# Hunting/killing instinct?



## Apesan (Aug 23, 2013)

My folks have a golden doodle (no judgement pls) and she is great with our golden puppy and kids and at 2, she's mellowed a lot and I've always thought of her as a nice dog. 

My parents went away and my sister in law was watching the dog. Somehow she got into my neice's bedroom and killed her pet guinea pigs-and true me, it wasn't an "oops she played to hard" accident. It was a full growl and attack and kill. 

Needless to say, it wasn't a good scene and all my neice and nephews were/are devastated so we took the dog for the remainder of their vacation. My folks are coming home tonight and i am completely sick that i have to tell them what happened. 

I haven't let my pup and the dog have unsupervised play, but she has been fine with our 14 week golden puppy. Hey have actually had a great time playing together. 

I know a golden doodle is NOT and GR but I am wondering if what she did with the pigs was instinct and if it can be trained out of her? Also, I'm wondering if this is something I should be wary about with my pup? My last golden was around all kinds of critters and never paid much mind to them but I know each dog is different. 

Any thoughts?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Watch your goldens when they play with toys.... a lot of that throwing around, pouncing, shaking, shredding.... these are things these dogs do in play that basically are linked to predatory instincts that are somewhere inside of them. Doesn't mean they aren't nice dogs. It's just part of their wiring.

Prey animals like pet rodents and pet birds should not be left loose with a dog running around. I'm very sorry the kids went through that.  

We had a rodent of some kind shred some baby birds that I bred - and it was a very long time before I could shake that sick horrified feeling.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

Poor guinea pig. I think it depends on how the dog was socialized. If the puppy grew up around guinea pigs and was taught to leave it alone I think you'd be fine. I think the incident was more of a poodle problem though. My dad had a standard poodle long ago that was a mouser, it wasn't a problem since they weren't pets. I can't imagine a golden having enough attention to want to kill a guinea pig. Mine wouldn't hurt a fly and we have a family friend whom had a golden and guinea pigs for several years without any incidents.


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

I wouldn't trust that dog unsupervised around small animals again. I'm sure you could do some training, but I wouldn't risk it.

We have had a pack of guinea pigs for years now, and since Cookie and Poppy (the cat) have grown up with them, I don't think they view them as prey animals. I still wouldn't leave them alone together - I'd actually be more concerned about Cookie hurting a pig by trying to get it to play, than by trying to kill it intentionally.

On the other hand, Cookie is quite the huntress outside, and I'm sure she strikes fear into the resident rabbit population. I do not encourage her to chase rabbits, but you can definitely tell when her predatory instinct kicks in. 

So, the earlier you expose your puppy to small critters, the better the outcome you can expect I think.


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

My first dog, Amber, wouldn't hurt anything she was introduce to (I believe she must have read Alice in Wonderland to get that philosophy), but would chase anything she wasn't introduced to. 

Maddie, I have no idea. We haven't introduced her to much in the way of prey. Few cats, though I would love to, no small creatures. Bunnies are prey here.

I think you need to start with a polite intro (with a safe distance) and watch carefully.

Dogs are different.


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

My golden puppy came in last night covered from paw to 'elbow' in blood.... found the rabbit head outside, no body....

No proof he killed it but it is in a fenced yard so we assume... and he's almost 6 months old, with no body we can only assume he ate it....

The moral of the story is, dogs are hunters and while they can be trained the instincts can't be removed.....

Btw, he lives with a cat and loves the cat. He ignores it mostly. Now let the cat have an oops and bolt out of the door and Rem treats him totally different outside and wants to bark and chase. They don't have across the board mentalities.

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## Heather C. (Sep 25, 2013)

I think its some based on breed but a lot instinct, the dog's personality, and what the dog was exposed to early. I think if a dog is exposed to small prey type animals in the house as a puppy, they are less likely to chase and kill small animals later in the house, although they still might outside. Otherwise, I think its fair game. I mean, dogs are, somewhere in the back of the brain, animals that hunted smaller ones for food. I wouldn't trust any dog with a guinea pig, rabbit, chicken, mouse, etc., unless it had been raised with them. I would expect many breeds of dogs to chase and/or kill small animals like that unless raised with them. 

