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ok he's a Whippet/Collie cross and nearly 2 yo now but he's never really shown much interest in catching rabbits. He loves to chase them and could have easily caught some (a few have even run right into him) but in the last week he's killed two.
The first one barely moved, Barney runs up to it catches it and goodnight wabbit. Yesterday he chased a big posse of them from a distance and they made their escape, one however was caught out and hiding somewhere, Barney could sense it was there (I think) and started sniffing it out, wabbit makes a break for it and Barney moves like I've only seem him move a couple of times before (and he is fast) and goodnight wabbit part II. He shook it about a bit, a few munches (no broken skin that I could see) on the head/neck area and that was the end of his interest.
So question is, does he now have the "taste" for it? Or are "last years" rabbits particularly easy to catch at this time of year and simply too easy an opportunity for Barney to turn down?
Good dog, good dog.
*pats head, turns on oven*
It's the Mixie. Your dog is doing the bunnies a favour.
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How is he with baby robins?
Thats what they do. Im not sure its a major problem as its unlikely to affect numbers significantly. Not sure I'd want to encourage that sort of behavior in a dog.
Depends whether he can differentiate between rabbits and cats for example.
Dog Vs Wabbit..age old adversaries.
It'll be the whippet in him. I wouldn't worry the novelty may wear off.
Rabbits at this time of year are a bit slower, there's plenty of food available, they're stocking up for winter, and they're a bit on the plump side.
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😯
Oh noooooo.
Put a bell round his neck when you let him off the lead?
and they're a bit on the plump side
which has absolutely nothing to do with my zeroing my new air rifle yesterday..... 🙂
nom.
Mid life dog crisis, for sure.
Anyway - what Stoner says. Farmer gets free pest control, you get free meat. Can't see a problem!
Thats what they do. Im not sure its a major problem as its unlikely to affect numbers significantly.
Rabbits are considered a pest, by the way. So their numbers do need affecting. They have very few predators in the UK so your dog is probably doing a good thing from an ecological standpoint.
And my dog killed a chicken wandering in fields. Totaly different response. ❓
Thanks all, made me feel better about it.
seizednuts - Member
And my dog killed a chicken wandering in fields. Totaly different response.
mmm yeah but totally different animal 😕
If this dog kills a neighbours pet rabbit there is likely to be a different response too.
Good dog.... our dog surprised us last week when he caught a rabbit, it had been a while and he's 10!
It's what sight hounds do; great to see them enjoying what they're 'made for', but big risk to your dog - we've had greyhounds that have chased rabbits into barbed wire fences at 40mph, and one that broke his back catching a rabbit hole at full pelt and rag dolling half way across a field (he needed a lot of rehab). Also know of an uninsured lurcher with a £6k broken leg from chasing stuff. Also the risk of impaling on sticks/branches in woodland. They really do get the red mist!
In short, assess the risks before you let him off...
as said above it's myxomatosis and once that has worked its way through the local population it will not be fast enough to catch them.
I agree good dog. Get your powerful headlamp and go lamping at night, the eyes shine up and the wabbits will take cover in the middle of fields and you can walk towards them with trusty dog at your side then send him off after them, its great fun. Sounds like your dog is quick enough to catch a young wabbit anyway, learn how to gut and stick em in the pot.
Mid life dog crisis, for sure.
Next he'll be buying a Porsche Boxster, getting a tattoo, dyeing his hair and chasing BILFs....
It's what sight hounds do; great to see them enjoying what they're 'made for', but big risk to your dog - we've had greyhounds that have chased rabbits into barbed wire fences at 40mph, and one that broke his back catching a rabbit hole at full pelt and rag dolling half way across a field (he needed a lot of rehab). Also know of an uninsured lurcher with a £6k broken leg from chasing stuff. Also the risk of impaling on sticks/branches in woodland. They really do get the red mist!
Thanks for the advice, met this bloke who bought a "designer" lurcher for "sporting" reasons and post puppy period he always had it on the lead, when I asked him why he said it's chase instinct was off the scale, blowing leaves would set him off. Saw him a few weeks ago and he didn't have the lurcher with him, stoopit dawg, turns out he impaled himself on a branch. 🙁 Beautiful looking animal too.
