Would she kill a rabbit?

[beebee]

Hi, i hope this doesn't sound silly, but i took Maisy for a walk at dusk and there were a LOT of rabbits around. She ran for them but didn't
get close enough to catch one. I didn't realise she could run so fast! There were a few baby rabbits, and if i hadn't managed to keep her attention on me she may have got one. If she had got close enough would she have 'gone for it' maybe killed it, does anyone have experience of this?

[Nicola]

She might well have done, it's hard to tell really without knowing the dog. Mine aren't allowed to chase and are used to retrieving game like rabbits and birds undamaged but my previous dog, Sasha, who was a German Shepherd killed a fair few rabbits in her time.

[barnacle]

my friends springer lives with small animals and is fine with them but has killed many wild animals and eaten them, rabbits, squirrels, and rats!

[Cazzie]

She would have to be extremely fast to catch a fit healthy rabbit   I have loads of experience of dog retrieveing rabbits and hares in many different situations.  

Rabbits shot dead, easy peasy (although I wont touch them)   Rabbits shot but wounded (not a nice site)  

Hares shot and killed (horrid) Hate hares they are pretty scarey looking  

Hares shot and wounded (horrific sound of squealing)   The most haunting sound ive ever heard and one I hope I never hear again  

Belle brought back to me a wounded hare   It was crying like a baby   Horrid horrid but it was put out of its mysery by Will very quickly  

If a dog was to catch a rabbit or a hare, be prepared to be sad as I could not cope if my dogs did, thats why they are trained not to chase   Sweepie is the only one that will chase to a certain extent but I know for sure if any of them caught one it would NOT be killed it would be brought back to me sqealing its head off and Id run a mile  

[beebee]

She's definitely not fast enough to catch a fit healthy rabbit! My worry was , that if she managed to get one of the baby ones, and grabbed it but didn't kill it i would be faced with the dilemma of having to somehow to end its suffering , i just dont know what i would do. I kept calling her and fortunately i was able to keep her close. But the b****y rabbits didn't run until we were really close! They must be daft!
My imagination was working overtime, picturing all scenarios.

[Cazzie]

She's definitely not fast enough to catch a fit healthy rabbit! My worry was , that if she managed to get one of the baby ones, and grabbed it but didn't kill it i would be faced with the dilemma of having to somehow to end its suffering , i just dont know what i would do.

Unfortunatley dogs chase as a natural instinct  If she catches one then im afraid your going to have to deal with the situation im afraid. You better look up on how to dispatch a wounded rabbit  I know I couldnt dispatch one and am glad I can stop mine in action  Well not so sure about Daisy  I do know that the stoat she caught didnt stand a chance and was dead in seconds but she is a terrier 

[mac]

my collie used to catch and kill rabbits .  you would think at 17 she was knackered.... not so she see a rabbit and that was it.  i am not as fast as her and by the time i got to her the rabbit was dead.  when fuse came along he would let sheba kill the rabbit and then be munching on a part of it.   
my friand has a farm in scotland we often shoot rabbits and the dogs get them raw as  tea ]i must say i love rabbit.  think it fell out of vogue of late ............

[juliaanne]

Roxy recently caught a rat and killed it - it was in a hollow tree trunk and I think she caught it by the tail as this was all bent.  She emerged from the undergrowth holding the dead rat in her mouth by the back of it's neck looking very pleased with herself and daring us to try and remove it.  Luckily my son managed to bribe her with a treat to drop it.  Horrible - no cocker kisses that day!!  I think rabbits are pretty safe though, one ran straight by her the other day and she didn't even notice!!

[Smudgesmum]

My last cocker,Deefer  :luv:who was the lazyest (my daughter says boring) but loveable dog suddenly left my side whilst walking (unheard of) and dived into the hedgerow where he had seen a baby rabbit, he killed it instantly by grabbing it by the neck..I didn't have time to do anything at all, it was so unexpected. So I think the answer is yes, your little one would kill a rabbit if she had the chance.
We have had two English Setters...the first one, Henry, cornered a baby rabbit and then barked at it until we went to see what was happening-all he was doing was licking it between barks! However our current ES is so different and has def. killer tendences -he managed to catch a Muncjac  ,we had a battle getting his mouth open to free the poor thing but Im pleased to say it bounded away . 

