Catching Small Prey

[MyPemCharlie]

Do any of you have a Corgi who catches small prey, wounds it, but doesn't kill it? What did you do with the wounded animal?

Charlie managed to catch two baby blue jays today, and at miminum broke their wings and/or legs, but didn't kill them. The dilemna of whether to put them out of their misery quickly, or let them die really sickened me. I know it's natural prey instinct on Charlie's part and survival of the fittest, but I really don't have a very strong stomach for this sort of thing.

[Louwants]

You can see if there is a Natural Wildlife Resource in your area, or a Forestry who can maybe tell you where to take wild birds for care. I've been lucky so far with my dogs. Duncan doesn't seem to have the prey instinct in him. Chloe, my corgi/chow mix is a different story. I've seen her stalk like a cat to try and catch squirrels that come into our yard.
I've had baby birds fall from their nest, and I happen to have a fence in area that I can put them in hopes that the mommy and daddy bird will continure to feed them. That is, before a stray cat gets to them.

[MyPemCharlie]

Unfortunately, both of these birds were too crushed to be saved by the time I realized what Charlie had and was able to get him to leave them. I'm sure he would have played with them until he killed them if I hadn't made him "leave it".

[LaRogue]

Do any of you have a Corgi who catches small prey, wounds it, but doesn't kill it? What did you do with the wounded animal?

Charlie managed to catch two baby blue jays today, and at minimum broke their wings and/or legs, but didn't kill them. The dilemma of whether to put them out of their misery quickly, or let them die really sickened me. I know it's natural prey instinct on Charlie's part and survival of the fittest, but I really don't have a very strong stomach for this sort of thing.

I'm sorry you had that experience, it sounds horrible.

I don't know if trying to train him would help, but when I lived in poisonous snakes on my doorstep and Palmetto bug country, I was very successful with teaching my corgi to leave creepy, crawly things alone. When we moved up here, I was able to carry it over with deer, rabbits, squirrels, stray cats, etc. That being said, that dog was always supervised outside and I'm not sure if the training would've held up if he was in a fenced in yard unsupervised.

I've been trying to teach Pip to leave such creatures alone, but it's not gone well, so far. We've already had one trip to the emergency vet for a terrible allergic reaction to a bug bite. I'm not sure why we've not been successful. He does seem more prey driven than my other corgis have been, but I suspect, the lack of progress is because I don't have the shear terror I used to have opening up my door, getting ready to step out with the dog, and seeing a copperhead staring at me.

[MyPemCharlie]

I didn't have a chance to do any training since I didn't see him catch either bird. He and his visiting terrier friend Willie were running around the yard. They ran off behind the house, and Willie came back around but Charlie didn't. When I called Charlie and he didn't come, I walked around and he was playing with the first bird. He didn't want to give it up with a couple of "leave it" commands. When he did drop it, I grabbed his collar and blocked him from getting to it again.

The second one he caught later in the day while I was watering vegetable plants.

Both times he had already done serious injury before I knew what he was playing with.

A few weeks ago, he chased a baby squirrel up to the patio and cornered it under the lawn mower. I was able to get him inside and chase the squirrel out of the yard.

Anyway, I didn't scold him for having a strong prey drive. We do need to work more on the "leave it" command. He knows it, but I had to tell him more than once, and his "prize" was more important to him than listening to me.

[LaRogue]

Hmmm...I'm not sure how you can go about tryng to teach him, especially if he's already catching them and corning them. I've heard of some "killer" corgis who catch and kill birds, squirels, chipmunks, and anything else smaller than them that moves on a regular basis. Hopefully, I'm wrong, but I think once they've learned to catch them, you may not be able to retrain them not to. Maybe one of the experts can give you some help.

My corgis (thank the lucky stars) never caught anything and my concern was different. I lived a good chunk of time up and down the Southeast coast and I was more worried about what damage the wildlife could do to my dog (and to be honest myself), than vice versa.

[Michael Romanos]

I have had Corgis who have been excellent mice and rat catchers/killers but that was from encouragement.

[Jane Austen]

Right after I got Duchess I had her loose in the back yard, where she found a chipmunk under some leaves and in a flash had killed it. She also has found mice inside the house and likes to play with them.
In an aside ( I got one of those plug in things that supposed to give off audio frequencies that mice do not like. That seems to keep mice from the kitchen)
I don't let Duchess loose anymore outside my home. She is not reliable with the street nearby. and has gone after dogs people have been walking.
And squirrells also have to be chased up a tree. I encouraged her to chase the squirrells thinking that she would never catch up to them. Now I regret urging her because that just reenforces her carrying it over to stray cats.
As others have said she tolerates our cat but will chase anything that runs. On the rare occasion that she is loose I am afraid she will catch up with the few neighbors cats that sit on our stone walls.
Having her on the leash, we have been working on "Leave It", but I know it won't work if she is loose.

[MyPemCharlie]

Wow! Duchess has a really strong prey drive too. Guess I wouldn't have expected a herding breed dog to go after small prey so avidly. Charlie will never be allowed to go off leash our neighborhood either. Too many squirrels and too much traffic.

All the animals he has hunted and caught have been inside our fenced backyard, which is huge for a city lot. And I really don't want to discourage his instinctual drive to chase ... that drive could make him a good Flyball dog if Agility doesn't work for him. My major upset was at having to make the "final decision" with the dying birds...putting them out of their misery or letting them just quit breathing on their own. Maybe I should have let Charlie finish what he started so I didn't have to decide?

[LaRogue]

I encouraged her to chase the squirrells thinking that she would never catch up to them.

A memory jog! I did encourage Pip to chase pigeons last fall when about 3 dozen were hanging out, daily, under my bird feeder. He also had to stop and come to me, when told to do so. I didn't allow him to catch any and it only took about 3 trys for him to catch on.

And I really don't want to discourage his instinctual drive to chase ... that drive could make him a good Flyball dog if Agility doesn't work for him. My major upset was at having to make the "final decision" with the dying birds...putting them out of their misery or letting them just quit breathing on their own. Maybe I should have let Charlie finish what he started so I didn't have to decide?

I that case, I hope I would be able to find it in myself to put the animal out of it's misery. Like you, I don't have the stomach for it, but I think I would feel worse allowing it to suffer...

Is Charlie a vicious shaker of his toys? I've always heard the shaking in play is practice for killing of prey. Maybe that's not true, but the theory makes sense to me. Pip is a very aggressive shaker of his toys.

[MyPemCharlie]

Originally Posted by LaRogue

I that case, I hope I would be able to find it in myself to put the animal out of it's misery. Like you, I don't have the stomach for it, but I think I would feel worse allowing it to suffer... .

Yes, I did put the birds out of their misery instead of allowing them to suffer. I don't have any hunting desire myself and I had a really hard time with it. I called a neighbor for moral support and she said they were probably in shock or coma and wouldn't feel anything either way.

Originally Posted by LaRogue

Is Charlie a vicious shaker of his toys? I've always heard the shaking in play is practice for killing of prey. Maybe that's not true, but the theory makes sense to me. Pip is a very aggressive shaker of his toys.

Yes, he "kills" his toys by shaking them, and has tested high on prey drive. I've read the same thing, and believe the theory is true.