Is a dog dangerous if…

[nicegirl73]

It hunts down and kills muntjack deer?

the owner (a family member) casually told me and I was shocked.

those deer aren’t small and I would worry about humans or am I unreasonably worried here?

the dog doesn’t live with children but the owners teen kids (adult sized) stay sometimes.

AIBU?

well, they are very small. I've seen some about fox size

They are small! A Jack Russell could kill one. Yabu ++

No, of course not. Many breeds of dogs have high prey drives and would kill other animals. Some breeds are dog aggressive too. It doesn't mean they're dangerous to humans. Remember, lots of breeds were specifically created to hunt and kill animals.

Not that they should be letting it...

Dangerous to wildlife- yes
Dangerous to humans - no

Do you mean the dog has been trained to hunt and kill the dear, which are small. Or that the dog finds the dear after it has been shot?

Not necessarily.

I've known some very soft dogs that couldn't resist a rabbit or squirrel.

It's not behaviour I think is acceptable though

Ok you are reassuring me.
yes I think it’s awful behaviour too to let the dog chase and kill for fun.

I'd call 9 - 18kg a very small deer.

Muntjac are non native and are vermin. They destroy gardens, allotments and the like. They also kill small wildlife.
The dog isn't dangerous for chasing one down and killing it. It's nature.

It’s not for fun though it’s in the dogs nature. My dog is soft as anything but woe betide a rabbit who sneaks into the garden.

Muntjac are small - the smallest deer in Britain. Sadly some dogs kill wildlife if they get the chance. I used to walk my neighbours terriers for her and was upset when one killed a rabbit. There used to be a man who walked his German Shepherd near here who proudly told us his dog had killed deers - I think we looked very shocked and I said something like "oh no, how sad!" and he looked very put out - he was a bit odd anyway TBH. Quite glad we haven't seen man or dog for a couple of years now.

Doesn't mean that those dogs will be aggressive to humans or even other dogs.

It is hardwired into most dogs to hunt, so it isn't them behaving badly.
it also doesn't mean they will be dangerous amongst humans, they are quite capable of discriminating between humans and prey.

Why didn't you put the full question in the thread title?

You’re being unreasonable. Muntjacs are small, but most of all they’re natural prey to a dog. It certainly doesn’t make them a danger to people. Of course letting it kill a deer isn’t ok if it could have been avoided.

If it’ll run and kill those little deers, then it’ll kill other wildlife too.
I wouldn’t be happy if my dog did it, I wouldn’t let him off lead unless he was trained to “leave it”.
Owner obviously enjoys killing wildlife- 🤢

Dangerous to humans? Unlikely.

This.

Not dangerous,
I have a deerhound, it's in their DNA. Never caught one on my watch but maybe if they were 10 years younger.
They're soft as butter with people.

It is a natural behaviour for dogs to hunt prey animals like rabbits, deer etc. It doesn’t mean the dog is dangerous to people, or to other dogs.

Not all dogs have a particularly strong hunting instinct, but if they do, it’s not a sign that the dog is dangerous.

The size of the prey animal isn’t really relevant to be honest, but muntjac deer are tiny.

A decent dog owner would obviously keep a closer eye on their dog and stop them from chasing, though. I used to have Westies, which have a very strong instinct to kill rats and rabbits, but because I was aware of that and took steps to prevent them, they never harmed anything on walks etc.

Cats kill far, far more wildlife than dogs. Most family dogs will never catch anything at all, but most cats kill frequently throughout their lives.

vermin 🙄🙄🙄

So is eating shit but people seem happy to train them not to do that

Prey drive is different from aggression aimed at humans.

Of course not.

No, on very many levels.

And prey drive is not the same thing as aggression.

Prey drive = i want to chase it and kill it/eat it.

Aggression = i want that to go away/get out of my space/stop.

Letting dogs chase muntjac IS silly though, and very dangerous for the dog. They have sharp teeth and they absolutely will rip a dog to bits if cornered if the dog is not very skilled and big enough to dispatch them swiftly.

The Dangerous Dog Act, The Dogs Act and the laws protecting deer mean that you can be prosecuted if your dog kills a deer in England, Scotland or Wales.

Deliberately encouraging a dog to chase deer is an offence under the Hunting Act 2004/

One of my terriers has a lengthy kill list (we live in the countryside and everything has been caught in the garden) and she very careful with children, or at least hasn’t eaten a whole one yet.