Squirrels and dogs - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

trish321 · #1 May 2nd, 2014, 06:44 AM

Hi everyone,

I have a Portuguese Water Dog puppy and she is barking at and trying to catch the squirrels in our backyard. Should I be concerned? Can a squirrel attack our dog? What do I do if she actually catches one?

Great forum here and I look forward to becoming an active member!!

Trish

Longblades · #2 May 2nd, 2014, 07:54 AM

In the highly unlikely event your pup catches a squirrel you can bet it will fight back. I doubt a squirrel will go out of it's way to attack a dog. It would be sick or the dog was close to it's baby.

However squirrel chasing is something I discourage for fear one will lead my dog to dart across the street. Plus, the neighbours will love your dog barking at the squirrels, NOT. I'm thankful my dog has had excellent recall since wee tiny puppyhood and has learned on his own to not chase things he has faint hope of catching.

The little hound next door is not so smart and I'm thankful his nitwit owners finally put a bark collar on him. He was driving us nuts.

But I'm not kidding, despite all the play on words.

Marty11 · #3 May 2nd, 2014, 09:51 AM

Yes I would discourage chasing squirrels because high prey drive leads to problems. Escaping from the yard, barking etc..... One problem I had was toy guarding. And in the event you introduce a cat someday would go a lot smoother.

I have never seen a squirrel bother a dog.

marko · #4 May 2nd, 2014, 10:03 AM

I've never seen a dog actually catch and harm a squirrel, but I'm sure it happens. I agree with everyone else though, best to discourage this behaviour....as a high prey drive can get dogs into big trouble when it comes to potential accidents.

hazelrunpack · #5 May 2nd, 2014, 12:11 PM

In the past 20 years our dogs have only caught squirrels twice, both times in our yard. And, both times, the squirrel reached back from the dogs' mouth and bit the dog on the snout and/or jowls. The vets were surprised both times that there wasn't more damage to the dogs--often the dog will need stitches, but ours didn't either time.

So a squirrel can do some damage but they aren't really likely to bite unless the dog catches them first...at least in our experience. And our dogs, at least, really aren't that likely to catch a squirrel--but running into traffic would be a tragic possibility if the yard weren't fenced. We've noticed that as our dogs aged, they outgrew their interest in squirrels--they still watch them, but rarely chase any more.

trish321 · #6 May 5th, 2014, 05:08 PM

lets hope she does not catch one... I will update as the summer progresses... thanks for the great responses. I love this place.

lindapalm · #7 May 5th, 2014, 05:49 PM

We have a border collie/lab that has caught and killed at least two squirrels in her younger days, she's 15 now so it only happens in her dreams. If you can see your dog doing it, I definitely would try to discourage it. Sad for the squirrel, and could do damage for your dog. Maybe scream when she goes after it to distract her? Never worked for us, but you might get lucky.

trish321 · #8 May 14th, 2014, 08:02 PM

She did it... she actually caught a squirrel. I now have to take her to the vet as she has some scratches on her.

Can she get rabies?

Barkingdog · #9 May 14th, 2014, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trish321

She did it... she actually caught a squirrel. I now have to take her to the vet as she has some scratches on her.

Can she get rabies?

Didn't your dog get it shots yet, if not you'll need to call your vet right away so he tell what you need to do. Did your dog kill the squirrel ?

Longblades · #10 May 15th, 2014, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trish321

She did it... she actually caught a squirrel. I now have to take her to the vet as she has some scratches on her.

Can she get rabies?

Of course she can get rabies. If the squirrel had rabies and your dog was bitten and your dog is not vaccinated she can get rabies. The squirrel behaved normally IMO opinion and I myself would only Vet if the wounds to my dog needed attention.

But if you do Vet you must tell the Vet for his/her own safety how the wounds happened. If squirrels are known if your area for being prime carriers of rabies don't be surprised if your dog must be quarantined for a period of time, either at your home if it is deemed secure or at a containment facility. I doubt this will happen with a squirrel but it happened to a woman I know whose dog caught a Small Brown Bat, which are known rabies carriers here, and her dog had to quarantined and she had to get rabies shots herself.