What should I have done?

[Mr. B]

Last night my four year old lab Maggie ran across a rabbit den under the deck. After a half an hour of her under the deck (as long as I knew where she was I was not concerned) I went to investigate and discovered four dead rabbits piled up for me.

I was not sure how to handle it so I just picked them up and through them away (good thing today is garbage day). Should I have done shome thing else?

[snowman678]

Not sure what you should have done, but could you send her to my house? I've got a ton of rabbits around that I'd like to get rid of (live in town & can't shoot them) and my dog doesn't seem to bother them enough to keep them away.

[Eric Wettschreck]

What you should of done is totally up to you. What you should do now is keep an eye on Maggies [PoorWordUsage]. Possims, coons, rabbits, etc have fleas and fleas cause worms.

[Mr. B]

Boilerguy,

I did not know that thanks. Since we are talking fleas, would the Frontline that we use take care of that, or does that only control the fleas on Maggie and not that she might have ingested?

[LABS4ME]

Boilerguy hit the nail on the head... only thing I'd be concerned about is fleas. The ones she ingested will not be a concern. Frontline should cover the rest if they transfered to her coat, but a good flea bath wouldn't be out of the question. Heartgaurd should cover any worms your dog has/gets too...

As far as the rabbits go, If you didn't last night, I'd let her sleep on the couch for doing you a big favor! They are a bain to your landscape and continually re-infest your yard with fleas. We have bunny races all the time at my house, my dogs know the difference between chasing them at home and in the field. Problem is, my dogs are getting quite old and I guess with age comes wisdom... Their attempts are getting fairly feable unless they come in close contact, then they will put a whole hearted intent to scaring the bee-jeebers out of them varmints! By this fall/winter I think it will be back to the pellet gun... I think with this warm dry spring I will have a bumper crop.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Mr. B]

Thanks for the information guys. With a new application of frontline being applied tomorrow I think I am not going to worry about the fleas to much.

It is interesting at our house in Eagan Maggie had pretty much scared all rodents, birds and small mammals out of the yard. Now that we live in the country she is having a harder time making the yard pest free. But I can tell she is sure having a great time trying. Watching her interact with the Garter snakes is particularly interesting.

Being that Maggie is one of the most spoiled hunting dogs I know of, she sleeps where ever she wants. Some times the couch, some times the foot of our bed and other times her huge monogrammed bed. It is just good to know that she is taking our conversations to heart. A week ago I had a talk with her to keep all pest out of the yard. After my wife waking me up because there was a gartner snake in the living room, I had to revise my instructions from mice to all pests. Maybe she actually does hear me.

Thanks again guys.

[Tripleplay]

From experience I would recommend that you avoid any 12 year old animal-loving/non-hunting daughters and most wives from the area of the rodent cleaning!

My GSP last summer decided to clean house on the bunnies under our front steps and believe me it was interesting to watch her wait out those baby bunnies in the bushes before they would move. Then lots of screaming and squeeling and that was before the baby bunnies/bunnies started in!

I can still her my daughter explaining that although she knew Tess was just doing what came natural to her she still "kind of hated her" at that moment.

Never knew about the flea part of the equation so I'll have to keep that in mind for the future although at present I think the bunnies have vacated the area.

[Mr. B]

Tripleplay,

The interesting thing about this incident was that my wife and the neighbors were standing on the deck while Maggie took care of business. There was no screaming by the bunnies or the wives. Luckily they are hunters and retired police officers. They just looked at Maggie and started call her Killer as they smiled.

[gspman]

Rabbits are notorious carriers of tapeworm. So if your pooch snacked on any of the rabbits I'd keep an eye on her feces and her rectal area for tapeworm segments. Gross stuff.

[BLACKJACK]

I agree with Labs, if you're giving her Heartgard, you won't have any problems with worms. I also think that the Frontline for ticks also works on fleas.

I personally discourage my labs from chasing rabbits. When a rabbit jumps in my yard its "NO". I've hunted with dogs that will chase rabbits and its very distracting becasue bunnies are everywhere. Even in SoDak when we jump a big jack rabbit (good eating!!) I won't shoot it because I don't want my dogs chasing rabbits. Now if you want a bird and bunny dog, let her chase them. You also stated you live in the country. Its one thing to let your dog chase rabbits in a fenced in yard but in the country once they start chasing one rabbit, then jump another, over the hill and down thru the woods they go, across the road and smuck comes the car, or they can't find their way back, or hey that rabbit was fun to chase, how about this deer? Not good. I'd discourage rabbit chasing.

On a side note about rabbits, I have lots, in early Sept they're fun to shoot with bow and arrow and judo points. Good practice. Its payback for eating off my broccoli plants.

[CaptainMusky]

Mr B,

what are you questioning? Are you questioning if you should have investigated further right away? Are you wondering if you should have disciplined the dog?

You didn't do anything wrong and the only thing you possibly could have done differently would have been to look right away.

There is no way you can "call off" a hunting dog. That is what they do. It is instinct. My GSP pup caught a baby wren the other day. It was a nice point though at first! LOL

[Mr. B]

Captain Musky,

I was just curious if I should have disciplined the dog. I have decided that with in the invisible fence that is being installed today (fence has been planned for a month to make sure she stays away from the road), Maggie can chase, hunt or harass any small mammal or bird that she likes. Now if she would just take care of the Garter snakes things would be great, had another in the living room last night.

While hunting she has never show an inclination to chase rabbits or squirrels, mice and deer she is interested in. I think she has learned her lesson about deer, a few corrections with the e-collar seems to have done the trick. Every now and then she is still interested in mice though. I was basically just trying to find out if I now have to worry about her chasing rabbits while hunting. I guess I will find out this October.

[CaptainMusky]

In my experience once the dog knows what you are hunting for, they forget about everything else. Sure you may run into deer, rabbits etc, but they know what you are out there for at least it seems to me they do. My dogs no longer have an interest in chasing that other game while afield. Early on they perked up, but they realised we were out there for birds not those furry creatures. Although, the dogs always go after mice. Not sure why that is???

Worst case she chases a rabbit then you give her a little convincing from the e-collar then you are good to go.