go wherever they wanted. They'd come to my house and eat our gardens. My mother hated them! And one day when they wandered over, Daisy got two of them. I don't think she really meant to hurt them ; my cousin saw it happen and said she was just trying to play, but played too rough. Both chickens had their necks snapped. It's sad, but not my fault, nor Daisy's. If people want to let their pets or animals wander around, it is their fault if something happens to them. Since you said it was a stray I guess it really is no one's fault. Don't punish Dakota for being a dog, but I yelled at Daisy for killing the chickens anyway. Just scold him. There's not really much else you can do. I am sorry this is happening, I know it's hard. Good luck!

Sorry it took so long to catch up to this topic. I was busy yesterday and we had a bomb threat today so we had to evacuate the building at work. I've been busy catching up with my work and now that I have, I have a chance to catch up here.
Thank you all for reminding me that a dog is a dog. My husband kept telling me, give it a rest. He's a dog.
My yard is not fenced in. We had the money saved up but one of those unforseen financial emergencies came up so we had to spend it. I'm saving again for one.
We have inside cats and Dakota is okay with them. He's never growled or snapped at my four year old girl. Dakota is five. He's so pleasant and loveable with people. I guess he just has a high prey drive. He doesn't maul them or rip them apart. In fact, there's never been any blood. It's almost like when a cat kills a mouse. Sometimes I think he thinks he's a cat. Maybe he just crushes them. He is 75 pounds and his deceased brother weighed ranging from 95-105 pounds and his sister is 80 pounds. Maybe he just plays a little too rough for the little things.
When I take him out, I always hold his collar and look in the yard to make sure it's clear. Dakota is attached by a pulley on a cable from the house to a tree in the middle of the yard. When I took him out this morning, there was a squirrel on the tree. The squirrel looked at us and took off up the tree. I'm curious to see how long that squirrel lasts. I'll probably be finding his body before too long.

I wouldn't worry too much. My Dog Felice kills little animals too when ever she gets the chance. Last summer he killed two skunks and a count less number of rats. I just try to make sure nothing can get into the pen because I know that what ever gets in is fair game to her. I know if a cat got in(its alright if our cats come in but no one elses!)or if a small dog got in it would be all over! When she started doing this it scared me. I thought she had gone nuts but I relized that she just has a HIGH prey drive and I just have to live with it.

My husband was out working in the yard and he looked up at the dogs on the patio and this is hard to believe but a bird swooped down and Daisy jumped up and caught the bird in the air. Before he could get up there she had the bird's neck broken and had it in the dog house. I couldn't believe my little Daisy would do such a thing, I was horrified.
But then she is a dog and a Schnauzer at that, whose job was to catch small vermin, as Carrie would say she was acting like the Dog she is.

Both my dogs seem to have a high prey drive. They are constantly on the look out for squirrels and chippies. Hannah scared a baby bunny to death by barking at it. Or maybe it was me yelling at Hannah that scared it. But she did not actually grab it, although she could have. She once flipped a dead baby squirrel in the air, but that was dead when she found it. My friends cockapoos were real hunters and have killed a number of small mammals including a couple pet hamsters. One would sit quietly, like a cat, for hours and then pounce on the prey.

Everyone is right, Beth (Love Joan's list so I could get your name right!). Mine are both "hunters" in their own backyard. I am fortunate enough to have a fence, but I pity the animal that tries to come in here. Honey will catch it! Thank goodness they are used to cats and probably wouldn't hurt one, but then again, they have never been exposed to a kitten before.

I think your biggest concern should be that when this happens, it is happening in your yard, not someone else's yard. That's when the trouble could start. The key is to make sure that Dakota is staying in his own yard. I worry about it with my cats constantly as you don't pen them in when you allow them to go outdoors, and they are both great hunters. My parent's have a wonderful golden/lab mix, Scout. In her younger days, she was a great escape artist. Got out one day and went a block over, into someone's yard, and killed their pet rabbit that was in a chicken wire enclosure in their back yard. And I mean, KILLED! That's when it gets unacceptable. Scout's time in the yard unwatched stopped immediately, but my mother has never gotten over the look on the face of the little boy who owned the rabbit. You don't want that kind of guilt hanging over your head.

Good luck with the savings account! You will have so much more peace of mind when you can build that fence! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have no more incidents in the meantime.

Logan :)