Neighbour told DH her dog has been known to kill small dogs!

[SecondhandRose]

Out of courtesy DH told neighbour we are getting a mini dachshund puppy today. She looked taken aback apparently and said her rescue greyhound hates small dogs and has been known to kill them in the past.

As you can imagine we are now checking the garden is super secure.

She has two kids living in the house with her killer greyhound.

[pigsDOfly]

Really Colditz, you think if it's 'just a dog being a dog' then it's all right for it to kill another dog, because they eat meat and it's what they do?

How lovely for you to watch you dog kill a rabbit because your dog is a terrier.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

That's a shame, Bran, there is nothing more majestic than watching a Greyhound run by choice and with freedom. The last one I had could bring a smile to any face when off lead, his sheer enthusiasm for life was infectious.

I foster greyhounds. I have a cat and two small dogs, so I am unlikely to ever have one with a very high prey drive, however if I did I would still consider off lead running, in an enclosed area, with a muzzle. I wouldn't walk a small dog/cat chaser without a muzzle, there is always the risk of a slipped collar.

Do we know the neighbours dogs killed other dog(s) while in her care? It could have been something he did with a previous owner/trainer. The neighbour could be perfectly responsible for all we know.

As for violent tendencies, well that would suggest that the dog was acting maliciously, killing just for the joy of it. A greyhound has no understanding of how it's actions might effect another being, it is instinct, pure and simple. They are not killing for blood lust, chase, catch, kill is an instinct people purposefully breed into the breed for our own gain.

[Pandemoniaa]

How lovely for you to watch you dog kill a rabbit because your dog is a terrier.

I don't really see the issue. My terrier kills rats. It's what he was bred to do long before terriers were assumed to just be cute little lapdogs.

Some of my friends have "hired" him to kill rats too because the instant death he metes out is a more humane way of killing vermin than putting poison down.

So far as this so-called "killer greyhound" is concerned, it may well be that your neighbour is merely warning you of her dog's attitude towards smaller dogs. Although if the dog has something of a history in this respect I'd be surprised that there haven't already been consequences.

[colditz]

PigsDOfly, am I to assume from your name that genuinely don't understand how animals work and what they are? That you are completely innocent if the fact that dogs are not, in fact, furry people, and cannot be held to human standards of behavior? That a dog killing a rabbit and trying to eat it is no more horrifying and less natural than me picking blackberries? That dogs are carnivorous hunters?

Are you seriously that ill educated?

[Branleuse]

and my terrier kills nothing because its a domestic pet and I think the killer instinct is a bad trait and not to be encouraged in family pets.

eugh

[Branleuse]

they're not. they're not wolves. if your dog kills other animals then its badly trained and a bloody liability

[colditz]

Instinct is defined as a behavior pattern that is already present regardless of training.

It is my dogs instinct to kill small squeaky things. She is a Jack Russell, she was specifically bred to chase small animals down holes and kill them. Now she occasionally gets the scent of something small and squeaky, and just once, she caught it and killed it. To be fair, it was a baby rabbit and it pretty much jumped in her mouth. Baby rabbits are amongst the most stupid mammals alive, which is probably why rabbits have to breed so fast.

I haven't trained my dog to kill anything, it was a bloody horror show. But what did you expect me to do, pull her off the dying bunny and call an air ambulance? She gave it a quicker end than I could have done, because she broke its neck.

You cannot expect dogs not to want to eat rabbits when we put it in their pet food!

[colditz]

Oh bless you bran, do you live in a city? Or do you have pet rabbits?

[Cheddars]

So you'd have no objection to your neighbour's dog killing your dog then Colditz? It's just their instinct innit.

Because that is what this thread is about, you know. A neighbour's dog killing small dogs, and being concerned for the safety of small dogs.

[colditz]

I keep my garden secure, if a dog gets into my garden and kills my terrier, it really is my own fault for not securing my garden.

[CalamityKate]

A greyhound is no more likely to attack children than a retriever is likely to retrieve them.

Make sure your garden is ultra secure :)

[colditz]

But anyway, according to branleuse, dogs are not carnivorous hunters, and dogs that kill animals for food have a behavioural problem. I am talking about rabbits. Not other dogs. Anyone who thinks it is unnatural and dangerous for dogs to eat rabbits needs to go and talk to a vet. Or a primary school teacher, perhaps.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Greyhounds chase, catch, kill
Terriers chase, catch, kill and then kill it a few more times just to be sure it is dead
Retrievers chase, catch and bring it back
Collies chase and round it up into a herd

We designed these dogs to do that for our own gains, either for entertainment or to assist with a specific task. These days more and more working breeds are being kept as pets, which is not necessarily a problem, Greyhounds in particular make excellent family pets, but we can't now start demonising them for acting on instincts we bred into them.

A greyhound will chase things, a terrier will savage small prey, a collie will try and round up your children (I often threaten mine with a collie on the school run ), that is what we bred them for, it's what they do, it's nature. We know that times are changing and dogs are now expected to behave less naturally than ever before but unfortunately dogs have not read the new rules.

