HI guys, My Max is now nearly 9 months and in the past 3 weeks he came back from the woods with a pigeon in his mouth and pretty much ate it. We live in the countryside and take Max for lovely walks in paths, woods, lakes, etc...he loves it!! and so do we...he's off lead and his recall is good enough for us to leave him be and explore his surroundings as he always comes back when he's called or simply comes back because he knows we won't be standing there waiting for him! he's always chased birds but hey, no dog is fast enough to catch an adult/alive bird, let's be honest!! But recently he goes into the depth of the woods, disappears for a few minutes and sometimes comes back with a dead pigeon...it has happened 3 times - twice in the same place and once in a different path...he seems to disappear in the same area and not always is lucky enough to come back with the bird but after 3 times I'm beginning to think these animals are pretty alive when he finds them!! They're never adults - typically chicks - but they look quite fresh when he comes running back to us!! Shall I be worried? I know Labs eat anything dead they can get their mouths on but finding a dead bird 3 times in 2 weeks seems quite the coincidence to me!! Any advice anyone? Please help!! Thanks Tam
He could be going to a place were a Fox stores its kills and stealing them. They are usually headless. just avoid the area or put him on a lead whilst there for a while.there's lots of young innocent birds about at the moment and they get caught easily . He could be catching them My lab female Moo has no problem snatching birds from the air and stalking and catching them.Rory my young lab had a live pigeon in his mouth that he caught last week but he left it when asked. It was fine and I let it go and it flew away.
They are headless, that's true...I didn't even know Foxes stored their kills...I guess lead it is until Summer is over! I'll also start training him on the leave command. Thanks for your help! Much appreciated!
I would keep him on a lead when you are in that area as its not a good idea to let him 'free hunt' even if it's us a fox that has killed and stored them. He might end up straying further and be put in danger by straying onto a farmers property or come face to face with a fox. If he gets in the habit of doing this it will be much harder to stop it happening.
