# Obsessed with hunting rats



## Irie (Aug 31, 2016)

The latest and greatest LOL

My female GSD is becoming obsessed with rat hunting. She has always had quite the prey drive. Since the day I brought her home, she has a compulsive instinct to chase anything that moves. Anything. My hands, cars, bikes, etc. We have done a lot of work on this, at least to the point where she will not lunge after hands or cars/bikes. However, she is becoming increasingly obsessed with hunting rats/squirrels.

She has caught a few already. At least, I have found her "playing" with dead rats. She doesn't eat them, but will obsessively mess with them, drooling, etc. I do not like this, because if our neighbors use rat poison I do not want her to be exposed...especially since my state just banned anti coagulant rat bait (has a cure) in "favor" of bromethalin (has no cure!). Realistically, she is much more likely to catch a poisoned rat than a healthy one. In my area, we have roof rats...there is no getting rid of them, they are plentiful and feed on the fruit trees that everyone has.

At night, she will always bolt out the back door if she needs to go out. Before she would do it sometimes, but now it is every time. Then, she will start hunting. She sprints across my yard, nose down and apparently tracking something. She goes to all the trees and bushes and carefully observes them...as if hoping for any movement or critter related anything. She will do this no matter how tired she is. She gets plenty of exercise, training, etc. Is this normal dog business? Or is she developing an unhealthy obsession? I can recall her from this, but sometimes she gets really into it and tries to blow me off. I have tried redirecting her with a ball, but if she is not completely calm...she will resource guard her ball from my other dog. 

We had a squirrel on our power lines yesterday. She just about lost. her. mind. She was trying to climb and scale my fence just to get closer to it. She was starting to really work herself up (I was inside cleaning and her her making a racket, and saw her trying to climb my fence from a window) so I brought her inside. 

Is this just her? Heaven help me if she is on a lead and she sees some critter. Do I correct her for this? We do obedience work with an ecollar, and I have read Lou Castles protocol before. Should \I bother with it or let her be a dog?


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## GatorBytes (Jul 16, 2012)

Rats = Leptospirosis



I had a mouser, so much fun in the snow


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I have critter-trained Deja, using Lou Castle's method. She knows she can jump on mice but nothing else. Your neighbors' use of rat poison is a huge danger to your dog. Rats don't mind property lines so they will hang out on yours as well. I would definitely teach her that rats will NEVER be hunted and make sure she cannot escape towards her hunting grounds. And, if I may give you unsolicited advice, brush up on your training; she is pooh-poohing you.


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## e1701dlf (Mar 17, 2017)

I have the same issue with my 15 mo GSF. With her, its possums or cats. Shes killed 2 possums. Cats, so far are smarter and faster than she is.

We chose a dog with a strong prey drive and are then unhappy when they express that drive. We have started working with Zoey, making her sit and wait at the door. Its tough for her, but shes improving.

We have a new command, "no kitty" for when we are walking and she sees a cat. However, we are far from solving this. I have an acquaintance who has 4 GSD and trains Schutzund. She loves a dog with a strong prey drive. Maybe she can help with how to channel it. Ill report back.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Deja has a similar drive; the Ecollar was the only thing that worked.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Lucky you - lucky me! The younger of my two females juust came out from underneath the back deck with a dead squirrel in her mouth. 

Well...make that HALF a dead squirrel! :rolleyes2:

The gift was NOT appreciated...

What can a dog possibly catch from squirrels, other than fleas?  We have a very large population of them here in Everett!


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Inga will sometimes critter on wild hogs out in the dark. Crittering can easily be extinguished before drive escalates. She just looks at deer now. But in the dark you can't see the hogs and head her off. E collar reinforcemts are sometimes needed to back up the NO. These hogs come right down into the corrals, even into the yard.


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## Eli Griffin (Apr 5, 2017)

I have a male german shepherd that just turned 1 year old and since he was 5 months old, he has been obsessed with hunting rats. I live on a farm so we have a ton of field rats and he loves the challenge of catching them in the tall grass. I try my very best to stop him from eating them because i have no clue what the rat has eaten. Thank God my GSD always brings the rat back up to the house and that is where I wave a ball or treat in front of his face so that he will drop it. I haven't tried to stop the hunting because I see it as good exercise. Plain and simple let the dog be a dog lol


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Eli, bet you'd feel a bit differently about it if he were hunting skunks!>


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

Sunsilver said:


> Eli, bet you'd feel a bit differently about it if he were hunting skunks!>



I'm curious, please excuse my ignorance, we don't have skunks here. Would a dog still want to hunt skunks after catching one?


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Ohhh yes! Some of them NEVER learn! 

I owned one of them. She wanted to KILL that skunk, no matter how many times she got blasted!


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Dunkirk said:


> I'm curious, please excuse my ignorance, we don't have skunks here. Would a dog still want to hunt skunks after catching one?


Oh Lord, yes. I had a Boxer mix that would kill anything that came into our fenced yard. He NEVER learned about skunks and it would ruin our lives for a week every single time he nailed one. He did get quite good at circling and grabbing them by the head and subsequently not getting sprayed..he would still hose the yard though and it would linger in the house. It permeates everything.

That was when i was still married and my ex and I had different opinions on leaving dogs in the yard. Now that I am divorced and in charge of things solely, I go out with my dogs usually. If I can't because of kid/life reasons, I let them out and back in in like 3 minutes. And you can smell when there is a skunk in the area.

When they are spending time outside I make a point to be with them, so it is good for me too, gets me outside as well lol

I live in a suburban area, and too many people put out poisin for critters, with houses being so close together, it is a concern.


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## FTurner90 (Aug 4, 2020)

Rats are vile creatures.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Old thread but dogs hunting critters is certainly nothing new. Mine will hunt mice but seldom catch them. A couple moles so far, a raccoon, a muskrat, 6 squirrels I think. No rats.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I prefer finding entertainment for my dogs that doesn't involve the possibility of Bubonic Plague fleas or Hanta Virus in the SW United States, fatal Lungworms in the SE United States, and/or Leptospirosis just about everywhere.


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## Massastar (Nov 13, 2020)

My grandfather has a Golden Retriever that enjoys a lot to hunt and to catch fishes, while we go to fish. She is also like your GSD, she likes to play with fishes a lot after catching them. I was once, and she managed to catch half of the amount of fishes that I've caught, I mean she caught them, but she let them swim on. And about fishing, I've learned everything from an article on TheNatureInsider. Their article really helped me with everything, starting from buying my first fishing rod and reel, to what types of fishes are better to catch and to focus on.


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