mjbuck
Hancock, MI
MH
Posts:90
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| 11/27/2011 8:01 AM |
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I'm noticing a troubling habit my dog has started. She is obsessed with field mice and moles. When out walking, etc., she regularly stops when she hears them under the grass/snow and points them for a few seconds. It appears she is using this time to locate them by sound and then she pounces on them. Twice I've noticed where she has caught them and eaten them before I could intervene. I was cleaning my garage today and a mouse ran out and my dog pounced on it before I could react and she ate it whole and while it was still alive. Needless to say, this will not be tolerated. Anyone else ever see this problem? Earlier in the summer my dog also caught two squirrels and killed them before I could get involved. She never gets mean or viscous except when she pounces on these things and then she seems like she goes crazy. Any suggestions? |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
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Posts:6941
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| 11/27/2011 8:28 AM |
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| She's a shorthair. They were bred to hunt not only birds, but fur bearing animals too. This is normal behavior. I have four shorthairs and I am regularly gifted with dead squirrels, possums, rats, etc. She probably eats the mice because they are so small and she is afraid you are going to try to stop her. Since these are all rodents and can damage your home, why don't you just let her have fun with them. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
     
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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Splat
Illinois (Northern)
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Posts:2581
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| 11/27/2011 8:49 AM |
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| Yeah mine get the mice and moles all the time in our yard...we just let them have their fun...sometimes they eat them and sometimes they just leave them as dead gifts for us...we are more than happy with this because the moles are terrible and burrow up by our house which is not good...and who wants mice! |
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http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=2553
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=2554 |
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kpwlee
Raleigh, NC
MH
Posts:535
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| 11/27/2011 12:32 PM |
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I will admit I had to laugh - my dog is obsessed with moles and people along our walks have asked for me to take him through their yard to help eradicate the problem. I was freaked at first but now it flat out amazes me. He will clearly be 'on' them from 25 yds away and then as yours does he becomes still, listens, pounces and pulls them from the ground.
I am happy that we have no moles in our yard - despite them being prevalent in this area - we now have permission/requests from 9 homeowners to rid their property of moles LOL
Bugsy doesn't eat moles or squirrels but he does eat rabbit when he catches them
I understand it can be disturbing but its just circle of life, animal kingdom stuff. |
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It's Bugsy's world...
http://dailyzoomie.blogspot.com/ |
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Rose
MH
Posts:224
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| 11/27/2011 5:56 PM |
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Casey catches mice all the time as well. We haven't had any mice in the house since we got him. Although he just tends to "mouth" them, carry them around, and get then they get all wet, and they seemingly die more from the stress of the situation than him biting them. I think I've heard of some, referring to these little mice and moles as "popcorn?" I'm curious too if others allows/disallow this.
If we're out in the field, he will dig after them, but he tends to be on a check cord so I can call him off of it if I want to move on. Sometimes I just let him dig - it seems to be enormously stimulating to him and he will even use his mouth to move roots out of the way.
However, it does seem to have developed him into being rather opportunistic about catching small animals. He's caught a Hungarian partridge once in a public park, boy was that an experience, I was not expecting that at all!
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Rose, Casey - GSP, & Peyton - Brittany. (First time dog & GSP owner) |
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rebelyell
Iowa
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Posts:176
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| 11/27/2011 6:35 PM |
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Too bad you will not tolerate this, as it is only natural for a GSP to use their nose like this to find rodents. My GSP goes for mice and moles! The moles she does not eat. Mice, she usually only catches them in the shed and woodpile, then throws them up in the air...kind of tosses them all around like a rag doll!!
The only time I have noticed her eating the mice...is if I walk up to her and she thinks I am going to take her prized mouse away...then she swallows it whole! Just make sure if your dog eats it....that you do not have any mole or mouse posion out anywhere!!
She has been known to stop on our walks at the lake, stick her nose down a hole, and lay down not wanting to leave until she gets to dig it up!! Obviously I don't allow the digging in the park...so we reluctantly move on  |
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Jolene
-- Rebel (GSP 2010)
-- Shila (GSP 1988-2006 17 1/2 wonderful yrs )
"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." -Ben Williams
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:6941
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Smylinacha
Connecticut
MH
Posts:845
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| 11/27/2011 6:40 PM |
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| Mine went nuts over a nest in our central a/c unit outside. I would love for them to eat as many as they can get because I don't want them in the house. They will kill anything that comes in the yard, including the neighbor's cats which we intervened but next time (since he has like 15 of them), I'm not intervening. I love cats, have one myself, but not 15, unfixed, spraying, unruly things and they don't even stop the mice! It's amazing the scent and hearing these dogs have. We had a major mole problem in the yard last year - only had it minor this year. |
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
MH
Posts:6941
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| 11/27/2011 6:44 PM |
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| Like I said, why stop them. They are wonderful and relatively cheap pest control. And they are totally entertained by it. In my book that is a win win scenario. |
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Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna)
Yellow Rose GSPs
"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato |
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Smylinacha
Connecticut
MH
Posts:845
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| 11/27/2011 7:04 PM |
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| Bev those are great shots of them huntin up the mole! |
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kpwlee
Raleigh, NC
MH
Posts:535
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| 11/27/2011 7:19 PM |
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Great shots Bev, and I'm laughing at all the gsp mole hunters. I have some funny Bugsy + mole pics, I'll post a couple tomorrow.