He is a lurcher its what they are bred to do. Intelligence and stamina from the collie and speed from the whippet.Pat him on the head and go and buy a slow cooker.
Rabbits are easy to catch at the moment as they are very young. My Dog, who is so gentle but loves a chase has caught a couple and then is confused as to what to do next, so now he waits for them to start running before chasing them and doesn't go for the kill.
Squirrels however are quite different...because they fight back he kills them instantly when he catches them, which isn't very often, as they is sneaky little varmints and know how to wrong foot a speeding dog!
(also called Barney btw)
What puzzles me though is that he has always seemed more collie like than whippet like - he has the collies love of tennis balls - would jump off a cliff chasing one, and even his rabbit chasing almost seemed more like herding - especially when he was younger.
Collie x whippet is a well known cross for rabbiting dogs as the collie makes them very biddable.
Round here we get £1 per rabbit. You could always make him pay his keep....
Next he'll be buying a Porsche Boxster
Porsche Boxer surely?
Or maybe a Range Rover.
It'll be a child's face next...
"Bright eyes..burnin' me like fire"
No need to feel guilty
....actually, thinking about it. Was it a particularly big, evil looking rabbit he killed & was he led on by a speedy, charismatic rabbit who looked like he could tell a good story?
mustard & herbs, then teach him about hare's
It's natural and fairly normal
my last dog caught and chomped one up a bit and proceeded to swallowed it whole.
you want to train it to pop the head and nothing else if you want to eat it.
stoopid slow young rabbits.
my last dog caught and chomped one up a bit and proceeded to swallowed it whole.
Our last bearded Collie did that on the odd occasion. Pretty impressive to see a rabbit just disappear in one go.
Whippet's will chase and kill rabbits. That's in their nature.
Make sure it's not on farmland,especially with sheep on it, or the friendly farmer will introduce your gun to shotgun lead.
The rabbit will escape and you'll have one dead dog.
My Dalmations caught and killed a few. Makes a really wierd hunting noise when he's chasing them.
mustard & herbs, then teach him about hare's
No, that's hare coursing, which is illegal.
Rabbits, yes. Hares, no
https://www.gov.uk/hunting-and-the-law
you have the best mix for a lurcher (imo), dogs bred to kill small mammals, , and your surprised its killing rabbits. To stop it you can either spend a lot of time training it to leave them alone, stop on command, and stay to heal. Or keep it on a short lead, or muzzle it, though thats no guarantee thst it won't still try to kill things.
we used to have a whippet/bc cross, it was a brilliant dog as we used it for game hunting, it just couldnt be trusted with anything small and furry unless it was one of our animals, then it just ignored them.
You own a lurcher it will kill rabbits, mine killed a muntjac in front of a family out for a strole once! You will not stop a lurcher chasing rabbits unless its a regularly worked dog imo. Rabbits are not much of a worry as tbey tend to not stray far from holes so it'll be a short chase deer and foxrs can take your dog a long way away. It hardly rayes as something worth worrying about imo.
Oh and the best lurcher mix is clearly 3/8 greyhound, 1/4 whippet, 1/8 boarder collie, 1/8 beardie and 1/8 bedlington!!!!
I had rabbit salad last week. It was lovely. Don't know why as a nation we don't eat more instead of chicken.
death is the result from eating too many wabbits
Rabbit is a bit dry compared to chicken.
Scruff, ours yips like a mad thing when chasing bunny. Only caught mixy ones so far though.
My dog (Springer) just lopes towards them at a gentle trot, and tries to make friends.
The rabbits though are a very cliquey bunch and don't want to socialise with her, which she finds quite disappointing.
Hope he doesn't come across this rabbit
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Certainly seems to have found his rabbiting mojo, got another one today, he seemed keener to keep this one though.
Years ago, a friend of mine had a golden retriever that was a big soft lump at the best of times. However my friend was a fell runner, that ran with his dog 8 to 10 miles a day, subsequently Max (the dog) could run down most rabbits by dint of stamina rather than speed, much to the suprise of any onlookers as well as the unfortunate rabbit. 🙂 He always killed them and growled like crazy when you tried to take the belated bunny off him.