Dogs chasing squirrels

[Livpool]

Walking in the park today with DH and DS , saw 2 lots of dog owners cheering on their dogs chasing squirrels, obviously off lead. Like whooping and cheering - did they think anyone else wanted to see a wild animal potentially be ripped about by someone’s pet?!

I don’t have dogs as I am allergic but is this normal behaviour? Seems unnecessary cruel to the poor squirrel.

My dog loved sniffing for squirrels, he was a hound so in his nature. Happiest with his nose on the ground sniffing around trees. Rarely found one and the rare occasion he did it was up the tree before he even got a chance to run. I didn't encourage him but I didn't stop him either because he never got close to one. If there was a risk Id have put him on the lead.

My greyhound managed to catch 2 squirrels in the 15 years I had her, so it does happen. I figured they were either ill or old anyway, because a healthy squirrel is very fast.

Encouraging it and cheering is not really on though.

It breaks my heart seeing bloody cats stalking huge birds in my garden. They got one of my baby blue tits last year.

Horrible
Next door's cat killed a whole nest full of baby blackbirds in my garden.

I would imagine any animal being chased by a predator would be scared. I didn’t even mind the dogs as much as the horrible owners. They were fucking horrible
Yes but in the wild, this is an essential instinctive response to have. It's just totally normal for a squirrel.

I do agree though that people getting exited about it is pretty sad!

How weird that they’re cheering them on… presumably these are (on the face of it) just ‘normal’ pet dogs? Strange behaviour. I suppose perhaps they’re just amused by their dog’s optimism and vain efforts? ETA I do still think it’s a weird reaction, just realised it sounds like I get it 😂
With that being said, I can’t say I panic if mine ever chase a squirrel, they’ve no chance of catching them and squirrels tend to be on the move before dogs have even spotted them.
My only non-working dog is a bit of a little murderer, mind you. She’s a little cavapoo, looks terribly innocent, but she’s had rabbits, pigeons, mice, rats… all of them just around the farmyard/stables. She’s fast as lightning and mean with it, it seems.

But that's just it though - cats are out on their own. No owners in sight.

If dogs were out on their own their owners wouldn't be around either to laugh at the antics. Dogs are never out on their own.

It's like comparing apples to oranges.

If you dont like wildlife being killed or stressed by pets, and this is truly important to you as a topic - get behind a campaign to further domesticate cats. It will have a far greater impact than moaning about dogs (who are too slow anyway)

It’s fairly normal dog behaviour. Tbh the squirrel rarely comes to harm. What usually happens is:
dog spots squirrel
dog chases squirrel
squirrel runs up tree
…and that’s it. No drama, no dead squirrel. They’re only rats with bushy tails anyway.

mine has chased them before but I certainly
don’t cheer him on. I hate it. Rarely let him off lead now for other reasons.

I think it is an issue with both though - I grew up in rough area and our neighbour used to take his dogs ‘ratting’. Horrible way to behave.

I’d happily get behind stopping pets killing wildlife, but I think a large minority of pet owners are horrible, and shot at being a pet owner.

I am not in favour of any wild animal being killed a pet, including rats.

So if i chase your dog with a knife its OK cause I'm unlikely to catch it.

My sighthound is obsessed with squirrels. He can run nearly 40mph and he's never even come close to catching one.

DDog will go after squirrels. She’s half blind though and arthritic so I think the squirrels are safe. We don’t cheer her on though and she’s usually on a lead.

It is not human instinct to chase another with a knife.

Well you'd be arrested for possessing a knife. I'd also think you were unwell as it's not really a human instinct thing to do.

Yeah, I let my dogs chase squirrels. They’re not scared, the come back and argue with her. No chance of her catching one anyway. Squirrels are a pest.

AEthel the Royal Parks squirrels are huge and massively overfed by idiot tourists. I'm not surprised that one couldn't escape!

I've never seen a dog catch a squirrel. Cheering a dog on is unpleasant though.

My mum's old dog did actually manage to catch a squirrel a few times. He was just at home in his garden, not the park.

He was a GSP and was certainly not praised for his catch, but it does happen. Maybe there was something wrong with the squirrels.

Second dog/squirrel post in a week.

Same here, whippet. She chases them.and at the last minute veers off going "nah, could have got it if I wanted".

I didn’t see that and I am posting of my experience . I didn’t realise there was a limit

Our dog exists to protect us from the squirrels in our back garden!

Dogs are loathsome scum.

Not nice behaviour,but thankfully,I don't think a dog would stand a chance of catching a squirrel. They are incredibly fast. My mum's cats never managed to catch a squirrel,not through lack of trying! And one of these cats somehow managed to catch a bat,mid-flight! (And before anyone starts about bats being a protected species,the cat didn't kill the bat,we managed to retrieve it and let it go, unhurt!).