Rebelyell he does the "I am staying here untill the job is done" thing too. Annoying but laughable |
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It's Bugsy's world...
http://dailyzoomie.blogspot.com/ |
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weerubbertummy
Ayrshire, Scotland
MH
Posts:498
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| 11/28/2011 3:28 AM |
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When Kintra was approx 4 months old she disappeared into a hedgerow next to the river near our house and after a lot of noise and rustling reappeared with a wood pigeon in her mouth (dead). I knew she wasnt quite sure what to do with it but that she wanted to keep it so i told her "good girl" and tried to get her to come back (her recall had been excellent til then), then she started running  She ran from the riverside walk out onto the road which although not busy, we get a lot of boyracers and speedy van-drivers along there at that time in the morning. She ran the half kilometre back home with me running behind absolutely terrified. Luckily there was no traffic and when i caught up to her at my house i calmly asked her to leave it and she did (eventually).
After that i decided it was safer to leave her to her own devices and she did find and swallow many mice in her lifetime, particularly frozen ones (easier to catch  ). It's just nature, and i loved the fact that she could enjoy following that instinct, i didnt see anything wrong with it. |
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Miss you forever Kintra baby xxx |
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flygirl
Muncy, PA
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Posts:399
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| 11/28/2011 7:45 AM |
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Mice are not the only things they are obsessed with. We have a few chipmunks that drive Benelli nuts. She has ripped the siding off the corners of the house as the little buggers run up there. She has also pulled a plastic drain pipe out from under the side walk x3 when they chips run into the drain pipe. Husband still hasn't put something on the end to keep them from running in there.
Benelli came home from the cabin after a weekend and her nose was peeling. Apparently she found a chipmunk in a roll of snow fencing and would not leave it alone until she got it. They love those little critters. |
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Benelli
Abby
RIP Dutchess - 2000-2010
Cheyney the cat |
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kpwlee
Raleigh, NC
MH
Posts:535
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| 11/28/2011 8:09 AM |
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Here he is with one of his first catches - oops that's large
darn I can't find the really funny sequence post mole hunt that I have somewhere
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It's Bugsy's world...
http://dailyzoomie.blogspot.com/ |
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Rose
MH
Posts:224
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| 11/28/2011 10:41 AM |
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Love the picture of Bugsy & the mole! These stories about mouse hunting give me a chuckle. 
Here's a few of Casey going after one. It is interesting to see him problem solve, he chews through roots and clumps of grass with his mouth, and tries different angles of digging to widen the hole:
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Rose, Casey - GSP, & Peyton - Brittany. (First time dog & GSP owner) |
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Gunnar
MH
Posts:288
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| 11/28/2011 12:09 PM |
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| Only thing my dogs chase is bees and lizards. The bees they have down to a science as far as eating them without being stung. I watched them eat bees off a bush in my yard one day and I was like Nahhhhh sure enough that's what they were doing. Everything else gets pointed. The DD will try and dig out a fox now and again and rabbits get chased till they stop then get pointed. |
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Smylinacha
Connecticut
MH
Posts:845
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| 11/28/2011 7:13 PM |
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| Bugsy and the Mole pic is GREAT! That should be a poster with a funny saying underneath! |
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Almost Heaven GSP
Springfield, WV
MH
Posts:728
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| 11/29/2011 10:29 PM |
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Just a word of caution for you folks, but common rodents such as mice, moles, chipmunks, etc.... are and can be carriers of Lepto; so please make sure your puppers are Vaccinated, or at the very least talk to your Vet concerning Lepto and the risk of both Vaccinating and NOT Vaccinating. A very close friend lost his beloved Brittany 1 1/2 years ago to Lepto and best we can figure, she likely contracted it from a Chipmunk or Mouse. She was hell on Munks in the Grouse woods when we weren't finding birds and she would get bored, as well as being hell on Mice on the docks where he lives.
Just felt like I should share a potential risk. |
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Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
Bruce Shaffer
Almost Heaven GSP's
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kpwlee
Raleigh, NC
MH
Posts:535
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| 11/30/2011 5:23 PM |
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| very good reminder Bruce |
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It's Bugsy's world...
http://dailyzoomie.blogspot.com/ |
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Rose
MH
Posts:224
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| 11/30/2011 6:06 PM |
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Good to know Bruce, I've always been curious if there are diseases dogs can catch from rodents.
Hantavirus is prevalent here in field mice, we even know a human friend who got it and luckily survived - fortunately it doesn't look like dogs can catch that one. Although I will be asking the vet about Lepto. |
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Rose, Casey - GSP, & Peyton - Brittany. (First time dog & GSP owner) |
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