Why could a family dog kill kittens?

[dab_20]

Your dog is sooooo cute. I just wanna cuddle with it.

Thank you! Molli would love to cuddle with you.

[4theloveofzoe]

Thanks everyone!

[Jessika]

Well I have a two bedroom apartment too, mine pretty small (or decent sized anyway) but I have seen some BIG two bedroom apartments, so I suppose a more accurate depiction of how big the place is is square footage, not just bedrooms alone.

Anyway. Dogs are prey driven. Small animals (kittens included) can and will be seen as prey to some dogs, especially hunting dogs such as Labs. They have prey drive and have been know to hunt, stalk, and even kill small animals. Not on purpose, not because they are "mean", not because they are "aggressive", but just because that is how they were born and bred. She should NEVER have trusted the dog alone with the tiny kittens.

I guess i lucked out all my dogs even the Newf are real gentle with my little baby kitten the cats even allow them to stick there heads in the box the baby is in,Now the puppy!!lol he thinks everybody should be playful so he aint allowed in my daughters room were the baby is being kept.

HAha the worst my two will do to my kitty is try to herd him around the house

[lbaker]

I have been extremely lucky in that I have never had a "one dog" or "one cat" household. When new kittens are around they just think dogs are part of our pack - and whatever dogs are around just think "well, there's another silly dog wannabe". Same with a new puppy. They come into a house with multi-critters and it's their place to try to fit in. My first border collie puppy tried to herd the cats ~ they taught the puppy very quickly that cats don't "do" being herded Thank you powers that be.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Shiloh is agressive with the cats, more if he is confined someplace with them (Ive had to shoo all the critters into the garage for short periods). I do think sometimes the more cramped the quarters, even the most non-agressive prey driven dogs can hurt another animal, especially a cat. Also, Ive noticed with Shiloh that he gets a lot more snippy with the cats if theyre antagonising him (batting at his ears etc) and kittens are prone to doing this as they don't know yet that a dog can hurt them. I supervise Shiloh around Pandora for this exact reason.


Were the kittens "runts" or weaker than the others in some way? Dogs pick up on this too and will sometimes view weak cats as a prey item (at least this has been my experence)

[Lori Jordan]

Well I have a two bedroom apartment too, mine pretty small (or decent sized anyway) but I have seen some BIG two bedroom apartments, so I suppose a more accurate depiction of how big the place is is square footage, not just bedrooms alone.

Anyway. Dogs are prey driven. Small animals (kittens included) can and will be seen as prey to some dogs, especially hunting dogs such as Labs. They have prey drive and have been know to hunt, stalk, and even kill small animals. Not on purpose, not because they are "mean", not because they are "aggressive", but just because that is how they were born and bred. She should NEVER have trusted the dog alone with the tiny kittens.



HAha the worst my two will do to my kitty is try to herd him around the house

Mine too lol since they are hearders my Border Collie i find worse she even try's too herd me around sometimes!!!