How does your dog respond to ducks/birds etc?

[Pewdie]

My GSD is a bit better now that he's older i.e he won't run off into the distance to chase birds but he is incapable of walking past one without lunging. We always have him on lead where we suspect they will be. Would love to do more riverside walks in the Summer without him looking like a maniac.

[Pewdie]

My GSD does not chase bikes, thank god! He is a nervous boy though and requires a lot of reassurance. He often gets complimented by strangers for his manners. The vet called him the loveliest GSD at the practice. Sorry for the boasting but I'm very proud of my sweet boy.

[Squirrel26]

My ex-hunting dog learnt before I got him how much fun it is chasing prey. It’s taken over a year to instil the idea that there might be things in life that are more rewarding then constantly looking for something to obsess over. He’s still never off lead outdoors unless in a fenced dog field (which tend not to have many nesting birds in them), and I don’t expect that he ever will be. (It’s a right PITA, to be honest. To add insult to injury the times he has come into direct contact with a bird - once when one fell down the chimney, once when an injured pigeon tried to take off and literally fell on his head - he’s just run around in a complete panic, with no idea what to do with himself. )

[JaneEyre07]

Working cocker. He's obsessed with birds. Always sniffing out pheasants, and has rather embarrassingly caught a few chickens that have escaped from their field in the village. He doesn't kill them, just drops them at my feet so I have to take them back all shame faced little bastard. I've had pigeons, squirrels and an old crow all dropped at my feet.

[PositivelyPeach]

@JaneEyre07 My first thought was - Like a cat!
To not kill, or at least restrain force is impressive. He sounds lovely. He's doing a village service, rounding up all those pesky escapee chickens.

[backinthebox]

As he's never caught anything I tend to take the attitude that wildlife is environmental enrichment and let him chase

Fucking irresponsible dog ownership. You shouldn't let your dog chase anything except a ball. Here's the result of someone letting their dog chase what they thought was wildlife, but was actually my children's pet bantams.

[backinthebox]

This was a West Highland terrier that did this, someone's pet. They lived in a city but had come out to the countryside for a day over the Christmas period for a bit of fresh air. Saying that you live in an urban setting and don't have much wildlife is no excuse.

[DirtyDennis]

My border terrier lets out a ridiculous high pitched bark, then bunny hops about three paces towards said animal.

If the animal flies off she'll do a couple more bunny hops in the direction it flew in.

If it doesn't move, she'll do a 180 degree turn and pretend she was interested in something else all along.

I swear the birds in our local park recognise her and know she's an idiot and absolutely no threat.