Tosca Spagnolo - Rodent Assassin

santuzzasantuzza
edited June 2009 in Shiba Inu (柴犬)
I knew before getting a shiba that they were small, furry critter destroyers and that's fine with me. I love watching Tosca attempt to catch squirrels and such. I'm cheering for her all the way. The one wish I have in this department is as follows - don't bring the little dead thing back to me.

So a few nights ago, Tosca and I go out for her late night, last call before bed pee and she hears something in the brush - the Little Brushwood Dog loves brush, how 'bout that - and goes leaping gracefully into the tangle of plants. She has a retractable lead so I stayed on the path. I hear a scuffle and then see Tosca prancing back to me. As I look closer, I see something in her month. It's a dead field mouse which she places proudly, at my feet and noses closer to me completely unaware of my utter disgust. If I leave her out for a while and she gets something, she'll leave it on the doorstep for me. I've heard that this is high praise in the animal kingdom, but I can help not being exactly flattered. I suppose this is better than her eating a bunch of nastiness of unknown origin, (NUO? A new forum abbreviation?) but I still wish it would stop. What is the consensus here? Do any of the other forum pups present as opposed to devour? Is this actually the better result? She loves to hunt stuff, so I don't want her to stop it, just stop bringing the carcasses to me.

Comments

  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Maybe you can teach Tosca to carry the carcasses to a designated 'dumping' area. So that way if she starts carrying it towards you can give her the command to carry it to the designated area.
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    Cats do it, too - I've been "given" snakes, moles, chipmunks, a rabbit, squirrels, birds, and a couple of field mice - I'm not fond of it either, but I do appreciate the thought. Thankfully, Jazz has only chosen to kill a couple of flies while we've been outside.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    WOOHOO! Go Tosca!! She's a natural

    Beth's point is awesome, its sorta what we do... if Tsuki (or Hachi) catch something, they come running back towards us, all the while "sharing" it into pieces :) Tsuki knows the "wait" command, and she'll stop and DROP it without being asked during the "wait", then I praise the crap out of her.
    Pam (Hachi's owner) just has Hachi sit with thing in her mouth and asks her to drop it and is usually very excited for Hachi, so its a big celebration.

    Have fun with it, go with her vibe and get creative. She's a good girl!
  • shimaurashibalover92shimaurashibalover92
    edited November -1
    Tosca's such a ninja. I don't blame you for not wanting dead rodent carcasses though. I'll add NUO to the dictionary.
  • SangmortSangmort
    edited November -1
    Haha Tosca is too cute. "Look what I got for you Momma!" ~
  • SayaSaya
    edited November -1
    My black cat did that she'd bring my mom mice, moles, baby rabbits I didn't like it, but since Tosca is not eating the mice I'd be happy it's better than her eating her prey..
  • santuzzasantuzza
    edited November -1
    She is a natural, Jen. It's one positive thing about still being in CT as opposed to the city. She loves being able to frolic around in the brush and plants and has plenty of room to run. I do love watching her hunt, just not picking up after her successes.
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