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I have a two year old unfixed female American Bulldog. My problem is that she kills small animals for sport. She is a house dog...a very loving and sweet animal and this upsets me. I have her mom (fixed) and a pitbull (sweet and loving) . She recently killed a stray cat..and I am heartbroken about this. Any ideas? rhymesense@aol.com

Optional Information:
Age: 2; Female; Breed: American Bulldog

Already Tried:
Catching her in the act of killing something! I live on five acres so it is hard to watch her all the time.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $8

No. And you have a responsiblity to the other animals in your community to keep her away from them and not let her run free. Ths is called having a high prey drive and it is part of their breed and it is nearly impossible to break them of it once they have done it a couple of times.

You need to keep in mind that animals with high prey drives will also attach children or any other living creature to which they feel superior.

Let me know if you still have questions.

1 Other Expert Agrees with this!

Reply to Tammy Falkner's Post: She is wonderful around small children and all people. I had my one year old Grandaughter out here and she just licked her legs and "smiled" at her (she does this cute thing with her nose) ... and she has been around many other kids and is great with them. She is kept within the yard boundaries at all times. She is dog aggressive if a new dog comes to her yard...but gets over it after she sees no threat. I just don't know how to train her not to chase anything that moves. The stray cat incident has me so upset. She does not know what a cat is.

She is such a beautiful and sweet animal and I am contemplating breeding her (one litter only). Would this show her that small things are not a threat to her? Would it calm her prey drive?

No. This is not going to help with her prey drive.

If you live on a farm or wide open property, the best thing that I can advise, if you cannot fence your yard with an above ground fence, is that you invest in a hidden or inground fence so that you can keep her where you can see her. Then, you can at least keep the cats in the neighborhood safe. I would hate for someone to let their little dog out and then it get snatched up by yours.

I would NOT breed her.

1 Other Expert Agrees with this!

Reply to Tammy Falkner's Post: As I said...she is fenced in with an above ground fence at all times. Are you saying there is nothing that will ever break a dog of a high prey drive? There is no training, no retraining or tricks to get them to stop? I have seen books about it...but don't own any. I find it hard to believe that it is an impossible situation!

I did not receive any more from you. This is my first time trying this...not sure what I am supposed to do when I feel like I am not convinced that the situation is impossible. Oh well...thanks for your input...however negative it was!

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Hi Tammy...I had to get off last night...but thanks so much for the reply. I live on five acres (meaning that there are tons of wildlife everywhere) but the dogs have about an acre of running space around the house. It is all fenced and unless a gate gets left open (which has happened) they all stay within the confines. I no longer let them out there in the dark...just let them in the small area fenced on the side so they can do their business and get back in. What makes dogs do this? We have brought over young puppies and she wants to play with them. My son has a cat and one night the cat came out into the living area and I heard growling and Allegra was sitting in front of the cat wagging her tail...and so I diffused the situation quickly. With the cat that was killed my son left the gate open and had just fed the stray out by the barn...and so they were able to sneak up on the cat eating...I wish I knew the full details...because I did not hear anything. I do appreciate your trying to help...she is just such a loving dog I hate to give up on her. I watch her more closely and hope I can catch her chasing something. They all chase the horse...but he is protected...and it is a game to them all...sigh. If you have any more suggestions let me know. I will click for you to get paid when someone tells me how...lol. Chris

I am glad that you responded. There is a really grey area here with dogs with high prey drives. I see dogs every day that have high prey drives and they kill other dogs and cats and rodents, etc. Then I see dogs that recognize other dogs and don't bother them, yet they still go for rodents. And pest control is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you want to work with the dog, the best thing to do is to have a trainer come out and work with you and the dog, using a series of shock collars and rewards to teach the dog appropriate behavior.

And you have to keep in mind that cats are not like any other prey in the world. If a cat runs, a dog is going to chase it and they will be more likely kill it because they are so excited to finally catch it.

In MY situations, we can't take the chance that prey driven dogs will NOT hurt children and other dogs.

But it sounds like your dog is not driven to attack other dogs or small children so there is still hope.

Is this more helpful?

If not, let me know and we can discuss it more.

If you are satisfied, you can use the green accept button to accept an answer.

Thanks!

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