Dog killed a rat :-(

Cartman78

Hi all,

Our 8 year old Jack Russell killed a large rat in the back garden last night.

She's killed mice before and have previously enquired with the vet if this posed any health risk to either dog itself or the people in the house. I remember her saying there was no issue with mice but not so sure about rats (?)

Cheers in advance cm

brightspark

Im not an expert but at a guess, I'd say the biggest risk would be Weils Disease, which can be transmitted by rats to both dogs and humans.

You should ring your vet and ask. I wouldn't be relying on Internet advice for this.

Knine

Cartman78 wrote: »

Hi all,

Our 8 year old Jack Russell killed a large rat in the back garden last night.

She's killed mice before and have previously enquired with the vet if this posed any health risk to either dog itself or the people in the house. I remember her saying there was no issue with mice but not so sure about rats (?)

Cheers in advance cm

There will be no issues. My terriers often kill both & people who work their terriers often have the same dogs living with their family. Just make sure Lepto vaccine is up to date.

seamusk84

Good to hear your dog is effective at vermin control, I wouldn't be upset at all by that. Better he stops them than they get into your house.

Just keep the vaccines up to date.

Cartman78

Cheers for all the replies guys...

Will give the vet a tinkle later anyway just to double check.

We've fallen a little bit behind on the vaccinations but she's been regularly dosed since a puppy so we're hoping that the immunity levels are relatively high

Polo_Mint

Keep the Vacs up to date

This is terrier instinct so its always going to happen which is a good thing.

I have 2 westies who would jump at the chance of doing the same thing and its something I would expect.

bpmurray

Isn't that what Jack Russells were bred for?

Aimeee

I have a rat killer here too. I'm delighted when she does the job.
Would op want to keep an eye on dog today in case rat had taken poison?
No clue of time frame for that sort of thing but know it happens where a dog finishes off an already dying rat and ingests the poison. Check with vet for info.

Cartman78

Just to clarify...

I was chuffed to bits for the dog, it's amazing to see that instinct come to the fore....99.99999% of the time she's a harmless softie :pac:

My concern was more more around the lapse in vaccinations and the fact that I had to do a CSI style clean up and body disposal at midnight in the lashing rain :mad:

John T Carroll

bpmurray wrote: »

Isn't that what Jack Russells were bred for?

I would certainly think so as well, we always had them when I lived in the country, at the end of the harvest season there were very large numbers of mice with a far lesser number of rats around the house (mice in the house) and the Jack Russels used to have a great time, there were no vaccines then and one of the dogs lived to over 18 years of age and was then killed by a car!.

sillysmiles

When you are talking to the vet ask them what to do in the case where a rat fights back and bites your dog. This can happen. The bites can be nasty and are usually on the face. From hearing (not actual experience) I think you are meant to clean/sterilise the bite, but no harm having the actual information on board before it happens.

Polo_Mint

sillysmiles wrote: »

When you are talking to the vet ask them what to do in the case where a rat fights back and bites your dog. This can happen. The bites can be nasty and are usually on the face. From hearing (not actual experience) I think you are meant to clean/sterilise the bite, but no harm having the actual information on board before it happens.

3 scenarios


1. Rat lives and runs off
Clean dogs wound and bring dog to vet.

2. Rat dies
Clean dogs wound and Bring both dog and Rat to vet for blood test.

3. Rat injured.
Smash rats brain in with a spade - Clean dogs wound and bring both dog and Rat to vet for blood test.

Thats what i would do

Knine

sillysmiles wrote: »

When you are talking to the vet ask them what to do in the case where a rat fights back and bites your dog. This can happen. The bites can be nasty and are usually on the face. From hearing (not actual experience) I think you are meant to clean/sterilise the bite, but no harm having the actual information on board before it happens.

Rats mostly do fight back. However generally terriers only ever get 1 bite, the next time the rat does not get the chance. My Jack Russell was bitten a few years back. I just keep an eye on it. He was fine. The Borders are very quick & so far no bites.

Terriers are well equiped for dealing with rats & mice. Just keep an eye on any bites & they should be fine.

Cartman78

Just to follow up....spoke to the vet earlier on and she echoed all the advice here.

