My dog killed a cat this afternoon. What now?

[HarrietSchulenberg]

Out with dog this afternoon. Dog off lead in seemingly empty field. Cat jumped up from long grass in front of him and he pounced. Cat didn't really have a chance. It was still alive when I managed to get dog off so wrapped it up and took it to vet who lives locally. Vet just rang to say cat died. Owners on holiday till Tuesday but have been told.

First step is dog is staying on lead at all times. Next step is training classes, will ring when I get home tomorrow eve. What else?

Dog is insured so should be covered for vet costs for cat. Will have bill for him too as he was injured, but still waiting to know how much. Will offer to meet with cat owners, if they want to. Do I need to muzzle him if he's on a lead?

Really shocked at the mo and prob not thinking straight. I've always had cats until recently so I really feel for the owners.

Will be bwck in a while, need to get kids to bed.

[SelectAUserName]

Dogs need a certain amount of off-lead exercise for their physical and mental well-being, and an apparently empty field is one of the safest places in which to let them have it. So long as you can see the whole field boundaries and so are confident no sheep / cows / horses are going to appear from round the corner. I'm sure if the OP knew that a pet cat was hiding in the long grass, she wouldn't have let the dog off. It's quite unusual for a family pet cat to stray into the middle of a rural field, presumably a fair distance from its home. We walked our dog in such a field for four years at our old home and never once encountered a cat so it's not an everyday or easily-predictable hazard.

It's unfortunate and upsetting for you, OP, and tragic for the cat and its owners, but it is just dog instinct at work here. A lurcher surprised by a small furry as yours was will almost always react to its prey instinct before its training has a chance to kick in. Please ignore the melodramatists who equate this to the dog being any more of a danger to a small child than any normal dog - they don't understand canine behaviour or the difference between aggression and instinct.

I wouldn't offer chocs or to replace the cat, I would simply offer my sincerest, most heartfelt apologies when they're back from holiday and reiterate that all their vet's costs will be covered.

[noddyholder]

I would be concerned that it would react like that to a child or any other human. I am always surprised when people say Oh it was out of character that's the most worrying thing unpredictable

[FragglerockAmpersand]

If that was my cat I would be tempted to kill your dog.

I realise this is not rational. but it's NOT just 'one of those things'.

I've lived with dogs most of my life as have most members of my family and many friends, and they have never, ever, ever behaved in such a shockingly uncontrolled and aggressive manner.

I realise you must be very shocked and upset but I cannot help thinking you must bear some responsibility for failing to train the dog effectively.

[happytalk13]

How horrible. Poor cat. Poor owners. Poor you.

If it was me I'd also offer to pay for a nice cremation/burial if that's what the owners would like.

[LtEveDallas]

There was an incident near me whereby a farmer lost two sheep to exercising dogs.

The dogs were in a 'dog field' where they are allowed fully off lead. Unfortunately two sheep had managed to escape from the farmers fields and into the dog field.

The farmer wanted the dogs PTS and the owner prosecuted, but the fact that the dogs were somewhere they were allowed to be, and the sheep weren't, meant that he didn't have a case.

It caused a lot of bad feeling against the dog community, but ultimately the dogs were being exercised responsibly and the owners could not be held liable (although I believe that at least one of them did pay for the dead sheep).

The MOD land that I have permission to train dogs on has ton of wildlife and the odd cat from the housing estate. The dogs tend to chase rabbits and deer more than cats though. Again it wouldn't be the dog owners fault if an animal was killed.

[happytalk13]

To be honest it doesn't sound like a "shockingly uncontrolled and aggressive way" - the cat jumped out of the grass right in front of the dog - sounds like he/she was actually on the attack to the dog - possibly the cat was asleep in the long grass and taken by surprise?

"Shockingly uncontrolled and aggressive" would have been if the dog had seen the cat from a distance and then proceeded to hunt and refusal to be called off by its owner.

"Failing to train the dog effectively" - again, the cat jumped out at the dog from amongst the grass and the dog immediately reacted as any wild animal would when taken by - how exactly do you train a dog for that?

It's horrible and if I were the owners my immediate reaction would be to want to kill the dog until I'd had time to process but just from this account the dog doesn't sound like a danger, it sounds like it was taken completely by surprise.

[Lilcamper]

I am not sure you can train for when a small furry creature pops up in front of an animal with predatory insticts.

And that's what it was, instinctual. Not aggression. This dog wasn't Cujo. It was caught by surprise and instinct took over.

It's a huge leap to now say the dog can't be trusted around small humans. They know the difference.

[FragglerockAmpersand]

happy I'm afraid I think a brutal attack on an animal that kills it cannot be anything but shockingly uncontrolled and aggressive.

but then I'm basing that on about 34 for years of experience with dogs who would either blink mildly at a cat, sniff it, or run away.

And as for the dog 'just being taken by surprise' - what if a child takes it by surprise?

I'm amazed people are being so laissez faire about this. I wouldn't now trust that dog for a moment.

I must add that my many years of experience with dogs is with golden retrievers and labradors. Not sure if this is relevant.

[SelectAUserName]

This was not an act of aggression. It was an act of instinct. They are two very different things.

Unless you have a habit of dressing small children in freshly-removed rabbit skins and suddenly chucking them out of bushes at the feet of a passing dog, the risk to a child from a dog like the OP's is extremely small.

I've had dogs for 40 years and none of mine, or my family's have happened to have done this either. But I don't for one second assume that it's all down to my superior training skills. In part it's simple luck that none of our dogs have had a small furry spring up under their nose within striking distance and the one time it did happen to our old Golden Retriever, it happened to be two rabbits who ran in opposite directions and she couldn't decide which one to chase first.

