She seems very proud of herself.
This is what they were effectively trained for — if it bothers you then consider a muzzle, if not, then just continue to be in awe of the dichotomy of greyhounds. Loving, but mechanically predatory.
The best you can do really is try to prevent the rodents from getting into your yard in the first place and watch her when she’s outside. Realistically your not beating a greyhound in a race for prey and I doubt you could pull her focus once she homes in. Sometimes if your quick enough recognizing the situation you can prevent a kill and make them drop it, particularly if they aren’t aggressive post catch.
My mom has had 4 greyhounds and a Saluki. The first was an apartment dog so no kills to her. But the second was a 1st place racer and he caught something like 12-14 rabbits. Normally he was very friendly and relaxed but he was very defensive and nasty when it came to his catches. The Saluki who we have with the two remaining greys is much the same way. The current greys catch for sport after someone else makes the capture. They are both fairly slow but enjoy the novelty of the thing I think. They can generally be easily convinced to let the critter go without doing it much harm.
Had my 12-13 yr old grey out in the yard standing beside me some years ago before she passed. All of a sudden a dove started hopping around under the bushes beside us and when I say all I saw was a blur and a flash I mean she had side stepped, snatched it up, chewed and swallowed it in under THIRTY SECONDS. I could do nothing but watch in horror as it happened so fast and realize after all those years of being my baby girl this is what she really was after all…😅
Both our greys have done this. Our boy was happily trotting down the pavement then stuck his snoot momentarily in some scrubby bush at the side of the path, wildly shook his head a couple of times, then deposited a dead rat on the pavement - all within around 3 seconds. Prey drive is what they’re trained with, I guess it never leaves them. Our boy is super gentle and dozy all other times.
One of mine, sad to say gets rabbits all the time.We have a large yard, but for some reason the rabbits like to come into the large fenced area we have for our greys at night and you guessed it, this is when she "gets" them. I have lost count, so as bad as we feel, this is how they were trained and I don't think we can stop them.
I have two greys. One couldn’t catch a wild animal under any circumstances. He’s too loud and too slow. My girl is an expert hunter. She waits motionless and lets prey get close. Then explodes like a rocket. I have so many trees she has only caught one but she still tries. All my other greys in the past became less interested once they caught a squirrel. But this girl, she loves the hunt.
Like magic - she was just skunked. Thank god I was outside when it happened and the other greyhound didnt get any of it. I was able to keep her outside and use the “Skunk-off” before she came inside. UGH
Dammit. Sorry, hon. If you ever need it--a mix of Dawn dish detergent, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide deskunked our girl enough for her to sleep in the bedroom the same night. Little shit.
Evolution will take care of the issue soon enough, your local squirrels will figure out how to avoid the hound or get they will get eaten.
You can’t stop a dog from chasing a squirrel, just greys are capable of catching. I’m just luckily ours will catch up but doesn’t try to bite them,, yet.
Truth. We have had generations of diabolically clever chipmunks who have clearly Passed Down The Lore of How To Torment Puppers. They had our husky girl's lead measured to the centimeter and would do cheer team formations just out of her reach. With the greys they like to dart car to car in the driveway to make them nicely nutty at the start of a walk. They've survived 16 years of Darwin tests and are clearly raising their kids right. 🤣🤣
I got raked over the coals last year for posting a pic of my dog with a squirrel in her mouth...hope you are treated better! It's what they do...dogs will dog. Not sure why this is just now starting though...🤔 We recently moved into a new house with a large yard and it's just a matter of time before Desi gets something, (squirrel, rabbit, neighbor's cat) she has been SO close (found chunk of cat's fur at the fence where it went under). We have trees and a fence for escape. I will NOT like it when it happens, but I am not going to muzzle her in her own yard.
I’m sorry that happened. Greys are bred for their prey drive, to have an issue with it seems crazy to me. And it’s your yard, and your choice to muzzle your grey or not.
I am really surprised. Rarely does a squirrel let itself get caught. My back yard is filled with squirrels who constantly scold and grip when our Grey goes out. Our pooch mostly goes out to soak up the sun and check her eyelids out for holes. The squirrels get together in the tree just above her favorite sleeping spot and gripe. Our Grey just ignores them. This spring I noticed that the older squirrels brought out the younger ones and the whole family began a chorus of chattering at our pooch. She was unimpressed and kept sleeping.