Didn't get a chance to ask re: rat bites....it wasn't an issue in this case anyway....the Jack Russell justice was swift and brutal :cool:

The vet was actually amazed at my dog's prowess as she'd actually had 5 teeth removed during the summer.

Anyway, the dog seems a-ok now so hopefully no worries. Thanks for all the replies

John T Carroll

Polo_Mint wrote: »

3 scenarios


1. Rat lives and runs off
Clean dogs wound and bring dog to vet.

2. Rat dies
Clean dogs wound and Bring both dog and Rat to vet for blood test.

3. Rat injured.
Smash rats brain in with a spade - Clean dogs wound and bring both dog and Rat to vet for blood test.

Thats what i would do

4. Cosmetic surgery (for the dog)

aonb

As long as a JRT doesnt get bitten, or doesnt eat :eek: the rat - never heard of one being eaten, and we've had JRT rat-killing-experts all my life - I wouldnt worry.
My dopey JRT who is an only dog at the moment, always hunted with the other two dogs - I guess the instinct would kick in with dopey dog, but sometimes I look at him and I wonder Once when the 'expert' dog was after a rat, he 'told' dopey dog to go head the rat off - it was comical, the look on dopey dogs face, and even funnier the look on the expert dogs face, when the rat ran past dopey dog A clear breakdown in communications!! The expert dog was frequently exasperated with poor dopey! (P.S. I should mention that Dopey is an expert frog killer however )

Knine

aonb wrote: »

As long as a JRT doesnt get bitten, or doesnt eat :eek: the rat - never heard of one being eaten, and we've had JRT rat-killing-experts all my life - I wouldnt worry.
My dopey JRT who is an only dog at the moment, always hunted with the other two dogs - I guess the instinct would kick in with dopey dog, but sometimes I look at him and I wonder Once when the 'expert' dog was after a rat, he 'told' dopey dog to go head the rat off - it was comical, the look on dopey dogs face, and even funnier the look on the expert dogs face, when the rat ran past dopey dog A clear breakdown in communications!! The expert dog was frequently exasperated with poor dopey! (P.S. I should mention that Dopey is an expert frog killer however )

Lol similar happens when you take out Terriers & HPR gundog breeds. They hunt differently. I try to make a lot of noise because rabbits are not the fastest of runners & I don't want them to catch any.

ALANC81

Sorry but rabbits are very fast runners but tanks for the giggle.

Knine

ALANC81 wrote: »

Sorry but rabbits are very fast runners but tanks for the giggle.

Unfortunately not compared to my terriers! If they happen to be in the middle of a field I'm like "Oh no" plus the dogs will go to ground!

Choc Chip

Knine wrote: »

Unfortunately not compared to my terriers! If they happen to be in the middle of a field I'm like "Oh no" plus the dogs will go to ground!

We used to have a mixed breed (a kind-of lurcher/ terrier/ Labrador) who we had to try and keep away from rabbits or he would chase and catch them. He was incredibly fast. Unfortunately he was also incredibly soft and didn't have a clue what to do with the rabbits when he caught them. He used to trot around with this poor live rabbit in his mouth, not terribly keen on the idea of giving it to you but not sure what he was going to do with it himself...

aonb

Choc Chip wrote: »

We used to have a mixed breed (a kind-of lurcher/ terrier/ Labrador) who we had to try and keep away from rabbits or he would chase and catch them. He was incredibly fast. Unfortunately he was also incredibly soft and didn't have a clue what to do with the rabbits when he caught them. He used to trot around with this poor live rabbit in his mouth, not terribly keen on the idea of giving it to you but not sure what he was going to do with it himself...

I have one of thosev ^^^^ but hes not fast enough to actually catch one by himself !!!! mope!

Knine, is there anything worse than the fear of a dog that will go to ground!?!? Terrifying! Ive helped my dogs breeders dig a couple out. Once they found a dog in a warren who finally came out DAYS later - reckon he lost enough weight to finally wriggle free!!!

Thankfully my current dog would be too scared of a dark hole to go to ground.

ALANC81

Knine wrote: »

Unfortunately not compared to my terriers! If they happen to be in the middle of a field I'm like "Oh no" plus the dogs will go to ground!

