Yorkies with a purpose
 

So Madlyn and Izzy have joined ranks with Toby and have officially become little mouse hunters. Madlyn got one and now all you have to do is say the word mouse and her ears perk up and she goes racing off to find one. And Izzy caught her first one and sat by it afterwards growling at anybody who came near it, protecting it even though it was dead. ..for hours. What's all that about? And Toby, he stalks them all stealth like, ...sitting still and staring for hours to catch them. Of course Izzy hasn't figured out yet that she can't bark them to death. She Still thinks that is effective in her method. It's pretty funny. Anyone Else have little hunters in their midst?

Originally yorkies were bred to catch mice in the mines in England....so I have read! So it must be "a thing" with them!!!

I know! But I never discussed that with them once before they took up the habit. That's what's cool about it. ..lol

It's totally in their DNA! Before I had a cat, we had gotten mice one winter. Shield was crazy after those mice! HE loves to track down and chase all kinds of creatures. HE has gotten baby rabbits in our yard before, they were okay! He chases voles & squirrels outside at my dads. Groundhogs at our camp. It's so good for them to let loose and do their natural thing!

I'm sure it breaks the monotony that's developed around here for sure. Gives Them something to look forward to since my car is having an engine put in, I haven't been able to take them to the park like I usually do. So this at least gets there adrenaline going

My now passed girl Matese was a mighty hunter, she lived to hunt. Her first (and only) kill was on a camping trip. She came out from under the trailer where she was hunting, looked up at me with glazed eyes, all I saw was a tail hanging out of the side of her mouth, I SCREAMED DROP IT and snatched the dead mouse away with a paper towel, yuck. After that first kill she was obsessed with hunting. These yorkies have an amazing prey drive, one of the many things I LOVE about the breed lol. I LOVE watching Cody stalking a boulder in the backyard,he SWEARS there's a critter hiding under it, he'll sit for HOURS staring at that boulder waiting to pounce on whatever comes out. I pity anything he may catch.

"bark them to death":D.....if Duchess could do that every critter in a five mile radius would be dead.

LoL... they are definite little hunters.

Jackson killed a rabbit in front of me and it traumatized me for life. But he was just doing what he was bred to do, can't stop it... :\
Oh he killed a bird too that got trapped on the screened in porch. Ugh. My little murderer.

I can't wait to see what mine does come spring. One of my cats sits by the chicken coop most of the summer, and bears gifts daily. I'll take mine out there in spring, if I was closer to a group we'd joint barn hunt.
Love hearing about dogs doing things they were bred to do (instinctually)!
Yay to your pups!

Terrier Blood
 

Mia is a terrier through and through! Her first kill was a budgie if I recall correctly, the only thing she didn't eat was the beak… Nobody could come near her and her kill (never mind that it was originally the cat that brought it in!). She hunts ferociously in the garden for mice, birds and mole crickets (although mole crickets were a passing phase – she ate like 18 at one sitting and seemed to lose her appetite for them after that). If you want her attention, you can just tell her to search for the bird or mouse and she will be off on a ‘dog’hunt for them.

OMG the photos are incredible lol, little killer. I do not encourage, have NEVER encouraged any of my yorkies to kill, I would be devastated if Cody or any of my passed pups killed anything. I was sooo upset when my Matese killed that mouse. When a chipmunk is trapped inside or under something I hear it chirping, I get Cody in the house, wait 15 minutes so the lil chippie can escape, then we go back to the yard. I like to watch them hunt, but will try my darnest to not have them kill anything.

Love this. Especially the last pic with feathers on her face and a huge grin ;) love her tail too!

My goodness! Those are amazing photos!! Kind of scary for me though, because I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to anything relating to hunting (I cannot watch those natural geographic videos of animals killing each other or fathom the thought of people going out to hunt animals). But,...good job to Mia! I know it's totally in the Yorkie blood :rolleyes:

Same here. I have to restrain my little ones when they want to go after birds or squirrels. First, like you I'd also be devastated if they killed another animal. Second, it'd be dangerous for them if they chased after all the little animals since we live in the city without a backyard. I'd just die if they darted out into the streets and got themselves killed because they wanted to chase after something.

Have to share this video of this morkie that found a dead mouse though. It's too hilarious what she wanted to do to it...lol

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLkXsn4g...jack_themorkie

I KNOW MY GIRLS WOULD LOVE TO GO OUTSIDE AND HUNT BUT THEY WOULD BE THE HUNTED. It's OK with me as I am the person saving lizards from my cats! Ive gone as far as saving mice from drowning in my pool.

Oh wow! CRAZY pictures!

I think it's just in their blood!!! No direction necessary!!!!