Dogs will be dogs. That's not to minimise the awfulness of what has happened for the cat and its owners but this is instinctual dog behaviour in a type bred to have a high prey drive. Nothing more, nothing less. It's not a dangerous dog or a badly-trained dog. It's a dog behaving like a dog.

[FragglerockAmpersand]

Also - as to the dog reacting 'as any wild animal would'.

That's the whole point. It's not a wild animal. It's a domesticated dog.

You do not keep a wild animal in the house, as a pet, around children and other animals.

If your dog is behaving like a wild animal, something is wrong.

[Lilcamper]

My late Golden Retriever caught and killed two rabbits in his lifetime. Maybe I should have been more careful introducing my newborn daughter to him

[FragglerockAmpersand]

Well - I'm clearly in the minority, but remain completely baffled, and would point out that every single owner of a dog who has attacked a child has probably said all the same things. "They know the difference", etc.

OP I'm stopping now because you must be really upset and I expect you really love your dog, and as I'm not actually offering any advice I don't think you need me here!

Hope you get it all sorted.

[happytalk13]

I appreciate your years of experience - I have 14 years with an German Shepherd and I think she thought she was a cat - however, if she'd have been jumped at by something small and furry that came out of nowhere I would have expected her instinct would have kicked in - that's not bad training, that's instinct - which is very different to aggression.

[happytalk13]

Fraggle - if you think that any animal (including us) is completely domesticated you are wrong.

You are confusing instinct for aggression and there IS a difference.

[VivaLeBeaver]

So every single racing and ex racing greyhound is aggressive and shouldn't be trusted round children?

How irresponsible of the RGT to rehome thousands of greyhounds every year to families with kids.

All the hundreds of stories in the press of greyhounds savaging small babies must have passed me by.

Funny, as they have the reputation for being the least aggressive breed of dog going but have the highest prey drive.

[happytalk13]

My cat loves to kill birds and mice....I guess I should be worried she might attempt to scratch my eyes out, or my children's eyes out....

[VetNurse]

The dog is a lurcher which has been bred to chase and kill small furry animals. It's instinct. Just like terriers who go after rats and collies who round up sheep. Working dog breeds were bred for a purpose. It's a unfortunate accident that someone's cat got killed but it doesn't make the dog dangerous. It's just one of those things.

[SelectAUserName]

The majority of dog attacks on children come about because of one of three factors:

1. Dog and child are left unsupervised, and child teases / provokes dog in some way - not out of malice, but because they're children and they don't always know not to or they see it just as "play". But no parent wants to admit that they were negligent by leaving their child alone with the dog or that their child should be perceived as somehow "cruel" for teasing, so the dog gets 100% of the blame.
   

1. Dog and child are playing together and the parents are too inexperienced / ignorant of canine body language to read when a tolerant, forgiving dog is acutely uncomfortable and wants "play" to stop. As its more subtle signs are ignored, it moved up through the levels of communication until it reaches "bite". As far as the parents are concerned, the attack has come completely out of the blue - the "out of character", "he just turned" idea you see quoted time and again. In fact, to anyone experienced in canine body language they could have spotted several steps earlier that the dog was uncomfortable and stopped the situation from escalating.
   

1. Parents bring new baby home without any attempt to prepare or desensitise the dog. Can you imagine how a baby's cry must sound to a dog, whose hearing is so much more acute than ours? There are ways you can prepare - play tapes of cries and reward the dog so it comes to associate baby crying with "yummy things for Fido" but few people bother or have the time to do it.
   

It's very rare for a dog of a recognised/established pet breed to "just turn" and when it does it's usually because of a hitherto-undiagnosed medical condition.

[SelectAUserName]

moves up

[ClashCityRocker]

OP, how awful it is for you. I think you've handled it very well and responsibly.

Unfortunately, I suspect the owner will have legal recourse - earlier this year my cousins greyhound grabbed and shook a smaller dog whilst on a dog walking field. The smaller dog survived with minimal injuries. He was fined and the dog now has to wear a lead and muzzle at all times, however it will all come down to the facts of the case.

FWIW, I agree it's just instinct, however I can imagine the cat owners not seeing it like that - and in their situation, faced with the loss of a much-loved pet, I suspect I wouldn't either, at least initially. If you do come into contact with the owners, I'd maybe forget the wine and chocolates - it almost trivialises it. Just be frank and honest, express your sorrow and explain what happened.

[ClashCityRocker]

I should add the GH in question is the most gentlest animal around humans - he's just conditioned to chase small furry things.

[HavantGuard]

So every cat that kills a bird, mouse, vole, frog etc should be put down?

[ClashCityRocker]

Of course not.

Nor should a dog behaving in the manner OP described.

However, the owner should be able to have recourse to ensure that the likelihood of this happening again is reduced - by legally enforcing the lead and muzzle. It sounds like the owner has taken these steps without prompting, she sounds like a very responsible dog owner who can apply common sense, unfortunately not every dog owner is.

[Lilcamper]

The dog was behaving like a dog. You can't train out instinct.

[NameChangeAnon]

Taste of blood can refer to the thrill of the hunt/ Chase/ kill rather than just the blood.

I lost a DCat to a dog chewing/ shaking incident a few years back. We got her to the vet but there was too much damage so she was PTS. We didn't know the dog involved and initially thought she might have been in a RTA.

We wouldn't have blamed the dog, dcat as a bolted and if a dog chases then all I would have asked for was a greater level of awareness from the owner. Which the OP is doing.