Getting the pups not to bring their kill into the house

tjbart17tjbart17
edited May 2010 in Behavior & Training
Question for everyone. Koda, and now Maymay, kill anything that moves in the backyard. Koda is pretty good at finishing with his kill once he has engaged his bite and shaken it to death. (Sorry for those of you who can't handle this.)

But Maymay wants to bite, shake, and then bring it through the doggy door and into the house to show us all.

I really don't mind picking up the squirrels, moles, birds, field mice in the backyard but when she brings it in it's kind've gross.

How can I teach her not to bring it inside?

Comments

  • animaladdictanimaladdict
    edited November -1
    This is just an idea, I'm not sure if it will work. But you could try directing her to a certain spot in the back yard, (i.e. by the door or a corner of the fence) the second you see her walk in with prey. Don't praise her or anything until she gets to your specified spot then lover her like crazy. My theory is that she'll love all the attention she gets when the prey is outside,so eventually (maybe) she'll drop it there and come and get you to show it to you. I have never had a dog with such a high prey drive, so I'm not certain that this will work. A solid drop it command would probably help. You could tell her to "drop it" in her spot then praise.
  • kouda_kumakouda_kuma
    edited November -1
    My Koda used to do this. He brought a whole procession of opossums through the doggy door one spring and a couple baby birds! :( I wasn't in the basement when he came in with the first few, but after I caught him red-handed with the momma opossum, he never did it again. Granted, I screamed before remembering to say "drop it", so I may have scared him out of his wits ... (Have you ever seen a wild opossum that's been shaken to death under florescent lighting?! The HORROR!) ><

    Teach her "drop it", be ready with it and be assertive when she comes in (or probably, don't let her in at all until she's already dropped it!) Clean it up, give her a pat, repeat as necessary ....? That's how I would do it. Hope it helps!
  • kwyldkwyld
    edited May 2010
    News dragged a dead rabbit into my living room once, I thought he had a rag or a brown paper bag because I hadn't put my contacts in yet and couldn't make out what it was. I leaned down and realized what it was and flipped out, screamed and threw it out the back door. I don't have any advice Tara, but I've felt your pain.
  • animaladdictanimaladdict
    edited November -1
    Tommy caught a crow once when we were leaving to go on a walk, I was closing the door and didn't see exactly how he managed it but....EWWWW! I told him to drop it and he did right away but still looked really pleased with himself.
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the advice, and letting me know I'm not alone. We are on day 3 where she has brought field mice in. The rain must be making them come down. The hills are totally saturated.

    The problem is Maymay is a big tease! Teasing and playing keep away are her favorite games. When I tell her to leave it, she automatically goes into running around the table and trying to keep it away from me.

    Animaladdict I followed your advice this morning. and took her outside with it. I didn't engage her at all with the mouse in her mouth. I just told her to walk with me and went straight outside. I went to the lawn and told her to drop it. She didn't ofcourse and proceeded to run around. I turned my back to her to show her that I wasn't playing and she did drop it. I was able to pick it up with the shovel and throw it away. Hopefully I won't find anything inside when I get home today.
  • animaladdictanimaladdict
    edited May 2010
    oh yay! I hope it works out for you, sounds like you know what your doing! Good luck hopefully soon you'll have no more dead critters in your house! Keep us posted!
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    lol thanks. We will see when I get home today. Since little Maymay can not hold her pee for anything, the doggies have full access to the yard via the doggy door. Keeping my fingers crossed that there was just nothing to kill until I get home.
  • animaladdictanimaladdict
    edited November -1
    hahahaha hope so too!
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    Good luck with that one. It has been the killing fields here in the last week as far as voles. So far no bunnies.
    We have a saying a vole a day keeps boredom at bay. My one will sit for hours waiting to pounce.

    Apparently the White House is being over run as well (LOL).
    http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/weird/Mole-or-Vole-Spotted-at-White-House-94573384.html

    Maybe a trade for bunny ears will help you trade for the kill. I think hare today sells them in small packs.

    Snf
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