I have a 1 y/o female that we all love very much. My daughter (10) is particularly bonded to her. We have a large yard and she stays there most part of the day. After school my kids play a while with her, I am with her in the morning and I play with her. She loves chancing stray cats and birds but lately, since early spring, birds that fall from the nest are easy target for her rough play and I lost count of how many I found dead. Today was not a fallen baby bird but an adult and for all the feathers I found I think Lola hunted the bird.
For the past few nights it is impossible to sleep at home. after spending the evening with us inside, she always sleeps in the laundry room, also inside. But for the past few nights she cries and cries because she wants to go out to the yard. She doesn't need to pee, she likes going and looking for cats and whatever it is that she finds outside. We don't want to let her outside at night because she may get too noicy for the neighbors, and because in wnter it gets to be very cold.

I am concerned that she likes to go 'hunting' day and night. I just don't want to have to bury a larger animal. I am also concerned about her changing with my kids and with the visitors and even the mailman and the utilities-guy!!!! Can she be a risk for the family? Is she at risk?

We love her, and we need to find what is going on so we can go back to normal beautiful-playful-nice Lola!!!

HELP??

Thanks a bunch.

It appears you didn't do your homework on this breed before you went out and got that cute face. This is what Min Pins do...and you're lucky if she doesn't start trying to chase down passerby's...this is completely normal behavior for a Miniatuer Pinscher and you are either going to have to accept that or find a home that will. Miniature Pinschers were bred to be ratters and hunters so to kill birds is....to kill birds. I came outside to find my German Shepherd nuzzling a baby bird that had fallen from a nest once...I came outside a few hours later and that same bird had fallen again, this time it was in my Min Pins mouth...I told her to drop it and she didn't, until I was very firm about it and then she did...but she was pretty diasappointed in having to do so. These dogs have a lot of self-confidence and are comPLETely fearless...if she doesn't start chasing the mailman I'd wonder why! (ok, probably not funny to you...and it isn't to me either, but I expect it). Prey drive in a Miniature Pinscher is something you will not be able to stop, only control (meaning you'll have to watch her when she's outside so that she doesn't get at them...aside from that, you're not going to be able to do anything about it).

I know this is probably not what you were wanting to hear...I'm sure you were wanting to hear some training tips on how to stop this, but you wont. I'm studying to be a dog trainer and I can tell you right now both from owning a Min Pin and from my training experience...it is what it is...take it or leave it.

Also, you CAN control her from chasing cats, but anything smaller than a cat, you wont be able to stop her from. Cats are a different story (but keep her away from kittens if you can't trust her). Another thing, don't ever let a Min Pin stay outside...she could dig her way out and be off...not just that, but they don't have the proper coat for outdoor conditions. I don't care if they WERE outdoor dogs when they were first being developed, this is not right to do to a Miniature Pinscher...they are NOT outdoor dogs. Also, is there a reason she HAS to sleep in the laundry room? Ours sleeps either in our bed or in her crate at night (you can either put that in your room or in the living room). Try not to isolate a Miniature Pinscher.

[german sheep]

A dog who had success in hunting has got the ultimate independency to its owner, because he knows he can feed itself. It doesn't need its owner for this.

If your dog had success in this and has made the experience that she can feed itself, then of course she will act like she does.
Do you know if she has eaten a bird?

LG
gs

wow, thank you guys for your experienced responses.
We did some research about the breed right when she got here; we didn't do it before because we were not actually sure on when to go get a dog. She was 7 weeks old when she was given to us. For what I have seen she haven't eaten any bird, the birds don't actually show any bleeding other than broken bones and little feathers left. She is very well sheltered outside and the laundry room is cozy and nice, sides of the kitchen. My concern is on how much farther is she going to go and if at anytime can that be a risk for our family. We love her, but if we can know what to do to keep some health in this..
I am not ready, nor my family to give up on her just when the first things arrive. I am firm with her in showing that it is just not ok to do what she is doing. Instincts are instincts, but I won't encourage her or give her the freedom to kill at discretion. I want help in not allowing it to go bad, or worse. I believe that if we can guide her she doesn't have to be wild or dangerous to others, don't you agree.

