Dogs killed baby deer, any worries?

[Richard]

We had some drama on the farm yesterday that I totally missed.

My sister in law took her two dogs (one of which we're keeping in our home) for a walk. One of them "Fannie" looks like she's got some german shepard in her BUT is probably only 40/50 pounds. She's very petite if in fact, she's a shepard. We've been told she looks like she has some belgian malamux (sp?) in her.

The other dog is an abandonded dog that was dumped as a puppy. It is a pit bull or has some in it.

Yesterday, she took them for a walk on the farm and seems they came across a baby deer. From the 5th person version of the story that gets to me (from my wife, not my sister in law), the dogs took off after the deer and killed it.

Did the pit bull do it? Did Fannie do it? Was it a team effort? I don't know.

Fannie is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever seen, she's virtually maintainence free as a guest in my house. I do not much care for "Bucket" (stupid name for a dog I think) but I will have to admit, Bucket has never shown any kind of violence towards anything other than wanting to chase my cats.

Hearing that "they" killed a deer makes me curious... is this for lack of better word, a 'normal' thing? Once they've killed an animal, are they more likely to do it again?

I was in the kitchen yesterday when I heard the door open in the basement and heard my sister in law admonishing Fannie. I didn't understand what happened but turns out, she was absolutely freaked out by what she saw. She was putting Fannie back in my basement telling her how bad she had been (might have just happened or happened an hour earlier, I don't know)

My main question is, now that the dogs...well, I'll admit I'm more concerned about Bucket than I am Fannie. Anyways, now that they've killed something and tasted its blood if nothing else, do we need to be a bit more concerned/watchful over them or is this similar to "kids will be kids" and I should blow it off?

Fannie, (I'll try to post a picture of her) is a MODEL citizen inside the home. I have absolutely zero concerns about her.

Bucket on the other hand, (no pictures) is clearly a more powerfully built animal and one that from the first day, I've had some reservations about.

I guess to cut to the chase, I'm trying to ask if this might be the start of a dangerous trend?

Picture: Chloe on left, Fannie in middle and Otis on right

 

[cowboy357]

Just My opinion Richard , but just the fact that it concerns You & rightfully so , Should give You the answer Your looking for. I Know I wouldn,t take any chance if it was My kids . Like they say When in doubt ? Bob

 

[SPIKER]

We had some drama on the farm yesterday that I totally missed.

Did the pit bull do it? Did Fannie do it? Was it a team effort? I don't know.


I guess to cut to the chase, I'm trying to ask if this might be the start of a dangerous trend?

not sure in your area or how your property is laid out. chances are that if they jump a full sized deer they may take off chasing them and not return, most deer will run faster than the dogs but they may keep chasing the sent in hope of catching them. this leads them to run miles away from home without knowing how to get back in many cases... as for taste for blood. not sure some hunting dogs are the best when they cant/dont catch the prey others are just happy to retrieve the birds dead from the bush/lake/swamp when TRAINED as hunting dogs. House dogs on the other hand may decide it was a lot of fun catching the deer and do the same thing the next time the CAT decides to make a chase out of play... time will tell but if it happens again then it may be time to start using chains/leashes on them and not let them run...
mark

 

[MossRoad]

We had a shepard mix mutt and a border collie mix mutt. The sweetest dogs IN THE WORLD! bar none . One day I observed the border collie chasing a squirrel around the back yard. The older shepard went around the tree in the other direction, grabbed the squirrel by the head and killed it instantly. He dropped it and they stood there looking at it for a few moments, sniffed and poked it for a while, then came back to the house when I called them. To my knowledge, they never went out seeking to kill other animals after that. They just went about being dogs. I'm sure they probably ran after other squirrels or rabbits. I caught the shepard pee-ing on a box turtle once and the border collie was scared to death of owl noises. I think it is a dog's natural instinct to pursue movement and/or respond to distress calls and other animal noises. It is also their natrual instinct to snap or bite at something that hurts them. That is why I would never leave a baby or young child (or small animal, for that matter) alone with ANY dog, no matter how sweet the dog is. All it takes is one tug of the ear or whiskers, one cry of distress or one running child to trigger some dogs to react with that instinct. Not the dog's fault, of course. More like nature's fault.

 

[Bird]

Once they've killed an animal, are they more likely to do it again?

Yes, they are.

 

[2manyrocks]

Unless you want to chase your dog into the next county as it chases deer from now on, it will need to be walked on a leash.

Also, it's a misdeameanor in TN to let your dogs chase deer.