[Annette]

Roxy recently caught a rat and killed it - it was in a hollow tree trunk and I think she caught it by the tail as this was all bent.  She emerged from the undergrowth holding the dead rat in her mouth by the back of it's neck looking very pleased with herself and daring us to try and remove it.  Luckily my son managed to bribe her with a treat to drop it.  Horrible - no cocker kisses that day!!  I think rabbits are pretty safe though, one ran straight by her the other day and she didn't even notice!!

Do be careful with rats.

We had a Jack Russel many years ago who was a great ratter until he was bitten by a rat, developed hepatitis (I think; I was a child still) and died.

[ali]

barkley has caught and killed two rabbits. the first was when he was 11 months old and i was walking him through an area that isn't often walked in. he caught a grown rabbit which looked reasonably healthy but it may have been ill or injured. it was dead by the time he brought it out to show me. i remember feeling a complete mix of horror at my cute pup carrying a fresh kill to a strange sense of pride in the fact that he'd managed to catch it. very weird. 

the second was a baby about 6 months later and it was entirely my fault. we were walking in local bluebell woods and i hadn't realised it was the time of year when the baby bunnies are coming out. he grabbed it before it knew he was there and it too died instantly. i felt really sorry for that one. 

he has also come incredibly close to catching a pheasant up on the downs.

so... my lesson has been not to walk barkley in areas with big rabbit or pheasant populations during their breeding season. it's a shame because the bluebell woods are obviously a beautiful spot to walk at this of the year, but i don't have a strong enough control over his recall and so will not risk it. i also make sure that he always wears a collar with a tag that jangles as he moves as he is almost silent when he charges about othewise and is so quick.

[LynseyAndChester]

From what I know of Cockers, they're used to flush out birds. I had this concern about Molly (Okay she's a springer but they're used for the same purpose) and my dad assured me it wasn't her instinct to kill anything. She's caught birds before but when she does, she doesn't know what to do with them. Chester just runs in the opposite direction lol. So I wouldn't be worried; if your pup ever did catch a bunny, she probably wouldn't know what to do with it.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

My cocker catches and eats live mice.. but I doubt he'd get a rabbit.. on the whole he prefers stinky dead things. My Weim will catch something soon, I have no doubt about it but suspect she'll deal with it rather than me having to. My last cocker used to hunt and catch rabbits with a German Shepard he grew up with - although suspect it was the GSD doing most of the work! For some reason my cocker was always 'given' the head too... was v grim as he used to toss it about like a tennis ball 

Hope she doesn't get one but be prepared for the worst!

Hannah x

[Cazzie]

and my dad assured me it wasn't her instinct to kill anything. She's caught birds before but when she does, she doesn't know what to do with them.

But do you know what to do with them   Have they been injured whilst being caught as the likely hood they will have, either from shock or from your dogs teeth and feet. I had to dispatch one of my hens that sweepie chased and Goose retrieved as it was dying of shock  

[angelbaby]

Quincy will chase birds and bunnies also, i really dont think he would hurt them if he ever got hold of one though, he probably wouldnt even touch it tbh, just stay as close as he could, hes a knightmare with birds, once at the park, crows were attacking a magpie, and by the end of the attack the magpie was led on the grass a way away from us, Quincy spotted them all and made a dash as i picked up the pace to try save the poor thing from the crows! (and possibly Quincy)  He got to the magpie which was on its back, and it didnt run away!!!! he done a twisty jump over and circled it  that was it

then the magpie hopped off into the bush after i gently tapped it over with my foot onto its front.

Unless it runs away hes not really interested in it, wheres the fun in that eh