[Yogi]

in the Zwergpinscher, this is instinctive and is to be expected behavior as noted. Whether it has eaten it or not, as one who has raised and bred them for 50 years, this instinct is extremely strong. The breed is a terrier not a toy breed therefore it is only acting as any terrier will do considering terriers are in fact the only breeds of dogs created by man for the purpose of killing other animals. It is not necessarily common that a Miniature Pinscher that hunts and acts on its instincts will be different toward people or other dogs etc. She is just performing what she was bred for. I have had mine kill rats, mice and birds and not eat them where I have also had them ferret out and will eat them. It has not changed the way they act toward people or neglect what they are when it comes to me. They still do as told and still come to me for their regular feeding as if they never caught and ate the prey.

[Lara's mom]

Thank the Goddess that my JRT has no murderous instincts!

And just to clarify on my post, I don't mean that because she is acting on her hunting instincts that she will start to go after people - what I mean is, if she doesn't already bark at people and occasionally try to chase them, she probably will...but I don't mean that she is set out to hurt/hunt them like she does small prey. Its just that almost all Miniature Pinschers that I have met bark like crazy at people they don't know.

[german sheep]

a pinscher is a dog like any other dog, but when the owner let it make the experiences then of course it will build up this behaviour.
A pinscher who never had hunting success is like every other kind of dog.

It is called breedpredisposition and this is 70% which a human has no influence of. it is in the dog. Of course I can charge one or the other instinct, but I also can learn a mops to bite everything around him.

LG
gs

Sorry guys I don't mean to come off as insulting here. But I really have to disagree with a lot of those statements. The dog has eaten its prey thus now it knows it does not need its owner to feed it? Terriers and hunting dogs weren't meant for dogs to go out and hunt and stay alive. They were meant to hunt for THEIR master! Dogs need a pack, your dog is not going to one day be like oh hey i found a way to feed myself i don't need anyone. Most wolves know that they could catch a rabbit or something on their own, does this mean they're going to want to not listen to the alpha anymore? Of course not, its all leadership. your dog has got quite the prey drive it sounds like, do you take him on walks and runs often or does he usually stay in the house and the back yard? Your dog has these instincts, it needs an outlet for them! you need to work that mini a bit. Like they say a tired dog is a good dog, and that is so true. There is absolutely no reason why you're going to have to "accept" that he's going to chase stuff or if not give him to another home, but like I said, it all goes down to him needing an outlet for those instincts. You should never expect for your dog to chase things when you dont want him doing that. its not the breed, its not the dog, its you. Of course he's going to have a natural want to do it because of his prey drive. But it all goes down to what the boss wants and doesn't want. I'd start tiring that dog out if I were you, he needs to know when its time to work and when to play. I would work him hard and get him really tired, if possible to have a bird around, introduce him to it, or else if you have lots of birds in your backyard once he's really tired that all he pretty much wants to do is lay down, sit in the backyard with him and when he sees a bird. The second he goes all stiff and tries to get up to go for the bird you give him a poke or tap to snap him out of it. Not a hard correction or anything like that, just something that is really firm and youre calm about it and snap him out of it and say no. the second he goes stiff again you do the same thing. timing is so important! you have to get it the second he reacts. get him to relax and go submissive while the bird is around. this is instincts, its not going to be as easy to fix as him chewing on a corner or something, any time he see's something move really quick its just his natural reaction to chase it because of his instincts. This is where he needs to know when its time to work and when its not. and be calm and assertive. You've always got to be calm, but when you're dealing with prey drive you've really got to be calm. And remember how I said he has to be really tired for you to train him like this! Youre not going to get any success with trying to stop this if while you're training him hes full of energy. its prey drive, when he see's it hes going to have more energy than ever and i'm sure he'd have quite the tunnel vision and it can be hard to snap them out of that when they are in that state, thats why him being tired is so important. How I said you've got to be especially calm for this also, he's not going to be calm about something that he loves chasing down if his leader gets somehow a little riled up over it. When you do your poke for your correction also, give him a poke that it takes his attention to what just poked him then say no. You'll find that if you give him a little tap on the side or anything like that, its not going to do anything. it has to be FIRM, firm doesn't mean hard at all or anything like that, but a poke like HEY listen here, not hey hey hey hey hey. don't stay with your finger pointing in his face saying no, nooooo, nooooooo!. just a firm poke to turn his attention away. a quick firm no. and put your attention else where. Don't keep thinking of this bird and the dog. and the second he goes tense and stiff you snap him out of it. Like i said timing is an essence. I wish I could type more but I've got to run. I'll continue on later.

Did Admin not approve of my post or something? I wrote a really, long response to this and it's still not posted?