I had this rabbit since she was born. I kept her in a big hutch about 3 feet of the ground in the back yard. I also have 2 dogs. A small shepherd mix, 2 feet to the snout. Calm, obedient, not timid, but not aggressive. The other is a very violent, very hyper minature pinshcer. He chases everything foreign to the yard, and picks fights with the bigger dog (eventhough he always looses). Last nite, the rabbit got out. I found her this morning, dead. No blood, no broken skin, apparantely just suffocated. My mom cried endlessly, she loved that rabbit. She blamed the pinshcer for obvious reasons. They've killed countless animals that have wondered into our yard from birds to cats. I know it's canine instinct but what can I do to stop the midless violence? They're not hungry, they dont eat the kill.
I've tried to give them other activities but the only thing they like is walks. They don't chase frisbees or balls or doggie toys. The little one is ESPECIALLY violent. What can I do?
2007-08-20 18:43:39 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
He needs A LOT more walks (exercise) and you need to dominate that little dog. He thinks he is the boss, and you need to show him you are.
Get him on a leash, go for a very long walk, until the dog is tired, and then take him to the rabbit cage (or where a small animal is safe but can be used as bait), when he starts going crazy, use the leash and your hand to push his neck down to the ground and say "No". Roll him on his back, and hold him there by the neck. Don't let him up until he relaxes. When you let him up, he will probably start barking and trying to attack again. Stop him and make him submit again. You must keep repeating this process until he totally wears out and is exhausted, and you break his spirit for violence. Be prepared for a fight, but you can win. I'm not saying to beat him or harm him, just don't let him show any aggression to the other animal without you putting him into submission. You can't give up, or he will have made you submit. You need to win this battle of the wills.
You must also do the same process with the Shepherd. The shepherd is probably just as guilty, but the little dog is more showy about how he acts. I doubt the shepherd really respects you and behaves, he probably just looks better behaved than the min-pin.
They didn't just kill an prey animal, he specifically killed an animal they knew was your pet. It was a direct insult to your authority and disrespect of you. Killing an outsider is instinct, killing your pet was a challenge of your leadership. You need to lay down the law!
Also, don't allow them to be unsupervised in the yard, running wild. Until they are under control, you must keep them confined or directly under your command and control. Crate-train them, and exercise them vigourously (minimum 1 solid hour straight walking every day) and make sure they heal and listen to you on those walks. Take ownership of your dogs, you aren't their victim.
2007-08-20 19:02:39 · answer #1 · answered by Heather L 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Your dog didn't kill the rabbit for fun or for taste of blood. What he's been doing is playing around. My dog does the same to my cats and my other small chihuahua but when i say "soft" he stops biting so hard. I'm sorry you lost your rabbit. It happened to me a long time ago with a Siberian Husky. Apparently your little hyper dog tries to play and grab the animals by the neck so they stop moving or running away so he can play, since the animals try to run away he bites and doesn't let go. Therefore unfortunately suffocating the poor animals. I don't think there is anything you CAN do, except keep smaller animals away and children also. Good Luck.
2007-08-20 18:56:09 · answer #2 · answered by namalstar_14 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I've really only seen one thing work in that regard and it did work.
My family raises chickens and our neighbor would let his dogs run loose from time to time to get excercise. However, every so often they would run too far and come over to our farm. The dogs are little Jack Russels I think and are very friendly and high spirited. One day one of them got into our chickens and killed a couple of our chickens.
I believe what our neighbor did was tie one of the dead chickens around the dog's neck and left it tied to the dog's neck for about a week. The dog never attacked our chickens ever again. I've seen that dog out around our chickens dozens of times since then and it never bothers them now.
2007-08-21 02:08:43 · answer #3 · answered by devilishblueyes 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That's just their breed instinct, to hunt/kill. My dog-shepherd/yellow lab mix is the same way. He hates small animals, and all he'll do is kill them, doesn't eat them, just grabs them by the neck and shakes till their necks break. Then he just looks at them and pokes them with his nose....Fortunately he's only done that twice, once to a field rat and the other was a baby possum-that played dead and actually got away. Just instinct for them, and you can't change that....
2007-08-20 19:12:23 · answer #4 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
omg that sucks! i have a bunny! what happened is the dog grabbed the rabbit by the neck and shook it and shook it as if it were a rag doll. my grannys sheppard did that to a poodle she had.
your dog sounds like it needs to be trained and fast. teach him that it is bad bad BAD to kill something. if he does, take him to the kill and make sure he sees it. flck himon the nose and say no NO! also it would be good to take him to behavior classes. i hope i helped!
2007-08-20 19:12:26 · answer #5 · answered by hello 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I've heard that once a dog has a taste for blood there is nothing you can do about it. It's more of a sport and once they see how fun it is then that's it.
2007-08-20 18:52:09 · answer #6 · answered by luggage3000 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
give him rabbits for tea
2007-08-21 01:28:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