Yuck, I NEVER allow Cody to roll in the yard, one never knows what the heck they are rolling in, the smelliest it is the more they want to roll in it :eek:

Max came up from under the deck with a dead something and that was his last trip in the backyard. I won't let him be a hunter! Birds, bunnies and squirrels are something mom loves to feed so they won't be his snack!

The Terrier
 

Lol... I think because they are so small and some of us think on them as our 'babies', we sometimes forget that they are still dogs and terriers at that. I feel I need to encourage her natural instincts, that is what makes her unique. We of course also try to rescue the poor victims from our pets but isn't it wrong to interfere with their natural instincts?

Some years back my neighbors had mice problems, they were going to buy Decon pellets for mice, I begged them not to because the mice will carry the pellets out of the house. I feared the Decon would end up in my yard and my now passed girl would eat it and that would have been fatal if she had. From my own personal experience having a travel trailer, in the winter I would set Decon out for the mice that made my travel trailer their hotel, I would find the Decon had been hidden in vases, drawers, and outside of the trailer by the mice. So to answer your question, YES interfere, one never knows if a vermin has ingested poison, and your dog puts that poisoned animal in it's mouth, to me that is cause for concern and interference. As a PS my boy is not a show piece, he is allowed to get down and dirty, dig holes, and play in the mud if that makes him happy,he is my "baby", but he is still a dog and will have fun doing what dogs like to do, but he will not have fun by killing small animals.

Mouse Killer
 

Buddybear killed his first and only one this year. He found it in my sewing room.
He was soooooo FAST and shook it so hard I was amazed. Totally instinct.

You will find now that he had his first kill he will be OBSESSED with mice and hunting them. After my Matese had her first kill she would rather hunt then to eat. I have a lot of left over treated lumber under my deck from projects done on my deck, one time I hear all this banging going on under the deck, I look to see what the heck is this girl up to now, and there she was, jumping on the lumber and pulling the lumber away. I got her out from there and put her in the house, she was all worked up and panting hard lol, she needed to chill out lol. I pulled out all the lumber to see what worked her into a frenzy and found a dead mole, all that jumping on the wood must have given that mole a concussion, poor lil mole. Keep an eye on your Buddybear, he has had a taste of a kill lol.

Mickey likes to try to get the crows in our park. We don't have mice here. If he could fly he would definitely get his prey.

lol, sounds like my Cody, if it walks, hops, crawls, or fly's he's on it he even tries to climb up trees after the birds lol. I never had a yorkie that always looked to the skies like this lil guy does lol. he even wants the deer lol.

I don't know which of my dogs did it. But one of them got a chipmunk. I found it in big boy magics crate but with razzle guarding it. I was almost sick to my stomach as I disposed of this wee one. The dogs were all happy n fine.

Know it is natural prey instinct but hey I don't have to like it.

I guess...that's the subjective question.

Everyone has different levels of tolerance for this kind of predatory action. Not to mention our dogs have been domesticated for a reason. So, it'd depend what one wants their dog for and then if there's any safety issues. And if this is something one wouldn't want to interfere with, then it'd have to be accepted that they always hunt and prey on other animals - and we can't later blame them for being 'bad' when/if it happens in a way we don't like.

Hehe...just to play devil's advocate in a light-hearted way (not trying to be rude) they have a lot of natural instincts that I don't like, which I interfere with: peeing/pooping indoors, not coming when called, not listening to me period ;)

Our Mia is hysterical. She hides everything from bones to beggin' strips (we find them under the covers in our bed) like those predators that save their catch for later. The way she shakes some of her toys alarmed us at first!
Squirrels that have the audacity to step foot in our yard make her crazy, yet on walks, I can make her sit and watch them. Same with bunnies, I just tell her "aww look, a bunny, they're so nice"and she sits down and watches them.
Watching them with grasshoppers is hysterical! It wouldn't be if she ate them, but she tries to gently put her foot on them. If she even gets her mouth near them I just have to say "no bite" and she'll move her face away. I'm not sure what she would do if there was a critter in our house. I almost think if it was a hamster or guinea pig, she'd try to play gently with it, but don't think she'd bite to kill, just from watching her in other situations. Now, there are a few dogs that she looked like she'd like to kill. Man, this sweet little thing has a toothy snarl that is ferocious! She's very territorial with loose dogs especially who run near our yard.
(She was attacked and almost killed by two large dogs while on a leash on our own patio with us there! Vet says she does have memory - maybe not of actual event but of the emotions (for lack of better word) attached to it.

My 2nd yorkie use to play with my niece's ferret lol, they would play
peek -a- boo on the bed, the ferret would run behind the pillows, my girl would be checkinking where it entered, the ferret would pop its face out at the other end lol, my girl would run to it and the ferret would disappear, it was the cutest, funniest thing ever, yet, in the country she was the mouser.