Maybe a month old baby rabbit but a terrier won't catch a fully grown rabbit out in the middle of a field. They might have a chance on the ditch but not in the middle of a field. I do a lot of hunting for food so I know what I'm on about.

Knine

ALANC81 wrote: »

Maybe a month old baby rabbit but a terrier won't catch a fully grown rabbit out in the middle of a field. They might have a chance on the ditch but not in the middle of a field. I do a lot of hunting for food so I know what I'm on about.

Eh yes they will & do. I have 4 terriers & they regularly catch rabbits. My other half hunts ;-) as do lots of terrier people I know. If you read the breed standard of the breed I have you might notice that it says capable of following a horse. I think you are getting confused with hares or else the terriers you are hunting with are not up to much.

Knine

aonb wrote: »

I have one of thosev ^^^^ but hes not fast enough to actually catch one by himself !!!! mope!

Knine, is there anything worse than the fear of a dog that will go to ground!?!? Terrifying! Ive helped my dogs breeders dig a couple out. Once they found a dog in a warren who finally came out DAYS later - reckon he lost enough weight to finally wriggle free!!!

Thankfully my current dog would be too scared of a dark hole to go to ground.

Yes I do dread it. Mine can even get under the garden shed. Recently someone I know had to get their dog dug out after spending a few days underground, complete with prey in mouth.

It is so natural to them. My 5/6 week old puppies would actually be getting under & into everything in the garden so I had to block off the shed.

ALANC81

Knine wrote: »

Eh yes they will & do. I have 4 terriers & they regularly catch rabbits. My other half hunts ;-) as do lots of terrier people I know. If you read the breed standard of the breed I have you might notice that it says capable of following a horse. I think you are getting confused with hares or else the terriers you are hunting with are not up to much.

The thing is I don't need to read breed standards to know what a terrier can do. We are talking about Jack Russells aren't we? I don't doubt for one second that your Jack Russell terriers can catch rabbits but on the ditch not in an open field unless all the rabbits have mixy and cant see where there going.

I'm of back to the hunting section now.

Knine

ALANC81 wrote: »

The thing is I don't need to read breed standards to know what a terrier can do. We are talking about Jack Russells aren't we? I don't doubt for one second that your Jack Russell terriers can catch rabbits but on the ditch not in an open field unless all the rabbits have mixy and cant see where there going.

I'm of back to the hunting section now.

No not Jack Russells. A faster breed of terrier.

ALANC81

Knine wrote: »

No not Jack Russells. A faster breed of terrier.

What breed of terrier is that much faster than a Jack Russell but still small enough to go to ground? What breed is it?

kylith

I knew a Parson Russell used to bag the odd rabbit, and an occasional pheasant too.

Any dog can have a good day. Any rabbit can have an off day. Otherwise foxes would be in trouble.

ALANC81

kylith wrote: »

I knew a Parson Russell used to bag the odd rabbit, and an occasional pheasant too.

Any dog can have a good day. Any rabbit can have an off day. Otherwise foxes would be in trouble.

Yes but on the ditch not out in the open.

As for fox's catching rabbits they don't really chase them they sneak up on them in the black dark down wind from them or at dawn and dusk when it's still fairly dark.

Its funny when people who don't hunt try to tell a hunter something about hunting.

Knine

It is even funnier when someone who clearly knows nothing about terriers or the various terrier breeds comes onto an animal & pets forum & attempts to educate us about terriers.

ALANC81

Knine wrote: »

It is even funnier when someone who clearly knows nothing about terriers or the various terrier breeds comes onto an animal & pets forum & attempts to educate us about terriers.

You still haven't said what breed your terrier is.
What breed is it?

To catch a rabbit in the open it would have to be one of the bigger breeds but if it is one of the bigger breeds then it wouldn't fit down a burrow.

ALANC81

Double post.

Cherry Blossom

Guys, just a reminder that discussing hunting with dogs is against the forum charter so let's leave this conversation at that please.

ALANC81

No problem at all just proving a point.

Cherry Blossom

Okay on second thoughts, I think the OP has got all the advice they are going to get on the wellbeing of their dog. Last post deleted and thread closed.