Dogs down rabbit holes

[nigelschristmasham]

My dp and I just spent two panicked hours trying to dig our jack Russell out of a rabbit hole with our bare hands, in the middle of a down pour. Thankfully she is fine, if covered in scratches and a bit in shock. I am currently having a stiff drink because I was terrified that we would never see her again. She has never been down a hole before and I hope this will have put her off doing so in future (through she is a lunatic so we will be being extra careful going forwards)
We could hear her whimpering, and a rabbit going mad, under ground but it took us ages to dig down to her (too far from anywhere to even go and get a shovel).
I was wondering-what would people do in this situation if they were unable to dig the dog out themselves? Would the fire brigade or RSPCA attend or are you on your own with it?

I read somewhere that this happened to Prince Charles but he never got his dog. My 14 year old pulled our naughty JRT out a rabbit hole once. The dog did not learn a lesson and has attempted the same since! It's the JRT nature unfortunately. We never let ours off lead anymore.

RSPCA I think, 😕 so glad your wee dog is OK, you must've been worried sick.

I'm glad you got your dog ok. I've never faced this problem as my dog is a wolfhound! I'm not sure if anyone could help. They may be concerned it could be a badger hole rather than rabbit?
I did hear of someone whose dog had a harness. They fixed a wooden spoon through it. The dog couldn't fit down a hole anymore!

Oh lord. What a shame as she loves a run around - but you are right-I don't think we can risk it
I kept thinking how bloody horrible it would be to have to go home and not know if she was stuck and scared or out and lost or worse.

She is tiny even for a JRT too so fits down the smallest of holes.
It must have been a big warren too as there were scared bunnies popping out of holes all over the place!

I know JRT on farms that have gone missing down holes and not appeared again until they’ve lost enough weight to get out again! A bit like Pooh Bear when he ate all the honey. They’ve been a right state but ok. I would be sooooo distraught though.

Oh how scary and so glad you got her out of there.

Here she is just after got back. No bathed and asleep with the other dog who has licked her all over

not a problem we ever had what with two giant GSDs!

I did wonder about a cone of shame?...the wooden sppon trick made me laugh! I think you just have to be supervigilant about her around rabbits, really work on a bombproof leave/recall, although that is hard with some dogs.

We did have a spanielx who once chased a rabbit into its burrow...head in the hole and a nasty "whuuump" noise as he ran out of space. Seemed to put him off. He was a bugger though, chased a hare across the horizon once, when we missed that nano-second "NO!!" space as he spotted it and took off.

I have to be strict with my JR when I see a rabbit hole, normally she isnt interested but just occasionally she is. It terrifies me

i dont think a fire brigade would come out?
they might.

Her recall is pretty good 98% if the time. The other 2% you can almost visibly see her decide she is going to ignore us and bugger off. We have another JRT who can't be out of sight of us for more than a minute without panicking and would no more dream of sticking his head down a hole than I would.
Bloody dogs! Love them so much, but I do sometimes wonder if I'd be better with a hamster or something!

My JRT has a love of rabbit holes, selective hearing and no recall so he's never off his lead!

Oh my. My gran's jr used to love them. She was a fiend for shooting off down them!
I'd suggest more of a harness type lead (for more dragging them out). She really couldn't help herself. Shaking a treat tin helped if she lost her way. Fortunately her usual burrow was in sandy soil and well established so quite big.

I've just googled. Lots of press stories seem to feature the fire brigade attending which is good but it seems to differ from area to area as to wether they would or not.
Nearly all feature either a Jack Russell or a Patterdale terrier however which isn't surprising I guess.

My patterdale x went down a hole as a puppy , fortunately he was on the end of a long line so I dragged him back out . I’m now very careful about where he is allowed offlead and always keep,him within about 50/75 m so I can see him . He never goes offlead in woods , partly because of the risk of him going to ground but also because he is a complete hazard to wildlife . Very scary for you OP

This is my worst fear having to haul my Welshie pup out of a foxhole by his tail last week.

So glad it turned out OK

Very scary OP. My Patterdale is never off lead - he would go down a hole, through a tiny hole in a fence or hedge and run across traffic if he saw a squirrel even if he was in the park at the time. It's a shame but it is in his nature and I must keep him safe. He has a run about in the garden at home but his sense of adventure might lead to him being killed or injured. His recall is ok but when faced with something he finds super-exciting, he just tunes out. I love him so much and want to look after him

I believe JRTs were bred to hunt rabbits and Patterdale to hunt foxes.
Once at home however, he is a different dog - the most affectionate, calm softie there is. Sometimes I wake up and find he is spooning me in bed

My friend's JRT was notorious for this. She just used to leave him to it & pop back every couple of hours. If he caught a rabbit he'd hunker down for days!! Little shit

Oh I have a harness which I rarely use, perhaps I should have another go

Perhaps with a longline?

Will be out buying a harness and a long line tomorrow...someone should invent some sort of anti rabbit hole entrance device to attach to a collar or something-this time next year, we'll be millionaires!

She is curled up asleep in bed with me and the other dog now (can't bring myself to put them in the kitchen tonight) and I'm counting my blessings that's for sure...

There are terrier rescue groups around. These guys will come out and dig a dog out.

This might not be popular, but in a fix I would get hold of your local hunt as they often have a terrierman who will be an expert on digging them out. Also anyone who runs ferrets has at some time had to dig the buggers out.

I never put a collar on a terrier for this reason. I don’t want him snagged underground. I also have an army entrenching tool in the car just in case I need to dig.

Join the Fell and Moorland Working Terrier club and keep up your subscription. They have people with the know-how and equipment to dig down to a dog and will come out if a dog has gone to ground and can't or won't come out.

Be aware though that if the dog has gone down a badger sett there can be a delay while permission to dig it is obtained.