Is it okay to buy hamsters so my dog can hunt them?

Question

I'm thinking of buying some hamsters for my dog to play with... i want to improve his hunting skills. Is it against the law or anything? id like to know before i do it...

Answer 1

um..i dont know if its against the law, but my sister-in-law and I bought feeder mice to let our cats hunt....our cats were pansy's though and wouldn't eat them....it was such a let down...if your planning to buy the hamsters then be prepared to take care of them (or flush them) if your dog doesn't eat them.

Answer 2

Depending on how quick my girls could chew, I would use clothes pegs on the cages my rats could get out of. Im not sure about how smart hamsters are, but my rats really had a lot of trouble getting around a peg. They will chew them, so i used wooden ones, and would replace them when they got chewed too much if they were placed low enough to be reached by those relentless teeth. You could try a small metal bull clip. the triangular black ones that have the moveable pressing things :P The small ones should be able to fit around the cage bars in any spot as well as being chewing resistant.

Answer 3

that is very weird i agree... but if you want to train your dogs to hunt teach them yourself. They need to get used to tracking first, as this is how dogs hunt. Teach your dog to track you in a large open space, then a sock or hankerchief, which you can hide. Or take it somewhere there are wild rabbits etc, a hampster is hardly challenging to a dog. This will give the dog much more entertainment and hunting skills than simply gobbling up a stationary hampster.

Answer 4

ya, your aloud to do that but it's a little weird, like how would that imrove its hunting skills, how easy would it be for a dog to catch a hamster, and it's kind of torture. I dont think you should train your dog to hunt like that, if you want to teach it to catch rats or somthing i guse.

Answer 5

Keep in mind that hamsters are rodents. And rodents can carry diseases. You don't want your dog getting sick over this. I have a dog who will swallow chipmunks (dead, obviously) almost whole just so I can't get it away from him so please keep this in mind - you don't want the dog to *feed* on the hamsters.

If you want to work on training him for hunting, there are plenty of organizations that offer trail coursing and other events that would have the same effect just less mess and trauma for you.

And just to add this - most dogs don't need training to learn to hunt, it's instinctive. One of my dogs started catching squirrels the day we got her. We don't encourage her to but she does it just the same. So if you are wanting your dog to go kill rodents for you, most likely if the dog sees the rodent, he will go get it without you having to give him a crash course in hunting with hamsters.

Answer 6

Um..EWWWE
Okie if you are trying to train your dog to hunt, I would recommend that you contact the AKC and seek the advice of professionals.
I know of no dog that has been bred to hunt hamsters..that is a new one on me.

Answer 7

Yes, animal cruelty is against the law.

Answer 8

hamsters carry tapeworms and pin-worms, of a variety that can be really dangerous or deadly to a dog..Per shops don't treat them for these parasites.. they also are carriers of mange.

Answer 9

well thats cruelty for sure. but pretty sure it isnt illegal considering people buy mice and rats and other things for their snakes and lizards to eat.
but moraly, its just plain wrong dude, i meen ur dog will rip them apart and stuff, thats just nasty

Answer 10

i dont know how well that would work, but so long as youre not torturing them, its basically the same as feeding them to a snake...should be totally legal