Killer puppy....Anyone got a hunter doodle?

[Donna P.]

Over the last two weeks, I have pulled the strangest things out of Bayley's mouth. (She's 6 months old). 3 dead birds, 1 dead mouse, and today a baby snake. I can't swear she killed everything...One bird I think commited suicide by a kamikase dive into the window. But the one she ate yesterday, I think she did kill. When I went out to see what she was eating, I saw a panicked young dove that didn't have his flying certification trying to hop/fly over the fence. I think that there is a nest in the spruce tree, and the chicks had fledged and couldn't fly well enough to escape Bayley. I'm fairly certain she killed the garter snake, and she is digging a trench across the back yard trying to catch the mole.

I'm thinking there must be some latent terrier in her ancestry. She has been in the chicken yard when the chickens are out, and she has been respectful, but we have been there to check her. I don't think I would trust her to leave them alone if we weren't there.

Does this seem like odd behavior for a doodle?  

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

That is so interesting. I guess every dog is different. Apparently, Monty's ancestors were only oriented towards squirrels and rabbits. Don't know what he would do if he was able to catch one. Other animals, not so much. But his sniffer is great. He showed me this week where a dead bird and a dead baby snakes are in our backyard. He would sniff from a safe distance, but not eat (thankfully). Monty's mixed-breed BFF is totally different. She already ate a dead bird and I witnessed her roll in a dead stinky fish. I was terrified of the sight since I already pictured Monty's white fluffy fur covered in the nasty rotting fish. He was watching her from afar. Once she was done with the dead fish, Monty approached it, carefully sniffed it, and.......peed on it. Whew! Atta boy!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Hunting dogs often choose to roll in dead things to cover their scent! It is so disgusting. We had a Springer Spaniel who would dive into a dead fish or horse "apples" at the beach with wild abandon! We were constantly on the look out because the ride home would be far to fragrant to bear. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Bella caught a wounded bird in our yard last month and I felt so bad for the bird she had in her mouth that I yelled "leave it" and she dropped it and it hopped under a bush. She still goes to that bush every day although I don't know what ever happend to the poor bird. I had a hard time thinking she could kill something, even though I know she is a hunting animal. Just never think of my sweet doodles killing or hurting anything.

[Donna P.]

Yeah, I'm with you on that. Look at this sweet face and tell me she could kill something in cold blood.

[Bonnie and Kona]

NEVER! Ooooo that sweet face!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Fudge has a very strong prey drive :) I always say she could have been a hunting dog, but no one hunts in our house!

[Lynda Kamrath]

My dogs both have strong hunting behavior in their personalities.  Harpo has caught many things and tries to hide them in his mouth.  I will know he has something in his mouth and will pry his mouth open and take out the bird, lizard, etc.  They caught a friendly neighborhood cat once and shook it to death.  I'm sure the cat thought it was hiding and they wouldn't catch it.  A rabbit will set them off immediately and they try to catch birds.  A squirrrel comes into the yard but has managed to escape them.  There is a skunk in the neighborhood and I worry about that, especially since a neighbor saw it in daylight hours.  I have seen it but always at night.  Always a challenge with these guys.  There are also raccoons and deer in the neighborhood but the dogs have scared them off.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have a doodle (Mattie) who has caught three squirrels and a rabbit and has eaten everything she caught--the rabbit didn't work out so well for her intestines. We would have stopped her but we have an invisible fence and she is usually very good in the yard, so we didn't notice. The small animals are wise to her now and we don't see any in the yard anymore! She is very prey-driven.

Funny story with that squirrel kill--Mattie once kiiled the momma of a family of four little squirrels --they were in a nest in a tree in our front yard and old enough to just barely fend for themselves. They would come out of the tree and eat cat food that I leave for my cat and the random strays that come by (the dogs can't get to it because of the invisible fence) and the cats left the baby squirrels alone! What a riot! 

One of my other doodles is not prey driven--he is curious about the animals and wants to chase them, but doesn't seem as interested as the others

The third one loves to chase after flying things--like birds and butterflies. She brought a dead bird in once without my knowledge and left it on the living room floor. 

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

This weeks victims have been 2 baby birds, one tween-bird, and 2 moles.  All in one week.  There have been many, many more.  I am thinking of posting a warning sign in the yard to any and all birds and moles that they need to relocate to the neighbors unless they are suicidal. I don't think that Hunter intentionally kills any of them, she really likes to toss them around and try to get them to play.  I am very lucky that she likes to bring me her victims friends to see if I want to play with them to.

Honestly, I don't even want to think about what she has played with that I have not found.  

[Carol and Banjo]

Hence the name.....Hunter!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have no sympathy for moles. (Or snakes either, for that matter. )

I say, if you are stupid enough to set up housekeeping in a yard owned by a dog, you do not deserve to pass your genes along to future generations.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Darwinian Karen : )