<b>70-4-118. Unlawful to hunt deer being chased by dogs or to permit dogs to hunt or chase deer Confiscation of dogs Penalties. 愉/b>

(a) No person shall knowingly hunt deer being chased by dogs nor shall any person knowingly and intentionally permit such person's dogs to hunt or chase deer.

(b) Any officer of the wildlife resources agency may take into possession any dog known to have hunted or chased deer and shall notify the owner of the dog, or if the owner is unknown, shall advertise in a newspaper of general circulation in the county that the dog is in the officer's possession, giving the description of the dog and stating the circumstances under which it was taken. The officer shall hold the dog for a period of ten (10) days and shall report the facts in full to the director.

(c) If, within ten (10) days, the owner claims the dog, the owner may repossess it on payment of the costs of advertising and the cost of keep. If the owner does not claim the dog within the above specified time, the dog shall be deemed ownerless and a public nuisance and shall be disposed of in the manner prescribed by the executive director. In this event, the costs of advertising and keep shall be paid by the agency.

(d) Any person violating the provisions of this section commits a Class B misdemeanor. It is mandatory upon the court to impose the prison sentence, and the minimum time is not subject to suspension, but may be served on such days designated by the judge.

 

[Western]

good law

 

[J35]

.

I guess to cut to the chase, I'm trying to ask if this might be the start of a dangerous trend?

Picture: Chloe on left, Fannie in middle and Otis on right

They are the same dogs they were before, not any less or more dangerous.

They just got to be dogs for once instead of little people in fur coats.

Have fun

 

[Frosty2]

Just as dogs will be dogs,a pitbull on my property will be shot.Hit a pit on my bike that did $5500 to the bike and $2500 to my body.Hard to believe but no one claimed the dog.This was near a factory dairy farm and the Sheriff stated that the "workers" living in the woods kept dogs like this to fight.That was 3 years ago and now if a dog chases me it's dead.After reading the law I figure a dog chasing me is fair game.Just as it's nature for a dog to chase a deer it's nature for me to protect myself.

 

[Richard]

@ Cowboy: Fortunately, there are no kids around here and the youngest grandkids are adults!

@ Spiker: Just talked to my sis in law for first time. Seems it was a baby deer, smaller or as small as the white dog in my picture above. We usually let 1 dog run loose and rotate them (live on 250 acre farm surrounded by lake so no way for dogs to escape very far). We've learned the hard way that if dog 1+3 or 2+4 or other combo's get out together, they are out until after dark, returning home COVERED with mud & briars. If we let them out one at a time, they stay closer to home. Sister in law lets hers run loose on the farm and this is when it happeend, though she was with them.

When I take them out for their daily walks, I always have at least 4 on a leash and let 1 run loose, or, I'll have all 5 on leashes (and look like Mr. Cruella on 101 dalmations )

@ Rocks: Regarding TN, I'm not concerned about the law on this... I will do what I can to prevent it from happening but the reality is, we ASK the officers to make a cruise by as much as they can and we still hardly see them. Odds of them being around and within view of something like this happening (which is the 1st time I know of it happening in 10 years living here) are simply nil.

If you saw the lay of the land you'd understand since we're surrounded 3 sides by water and all the 'action' takes place on the far side away from the road.

Also, I get deer in my yard so the deer are going to have to adhear to that law before I feel too concerned (though I still don't want my anmials chasing others, just not for purposes of making "the law" happy)

They just got to be dogs for once instead of little people in fur coats.

Probably more truth in that than you realize.


On talking to my sister in law, she said Fannie (the calm one) is the one who jumped at the baby dear. I don't know if she bit it or not but in the end she was having at it...she (sister in law) grabbed Fannie by collar and pulled her back. Upon doing so, bucket (the pit bull) backed off and sat down. Then, Fannie slipped out of her collar and went back at the deer at which point, my sister in law physcially picked Fannie up and pulled her away.

She said she heard the deer making some kind of baby deer noise "in the woods" so she doesn't REALLY know if the deer was maimed, killed or simply scared out of its wits. There WAS some blood involved, I do not know how much.

In a sense, I'm glad this happened (collar slipping off). I've repeatedly told both her and my wife that they are simply having the collars WAY too lose on all the dogs since virtually every dog can sling it. 'yeah, but you don't want to choke them" they say...

Chokeing and restraining them are too different things in my book. Having a collar on the dog that the dog knows he can sling does not lead to good behavior in my opinion.

Maybe I can use this as a learning experience that we need collars that FIT and not collars that are one or two sizes too big.

Oh, also, my sister in law said that Fannie is going to be on the leash now whenever she takes them for a walk.