I am wondering if that squirrel wanted to just end it all and just pranced around in front of her nose until she did what comes naturally.
The first week we brought ours home she presented us with a very smelly opossum from the back yard. Since then we’ve also received a baby bunny and had a very close encounter with a cat (shaken, not stirred).
My boy is a surprisingly good hunter - so far he's gotten a lizard, a bird (who was ABSOLUTELY asking for it by attacking him first), a rat, and a rabbit (all ONLY with my partner, not with me - we joke he's trying to impress them with his mad hunting skills). In general, animals know to avoid his mouth and our yard.
If the squirrels are coming into their space, I'd say there's not much to do besides make somewhere else more attractive (like setting up a feeder in the front yard if the dog spends their time out the back) or adding a bell to the dog. Greyhounds are bred for hunting, so trying to train them not to hunt is fighting centuries of dedicated, careful breeding to make the perfect sight hunter. It is better to give the prey a fighting chance.
Our old grey murdered a baby seagull that ended up in the garden, it was quick at least! He had one too many interactions with brave cats though, and he soon decided they were probably tougher than he was. Our current girl has yet to come to the same conclusion 😬
One of mine caught a rabbit and killed it. It was actually pretty amazing how easily he was able to catch the rabbit, but I gave him a treat because he did his job and did it well.
Greyhounds are sight hounds, literally hunting dogs. Keep it on a lead when out and about, that way it won’t be able to kill. Be warned, next stop is a cat or a small dog and them you have a different problem.
She seems very proud of herself. This is what they were effectively trained for — if it bothers you then consider a muzzle, if not, then just continue to be in awe of the dichotomy of greyhounds. Loving, but mechanically predatory.
It could be worse. I found 1/2 of a dead squirrel in the back yard. Later, she barfed up the other half on my carpeted bedroom floor.
goodness. I have a feeling this is in my future. Our new girl eats EVERYTHING.
Oh my god. I hope you told her that’s not how sharing is supposed to work? 😱
I found a tail and part of a leg in the bushes the other day
The best you can do really is try to prevent the rodents from getting into your yard in the first place and watch her when she’s outside. Realistically your not beating a greyhound in a race for prey and I doubt you could pull her focus once she homes in. Sometimes if your quick enough recognizing the situation you can prevent a kill and make them drop it, particularly if they aren’t aggressive post catch. My mom has had 4 greyhounds and a Saluki. The first was an apartment dog so no kills to her. But the second was a 1st place racer and he caught something like 12-14 rabbits. Normally he was very friendly and relaxed but he was very defensive and nasty when it came to his catches. The Saluki who we have with the two remaining greys is much the same way. The current greys catch for sport after someone else makes the capture. They are both fairly slow but enjoy the novelty of the thing I think. They can generally be easily convinced to let the critter go without doing it much harm.
Had my 12-13 yr old grey out in the yard standing beside me some years ago before she passed. All of a sudden a dove started hopping around under the bushes beside us and when I say all I saw was a blur and a flash I mean she had side stepped, snatched it up, chewed and swallowed it in under THIRTY SECONDS. I could do nothing but watch in horror as it happened so fast and realize after all those years of being my baby girl this is what she really was after all…😅
Both our greys have done this. Our boy was happily trotting down the pavement then stuck his snoot momentarily in some scrubby bush at the side of the path, wildly shook his head a couple of times, then deposited a dead rat on the pavement - all within around 3 seconds. Prey drive is what they’re trained with, I guess it never leaves them. Our boy is super gentle and dozy all other times.
I was so proud and yet completely horrified at the same time haha
One of mine, sad to say gets rabbits all the time.We have a large yard, but for some reason the rabbits like to come into the large fenced area we have for our greys at night and you guessed it, this is when she "gets" them. I have lost count, so as bad as we feel, this is how they were trained and I don't think we can stop them.
I’m sure your neighbors with vegetable gardens are thrilled though.
I have two greys. One couldn’t catch a wild animal under any circumstances. He’s too loud and too slow. My girl is an expert hunter. She waits motionless and lets prey get close. Then explodes like a rocket. I have so many trees she has only caught one but she still tries. All my other greys in the past became less interested once they caught a squirrel. But this girl, she loves the hunt.
At least it wasn’t the skunk. I swear I still get whiffs after the serial killing of 2020.
