My dog ate a squirrel.

[undeterred]

Half a squirrel, actually. He killed it at the dog park and would not drop the body... so I didn't get it away from him until it was half gone. He thoroughly enjoyed it and defended his kill against any other dogs that came near. They really are animals!

He seems fine.

I just emailed my vet and asked if I should be worried.

[Kali]

1. the main thing I would worry about were fleas

there are some other parasites that can be passed but depending on you location rodent fleas can be a risk.

shouldn't really be a problem otherwise. mine caught a young rock squirrel the other day, I was kind of surprised, as she usually leaves them alone - they bite.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. One of ours got a rabbit a few years back. No ill affects. Well ..... mostly .....

...... she used a mesquite rub and that didn't go well with the doggie wine she was drinking, so she sent the wine back.

Seriously, no ill affects. I wouldn't worry . . . . except for fleas, as noted above.

[undeterred]

3. He had such a good time with it.

I kept trying to get him to drop the squirrel and take a treat, but apparently a freshly killed squirrel is the best treat you can get.

You just reminded me that he ate part of a freshly killed rabbit when he was a pup - my vet told me they can carry tapeworm.

I feed him Taste of the Wild... I guess I shouldn't be surprised when he hunts down his own.

[ginnyinWI]

4. just curious--what kind of dog is he?

Besides a squirrel eating dog, that is! Because my mom had a Springer Spaniel who would kill and eat rabbits.

[undeterred]

5. He is half malamute according to the DNA

He is 12.5% Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. And the rest is unknown, but he has the body shape of a large Australian shepherd.

I think the strong prey drive is typical of an alaskan malamute. I've never had a dog before who could actually catch anything. My dog is 4, and I can't even remember how many times he's caught prey.

[livvy]

11. What an interesting mix.

I like it. From my experience at doggy daycare, the mountain dogs are so sweet, and mals can be a bit more aloof, but so very loyal and loving to their moms/dads and friends, once they get to know them (from a friend who have has several). The Swiss would temper the temperament of the mal. I don't know about the prey drive. I don't remember my friend's mals being particularly prey driven, although they really didn't have the opportunity.
My favorite story was of her male (red, kind of rare) mal having a pissing contest with the dog next door. Although they were in separate yards, on separate decks, they proceeded to have the contest. Her young male got so into it, he fell over due to lifting his leg just a bit too high.
Maybe the prey drive is not so much prey drive, but herding drive. Except unlike the herders, because of the mix of breeds, once the "prey" is herded, it becomes prey, to be eaten.

[wildeyed]

6. Mine caught a squirrel the other day.

Played tug of war with the other dog and then tried to bring it in the house. Noooooo!

[Walk away]

7. My Henry is only 25 lbs but he cheerfully catches everything from moles to rabbits...

and (knowing that I disapprove) he makes a fine messy meal of them. I know it's the Terrier in him. The first time he came back home after a hunt and covered with blood I thought he was the victim. A little soap and water revealed the truth! Henry had a license to kill!

It has never been much of a problem except the time he caught the skunk....thankfully he spit it out when I screamed bloody murder. It's just protein.

[japple]

8. My dog (JRT mix) gets bunnies from time to time, but only eats part

of them. Then she buries them and digs them back up/re-buries several times before she gets tired of them. My neighbor's dog is a "treeing feist" and he had a dead squirrel awhile back that he carried around for days. Neither dog seems to have suffered any ill effects. I know of dogs that scraped up flattened animals from the road and brought them home and never got sick from it.

[undeterred]

9. They must have very strong immune systems.

I'd rather he didn't eat it but I can't really stop him.

Sometimes he buries a rawhide treat that I've given him in his dog bed, or else he comes up on my bed and drops it there. I guess I am supposed to keep it safe for him.

Edit: I'd draw the line at letting him bury half a squirrel in my bed for a snack later on...

[undeterred]

10. The vet said not to worry about it. Here's a pic of him with the squirrel.

Its hard to tell which end is up but I think he has it by the throat.

[get the red out]

16. He's a handsome killing machine, LOL

Nice looking dog.

[livvy]

12. My bouvs have on occasion gotten a bunny.

My male bouv got hold of two adult bunnies. The first time, he had no idea what to do with it. He refused to give it to me, but didn't know how to go about eating it. He pulled out a little fur, but that was as far as it got. He finally left it, when I got so ticked at him for not giving it up, I went inside, and left him with his catch. The second time he got one, he ate part, but not all. It didn't stay down long, and he suffered no other ill effects. He was such an irascible devil. Miss him a lot.

[Sanity Claws]

13. what did his poop look like?

Did you see squirrel fur in it?

[undeterred]

14. I haven't seen anything unusual about it at all.

I can imagine that it might bother a dog with a sensitive stomach. But my dog doesn't have one.

[GinGin]

15. Tut

Poor squirrel.

[juliathesexworker]

17. My cat

Tried to bring in a dead squirrel to eat yesterday. Fucking nasty mean cat kills everything and actually eats what he kills. He has eaten rats, mice, birds.