Our friend's golden mix got into someone's chicken coop this fall and killed two chickens, and he is about 14 years old, so not the most spry. My two former dogs would chase anything that moved that was not another dog or cat (and my one dog would chase cats too if allowed, she hated cats, and also was known to tree full grown bears; she was pretty bad ass). If they caught it, they would shake it to death. Luckily rabbits are fast, so I only had to get rid of one dead rabbit in all the time that I owned them. I did have my Christmas tree knocked down once long ago though when my dog chased a mouse into it! 

My current puppy doesn't seem to have as much of a chase instinct as my previous dogs. She tends to look at small animals curiously, but doesn't immediately start to stalk them. I have brought her to the pet store to see the rabbits and so far nothing but interest. I'm still not sure I would risk it though. I mean, a dog is a dog. 

Heather


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## Kodiac-Bear (Jan 20, 2014)

It all depends on the up-bringing of the dog, if they are taught not to go after smaller animals they won't.

My last GR in his lifetime killed out right 4 rabbits (caught them), too many squirrels to count, 5 large rats, seriously mamed a raccoon, and destroyed a wild dog. I never discouraged or tried to stop that instinct because it's natural. Wolves and coyote's main diet is small creatures and rodents....it's natual.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I have had three goldens and a lab mix that never harmed any critters. My second and third golden and lab mix grew up around guinea pigs. They were actually quite fond of them and never harmed them. 
My dachshund is another story but he is a breed made for that type of hunting, but he was taught to ignore the guinea pig in his cage, which he did. 

My new golden puppy was introduced to my guinea pig from the start and he was very curious but he never got too close because of him being a teething, biting puppy. But I am sure if my piggy had lived longer ( he passed away 10 days ago), they would have become friends eventually, just like the others, once the puppy biting stage was over. 

You can teach your pup to get along with any kind of animal but the introductions have to be made really carefully with puppy just getting to watch not interact till he is older, and out of the biting/mouthing stage. But of course, supervision at all times is
a must. 
Goldens are usually great in getting along with other animals.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

My Brady is very gentle with all the baby chicks and ducks we have raised. He and my bunny used to play all the time.

My MacKenzie is the stalker. She was always around the same baby chicks and ducks, but would always keep a safe distance from them on her own. She actually was very protective of them, but she has killed birds in our yard. I think she knows the difference of what was our pets and what isn't.

When you have a hybrid, you do not know what type of dog you are going to get when you mix certain genetic traits.


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

Your parents dog acted like a dog. Canines are predators. You may be able to train a dog to get along with other creatures by starting them young, but without early socialization, a dog is going to act according to its nature. Don't be mad at the dog. She did what comes naturally. 

Ben will chase anything moving. He has caught rabbits and birds, and chased after a lot of mice, squirrels and cats. I would never leave him alone with any small animal, especially one that squeaks. There's a reason most dog toys squeak - they remind the dog of its instinct to go after critters that make high pitched noises. Dogs are different though. Ben doesn't generally bother with small dogs at all, except to play with a few close neighbors. Even so, I wouldn't leave him alone with a small dog he didn't know well.


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## golden_732 (Aug 26, 2013)

Agreed. I think the golden doodle was acting like a dog. Riley caught a squirrel once and chased countless rabbits. Cooper has been around a pet rabbit once, he didn't show any predatory signs, more curious than anything. But the rabbit was in a different room with the door closed and locked.


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Although Rem killed a rabbit, at the pet store he has seen small animals up close and personal and obeys commands still to leave it and without commands he will lay down when I say be gentle and just sniff at them, maybe put out a paw. Very gentle.... but as you see, with the rabbit, without supervision.... 
Something bad happened. I don't think it makes Remi a bad dog. I think it falls on us as not being there to supervise  so just make sure you train and train and supervise your growing pup

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