# killing birds/need advice



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

They are bird retrievers and unfortunately that might happen. I dont think it will happen every time he goes in the yard and might not ever happen again. He must be really fast to have caught it or the bird was sick.


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## draxisback (Jul 7, 2008)

High five to the puppy getting the bird! Hopefully it wasn't anything special.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

I would think it was a once in million chance he'd pull a bird out of the air again!

Goldens are bird dogs but they aren't supposed to eat or hurt the bird! As a breed, they have a soft mouth and should "drop" on a command (when trained to do so). 

Our Max could retrieve live doves and they would be totally unharmed.(I'm shocked they didn't die of a heart attack though!) Of course later he retrieved birds my DH had shot. : (


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

My friend Jeannie's boxer puppy, Yuki, ate an entire bird he caught: beak, wings, everything( Welcome to dog owning , Jeannie! She couldnt even look at him for hours.) We called the vet in a panic, and she said to give some soft bread slices. Absolutely nothing bad happened to the puppy, and to this day, hard as he tries, he cannot catch another bird(so far).


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## Faith's mommy (Feb 26, 2007)

it's in their bones to chase and try to kill little furry things. try not to dwell on it, and i don't think he'll actually be that lucky again.

keep in mind - that bird would have been a meal for him if he lived in the wild. he'd probably be just fine if he caught and ate it.


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## draxisback (Jul 7, 2008)

My pug sneaks up on birds sitting on our pond outback. Even has a bell on his collar but he has learned how to do this 'stealth' prance/walk and grabs them by the neck and kills them by flinging them around until it snaps. Its pretty brutal to be honest. He wont drop the bird and runs and hides under the deck or places I just cant get to and eats the whole thing. He hasn't gotten sick yet, but we sure worry. I hope our Golden doesnt catch on to his little trick. I am sure he will though.. he caught on to everything else.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

draxisback said:


> My pug sneaks up on birds sitting on our pond outback. Even has a bell on his collar but he has learned how to do this 'stealth' prance/walk and grabs them by the neck and kills them by flinging them around until it snaps. Its pretty brutal to be honest. He wont drop the bird and runs and hides under the deck or places I just cant get to and eats the whole thing. He hasn't gotten sick yet, but we sure worry. I hope our Golden doesnt catch on to his little trick. I am sure he will though.. he caught on to everything else.


Wow- athletic pug! The one we walk with- Quincy- could never catch a bird. He is a sweet, funny clown of a little dog, always chatting to himself and snuffling.


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## draxisback (Jul 7, 2008)

LOL! We have made Milo be athletic and he loves it. He is definitely
not a typical pug at all. He loves his yard, going outside, he
loves to play catch, and walk.


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## Aprilpa (Mar 24, 2008)

They're dogs, it happens. Mine eat the ones they catch, I would never be able to get them to let go of their prize. It's never been a problem for any of them, although I can't imagine there is much meat on a bird.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

I wouldn't hold my breathe until he pulled one out of the air again that was pretty amazing.


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## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

Wow! What a catch! I'm amazed! Some Goldens have pretty high prey drive - Griff does - but he mostly chases things - so far he's only eaten a chipmunk. :doh:

Was it a dove by any chance? They aren't the sharpest tools in the shed as far as birds go. I had a Silky catch one, broke it's wing and I ended up housing and feeding it for 11 years! :doh:


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Just a part of their bloodline to go after birds. Although in Benny's case you might consider changing from Golden Retriever to Golden Gotcha.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Consider it the dumb bird that had little to offer the gene pool!

Quiz caught and killed a young squirrel once that was dumb enough to go to ground and try to dart to a different tree when 8 dogs were present! Natural selection in action!


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Consider it the dumb bird that had little to offer the gene pool!
> 
> Quiz caught and killed a young squirrel once that was dumb enough to go to ground and try to dart to a different tree when 8 dogs were present! Natural selection in action!


Now that made me laugh and feel a little better about the whole incident!


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Consider it the dumb bird that had little to offer the gene pool!


Spewed Diet Coke on my scren on that one. ROFL


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## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

I went to a dog show back in May and as the handler was leading his Golden away from the Judge, the Golden stopped dead at the end - the handler's face was like "what the?" but I followed the dog's eyes and chuckled - a turkey buzzard had flown overhead. My Dad said he hoped the Judge gave him extra points for being "birdy". :


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

Then I guess what he did wasn't such a bad thing?


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

skeller said:


> Then I guess what he did wasn't such a bad thing?


No, not bad at all and as other have said quite natural. This is a breed that is intended to be "birdy". Normally you would not want them to kill the bird but in this situation the bird may have died from schock as much as Benny holding it. A puppy that is "birdy" can lose all focus on anything else in the world when a bird is present and if the pup can catch the bird it almost becomes "possessed". Oriana, 5 months old, displayed this earlier this week when exposed to her first birds during training. Interesting enough once a dog is trained for field it has been my experience that my dogs pay little attention to the small birds in the yard - except for pigeons. Almost as if they know that they are not worth the effort.


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## skeller (Mar 5, 2008)

I'm a little afraid to let him run loose in the yard. I've been leash walking him in the yard, and letting him run holding the 30 ft lead.


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## marieb (Mar 24, 2008)

Maddie killed a bird too ... probably a month or so ago. The baby bird fell out of the nest and was too young to fly so it was just hopping around and she snatched it up. I heard the squeaking coming from her mouth and I had to pull her mouth open to get it out ... it was breathing but definitely injured. I felt bad, but then I remembered that they are bird dogs and it was probably her instinct/she thought it was a squeaky toy.


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