Possessive dog over dead squirrel

[Bethany]

My 7mo old golden doodle, Puddles, got ahold of a dead squirrel/rabbit on our walk yesterday. I tried to get her to drop it, but since we are still working on our training, she didn’t budge. I had winter gloves on so I even tried to get her to open her mouth to drop it but no luck. The animal was already dead, but it was still so traumatizing that I couldn’t think on my feet and did not try to get a stick to get it away from her. In the end, I really tried to get her to open her mouth to drop it and she growled and nipped back at me. She ended up indulging the whole thing. I took her to the vet ER and she is fine and all well as of now. She is 100% back to her normal, friendly, playful self. However, I have never experienced her being so possessive over ANYTHING. She is not possessive over her food, we put our hands in her food dish and by her toys, to teach her this. But she was acting like a totally different dog. I will of course talk to the trainer about this, but her demeanor and this event was very traumatizing for me. I know she is still my sweet little girl, but I feel that I am a little hesitant with her. Of course, I understand that dogs are hunters and this is natural for her, but is her possessiveness normal? Has anyone experienced this?

Thanks in advance!

PS Attached are some pictures-she is a sweet girl (who LOVES to dig in the dirt, which is a whole different story)!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The dead squirrel was clearly of much higher value to her than food or toys. I don't think this is anything for you to be alarmed about. Teaching a solid "leave it" and "drop it" should solve this in the future, and a good trainer will be able to help you work on this. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

We have bunnies in our yard. Annabelle has gotten ahold of one 3 times that we know about. She will not drop the bunny by my husband's command, only mine. She obeys all his other drop it commands, just not for a bunny. She is my dog, and I trained her. He is just there for the fun times. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

Oh, yeah--lots of us have--my Mattie is very prey-driven and once played with a squirrel she killed all day when she was with a dog sitter--I got home and gave her the drop it command which usually works like a charm but instead, she gulped and the entire squirrel was gone except for one inch of the tail...ugh. Needless to say, squirrels avoid my yard now--have not seen one in a long while. She also caught a baby bird just learning to fly that landed right at her feet and did drop it when I asked her to--but it was too late for the bird...obviously though, squirrels have a higher value than that poor little bird.

Otherwise, Mattie is the perfect dog--so you have the same situation...I would keep something in your pocket for walks that she never gets otherwise--like a piece of bacon in a plastic bag--if this happens again, let her sniff the bacon and see if she will drop the animal she has found--maybe not, but you never know! And work on "drop it" on walks as well as home--sometimes the training does not carry over to the great outdoors. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting.  I need to practice the Drop It command again with my boys. I have gotten lazy.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Wow this must have been SO stressful to handle.  When I was working with Guinness on his Therapy training the trainer had us work for weeks on the "leave it" command.  Before his final testing she put a ham hock on the floor that was still warm and smelled incredible (not to me but I'm sure to any dog).  He had to be able to walk by and completely ignore it.  This is because we were planning to work in an Alzheimer facility where there was food often on the floor or on the clothing of the patients.  We started with practicing "drop it" for weeks, working up to really high value items.  At this point it was all about trading, so there was always a reward.  Later we moved to having the high value food items on the floor and walking by them (with a "leave it" command).  It took a really long time and a lot of practice, but it was so worth it.  He's now reliable with both commands so I never have to worry.  Murphy on the other hand is a different story.  She did what came naturally to her, but I would definitely talk to your trainer about working with her to avoid future situations like this.

[Cathy Murphy]

Oh My YES!!!  Finn was off leash once and found a raccoon carcass (too big to pick up thank goodness) so I was able to leash him.  He has swallowed frozen mice, moles and frogs that he finds or hunted.  He also will happily play with dead birds he finds!  Thankfully even with his sensitive tummy these things did not cause any upset!!  Most of the small critters he thinks are toys and tries to play with them!  Some of the time I can convince him to leave it but to be honest there are times I just let him play with the critter, then sneak back out and collect it when he has lost interest!  He is more likely to swallow them if I act interested!  

[Stacy]

I had a really rough couple of weeks last spring with a rabbit and her babies who were born in my yard. My girls are the sweetest, most gentle dogs in the whole world. But leaving the baby bunnies alone was just too much to ask for. There was a lot of begging, pleading, screaming, and chasing going on for a few days. And the bunnies didn't make it, despite my best intentions. That prey drive was just too much for me to overcome. But they are still as gentle as they can be with other people and dogs. They're just not bunny friendly. Or maybe they're too bunny friendly? 

[Ginny Nightingale]

We had this happen once too--I took the babies from the nest unharmed after the dogs started sniffing around the nest  (actually one in the nest was already dead and it was the smell of that that attracted my dogs) and brought them to a wildlife rehab place nearby. Surprisingly, they said they were old enough to be on their own (momma was nowhere around so maybe she left and was waiting for them to figure out that they should leave too?). The rehab place released them after an overnight stay and said they were fine. 

[Stacy]

Mine weren't old enough. They didn't even have their eyes open. And mom did keep coming back for them. I tried to contain them inside an x-pen but they were so determined. I was very sad. I really hope she gets smarter this year. The yards on either side of me don't have pets. That would be a much better place to have babies. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

PS Puddles is so cute! Love the name and can guess the origin...

[Stephanie Bowman]

I have dealt with the SAME thing! I have neighbors who constantly leave bones out on their drive way from whatever they had for dinner, and Teddy’s demeanor changes every time he gets a hold of one. He does the same growling and snapping thing you described. He used to do it with rocks too but we’ve been working on the “leave it” command and luckily he’s lost interest. He’s only 4 months so I’m hoping this changes. He’s not like that with his food, treats or any toys either, just objects he really really wants that he shouldn’t have. Good luck! 

[Bethany]

Thank you all! Definitely a learning experience for both of us. Glad to know this is natural and I am not alone! Looking forward to more training with her!