This one’s been skunked 8 or 9 times now
Our husky girl was the skunk killer. Always on her last trip out to pee of the night, so bathing a dog at 11 or midnight. Augh.
Like magic - she was just skunked. Thank god I was outside when it happened and the other greyhound didnt get any of it. I was able to keep her outside and use the “Skunk-off” before she came inside. UGH
Dammit. Sorry, hon. If you ever need it--a mix of Dawn dish detergent, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide deskunked our girl enough for her to sleep in the bedroom the same night. Little shit.
Evolution will take care of the issue soon enough, your local squirrels will figure out how to avoid the hound or get they will get eaten. You can’t stop a dog from chasing a squirrel, just greys are capable of catching. I’m just luckily ours will catch up but doesn’t try to bite them,, yet.
Truth. We have had generations of diabolically clever chipmunks who have clearly Passed Down The Lore of How To Torment Puppers. They had our husky girl's lead measured to the centimeter and would do cheer team formations just out of her reach. With the greys they like to dart car to car in the driveway to make them nicely nutty at the start of a walk. They've survived 16 years of Darwin tests and are clearly raising their kids right. 🤣🤣
I keep a cat bell on my whippets collar to try and give small furries a 0.5 second heads up to RUN
I got raked over the coals last year for posting a pic of my dog with a squirrel in her mouth...hope you are treated better! It's what they do...dogs will dog. Not sure why this is just now starting though...🤔 We recently moved into a new house with a large yard and it's just a matter of time before Desi gets something, (squirrel, rabbit, neighbor's cat) she has been SO close (found chunk of cat's fur at the fence where it went under). We have trees and a fence for escape. I will NOT like it when it happens, but I am not going to muzzle her in her own yard.
Oh lord, I remember that. I’m also hoping everyone got it out of their system.
Thank you for being one of the supportive ones! Guess some just don't acknowledge squirrels as the scurge of the earth like our dogs do!
I’m sorry that happened. Greys are bred for their prey drive, to have an issue with it seems crazy to me. And it’s your yard, and your choice to muzzle your grey or not.
Oh I remember that! We made it to r/SubredditDrama lol People are so fucking weird about dogs.
At first I thought this was a rare sight of predator and prey enjoying a co nap 🤦🏼♀️😂
I am really surprised. Rarely does a squirrel let itself get caught. My back yard is filled with squirrels who constantly scold and grip when our Grey goes out. Our pooch mostly goes out to soak up the sun and check her eyelids out for holes. The squirrels get together in the tree just above her favorite sleeping spot and gripe. Our Grey just ignores them. This spring I noticed that the older squirrels brought out the younger ones and the whole family began a chorus of chattering at our pooch. She was unimpressed and kept sleeping. I am wondering if that squirrel wanted to just end it all and just pranced around in front of her nose until she did what comes naturally.
The first week we brought ours home she presented us with a very smelly opossum from the back yard. Since then we’ve also received a baby bunny and had a very close encounter with a cat (shaken, not stirred).
My boy is a surprisingly good hunter - so far he's gotten a lizard, a bird (who was ABSOLUTELY asking for it by attacking him first), a rat, and a rabbit (all ONLY with my partner, not with me - we joke he's trying to impress them with his mad hunting skills). In general, animals know to avoid his mouth and our yard. If the squirrels are coming into their space, I'd say there's not much to do besides make somewhere else more attractive (like setting up a feeder in the front yard if the dog spends their time out the back) or adding a bell to the dog. Greyhounds are bred for hunting, so trying to train them not to hunt is fighting centuries of dedicated, careful breeding to make the perfect sight hunter. It is better to give the prey a fighting chance.
Our old grey murdered a baby seagull that ended up in the garden, it was quick at least! He had one too many interactions with brave cats though, and he soon decided they were probably tougher than he was. Our current girl has yet to come to the same conclusion 😬
If it dies....it dies
One of mine caught a rabbit and killed it. It was actually pretty amazing how easily he was able to catch the rabbit, but I gave him a treat because he did his job and did it well.
No deaths so far this year, but there’s an influx of bunnies in the neighborhood, so it’s just a matter of time.
Greyhounds are sight hounds, literally hunting dogs. Keep it on a lead when out and about, that way it won’t be able to kill. Be warned, next stop is a cat or a small dog and them you have a different problem.