[Branleuse]

no they do have an instinct and you bloody train it out of them or teach them recall otherwise you're not fit to have a dog.
I don't have rabbits and I live in a town next door to a park and we have rabbits ducks swans squirrels and my staffie is as fond of a chase as the next dog. What she doesn't do is savage anything to death and if she starts chasing something I call her and she stops and comes back BECAUSE SHE IS TRAINED.
If you can't call your dog off something then keep it on the lead till you can because a dog with Crap recall is gonna get itself into trouble, hurt something or get itself run over.

[kitsmummy]

This may be a ridiculous idea and perhaps Doin and the other experts could comment on it, but I wonder if the dogs could be introduced and spend time a fair bit of time together (obviously with massive supervision, on leads etc etc) so they might become friends, rather than potential prey?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

I could train my dog not to hunt rabbits, but I'm not really that upset about him catching rabbits, I'm sure Colditz could also train her terrier, but if the dog is chasing in an area away from roads and primary schools, then it's not really a major issue is it?

I actually use rabbits as training treats [shock horror] As in check in with me and I will reward you by letting you chase the fluffy bunny over yonder. This means I can call him off prey if I need to because he knows he might get permission to chase freely instead of being recalled and leashed, so I can call him off foxes when he spots them.

[pigsDOfly]

And are you really that stupid Colditz?

It isn't acceptable for one dog to kill another under any circumstances, you seemed to be saying that it is.

Of course nature is savage and yes, a great many dogs will kill rabbits and other small creatures, I just don't see the need to boast about it.

And dogs aren't small furry human? Oh no!!!

[CalamityKate]

Dooin I did the same with my collie X - put chasing flocks of gulls on cue to use as a reward. Well actually I tried to but it appears that that took all the fun out of it and she now pretty much ignores them.

[digerd]

My Lhasa Apso - a tibetan temple dog- wouldn't kill anything. The breed was not bred to hunt, retrieve or herd. She was friendly with cats and mice - never chased anything and was non-aggressive. She was bred to sit around well-behaved and quietly in the Temple and had amazing hearing that their job was to hear any stranger approaching and alert the outdoor guard dogs, with just 2 barks, but remain seated and composed.

She was wagging her tail and being friendly to a wild mouse, when my Westie went to see what it was and killed it. My Lhasa was very upset that the mouse was no longer moving and made whimpering noises.

OP a mini dachshund will be tiny, even when fully grown, I had a normal size and she was tiny as a pup.
Perhaps you could introduce your little dog to your neighbours later on and hold him in your arms so they can sniff eachother, without yours running around, so next doors gets to know yours.

Greyhounds maybe sight dogs, but they still have a powerful sense of smell

Good Luck

[colditz]

Who's boasting? I was quite clear that I wasn't best pleased about it. But I don't mind that much, and it is not a behavioural problem for a dog to try to eat rabbits, any more than it is a behavioural problem for children to try to eat fruit.

Now, if you don't want your child to eat fruit, or your dog to chase rabbits, you don't let them. But that doesn't mean that every other child eating fruit or every other dog chasing rabbits has a behavioural disorder, or is behaving in an unnatural way because this is how the creature they descended from behaves. Yes, wolves hunt rabbits - dogs like it too. Chimps eat fruit - people like it too. Rabbits are as natural to dogs as fruit is to people.

[whateveritakes]

Branleuse - no they do have an instinct and you bloody train it out of them or teach them recall otherwise you're not fit to have a dog

You are so so confused.

You can have a very well trained dog with amazing recall but with the best dogs have good instincts. They train easily and well because of them. To "train them out" of their normal dog behaviour is cruel. Since when have staffies gone down rat holes or been used to retrieve anything?

[RedwingWinter]

OP, Dooin is right about greyhounds. Just because a dog has a strong prey drive for small furry animals doesn't mean that children are at risk. But it does mean that your new puppy has to be protected from it.

It's helpful that your neighbour has told you this as you know that you will have to ensure your garden is very secure and that your puppy can't escape. To be honest it's best not to leave a dog on their own in a garden anyway (as for example they can get stolen). Also, since you know that this greyhound is a threat, if you see it running around off-lead without a muzzle on then you should keep your puppy close to you and ask her to put it on a lead. (She should do this anyway but you never know).

Hopefully, since you know she is worried, she will take steps to ensure that her dog doesn't go for yours. As said above, greyhounds are usually used to wearing basket muzzles, and that would be the sensible thing for her to do.

By the way, there is a great book for new puppy owners that was only published last year, called Life Skills for Puppies. There is lots of great, general, advice in there about bringing up a puppy.

[Callisto]

Branleuse - you really are astonishingly ignorant about dogs and their natural behaviour.

[SecondhandRose]

Hi All, I think my neighbour may be a Mumsnetter - Hi if you are. She came to see me and apologised about scaring us half to death. We discussed and 8ft fence and making the garden more secure. In the meantime my wee boy is only going in the garden supervised. Thanks for the advice.

[RedwingWinter]

That's good news :)