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 cocker spaniel has caught a squirrel twice in his life - so it can be done. Not that I encourage it.
He has a very soft mouth so I don’t think he hurt them - they both scarpered up the nearest tree when he released them - if that helps his case at all!

To those saying a dog can never catch a squirrel. I know of a dog who often catches and kills squirrels.

Ratting is an essential form of pest control. Rats do a huge amounts of damage to crops and spread disease. We have terriers precisely because they are good at catching rats. They do the job quickly and cleanly and it’s far less horrific death than any of the alternatives.

You may not like it but it is an essential form of pest control.

I can’t get worked up about dogs chasing squirrels. It’s natural dog behaviour to want to chase small critters. And very few pet dogs will be fast enough to catch and kill one. Squirrels have a nasty bite on them too so unless the dog is a skilled hunter the squirrel is likely to live to tell the tale

Potentially an offence under the Hunting act if they are encouraging it.

How many people here that are okay with dogs chasing & killing squirrels but are opposed to fox hunting or coursing?

@Livpool was it a group of lads by any chance?

There already is a law to prevent this: The 2004 Hunting act.

If they are repeatedly deliberately allowing or encouraging the dogs to chase (don't have to kill) a wild mammals it is potentially an offence.

Ratting is an exception under specific circumstances - you need the landowners permission & not in public areas. Possibly restrictions on number of dogs etc.

An off lead dog chasing the odd squirrel but called back when owner is aware would not be an offence.

It's the actions & intentions of the dog owner that makes it an offence rather than what the dog does

I met some people in a country park whose whippets had caught a squirrel between them and killed it. They were mortified and told a Ranger who pretty much congratulated them and said, basically, 'crack on'. The squirrels predate on birds and their eggs and are a menace. It is not illegal to kill them by the way but it is illegal to trap and cage them. My dog wouldn't have a hope in Hell of catching one she just barks at them when they run up a tree.

We actively trap and kill grey squirrels at my work, if the dogs want to have a go, so be it.

My dog is obsessed with them but gets nowhere near catching them. They disappear up the tree and then sit on a branch looking down at him. Laughing, I imagine. We don’t cheer when he chases them but we do laugh along with the squirrel.

It's small dog privilege.

When you have a big dog with that kind of prey drive, you do everything you can as a responsible dog owner to teach and reinforce impulse control. If someone lets their Akita chase squirrels, they can't really say no when they chase toddlers.

Small dog owners figure that they'll never catch an animal, and if they do, it will be a sick or injured animal anyway, and it doesn't matter if they lack impulse control because the damage they can cause something that matters (like a person or a dog) is minimal.

What they don't realise is that when you allow your dog to display those types of behaviours to ither dogs, it takes fantastic temperament and a lot of training to train a big guardian breed that they should ignore those doggy signals because the dog is small. So every time your little dog is snarling, lunging and snapping around a big dog who could kill it and doesn't, you should thank their owner

Oh and just to clear up anything on the law, my local park in East London made it clear in around 2016 that it is illegal to allow an off lead dog to hunt squirrels in the park. This was in reference to a woman who allowed her small dogs (3 of them) to regularly "try" and catch squirrels and they'd often get quite close. She argued the same as many here that they'd never catch one but the park keepers themselves made it clear that her habitual behaviour in the park gives a context that would be encouraging or allowing it.

There may be evidence of this on the internet somewhere if anyone wants to check. But it was more of a local thing because those fucking dogs were all round nightmares.

Our dog loves to do this, it’s inevitable if he is ever allowed off lead as loads in the local park. Never come close to one though. Are you suggesting I never let him off lead?

Train him to not harass wildlife through impulse control.

i would have thought there is very little chance the dog would catch the squirrels,

The only time I’ve seen people celebrate killing squirrels is grey ones in red areas.
Where I live we still have red squirrels and people capture and kill the grey ones and some then share / celebrate this….

DDog was pretty quick at killing squirrels until she was about 8, when she slowed up. She learned how to shake them by the neck to avoid getting bitten. The National Trust wardens loved her, and always made a fuss of her for helping them control the vermin. She got the occasional rat too, but was terrified by domestic appliances.

You are being unrealistic @Livpool Animals have evolved over millions of years to prey on smaller animals. It's how they survive. Part of having pets is accepting they are animals and won't behave like people.

I'm sure it's unpleasant for the smaller animals but that's the circle of life and I don't think the squirrel will know or care if some larger mammals in the vicinity are making a noise while it runs for its life.

That being said anyone who laughs and cheers at something so basic must be pretty stupid.

OP you’d hate to see my dog when o take him out into the hills behind my mums house in Spain.
he sights his prey from 200 metres and sprints to retrieve.
His prey are tortoises.
luckily he only holds them in his mouth and brings them gleefully back to me.
A squirrel? No chance.
He’s a hunting breed and he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do.
wierdly he ignores the numerous muntjacs we see daily and often roam into our garden.
I think there’s something quite lovely seeing a dog do what they’re bred to do.

Just to add he’s a Weimaraner so it’s innate in him to bring prey to us not to kill.

there are a couple of dogs missing in my area due to dogs who’ve run off chasing squirrels and not been seen since. Personally I think off lead walks are risky. Get an extender lead and leave squirrels alone!

They are laughing and cheering because they know their digs have absolutely no chance of catching the squirrels

For all those saying it's just a squirrel, does the species make a difference to you?
When we were in the IOW earlier in the year I saw someone allowing their dog to chase a red squirrel up a tree.