Spike's Growing Up (*sigh*) - Caught His First Mouse!

[Catalyzt]

And ate it, too, so he could puke it out on the top of the stairs.

He must not have trained me properly, because I don't know whether to praise him for helping us get rid of vermin, or correct him for potentially exposing himself to pathogens.  

What should I do?  Nothing?  Send him in for a tetanus shot?  Call the fire department?

He seems absolutely fine, but again-- as we all have learned, and have to be forever reminded-- these guys are killers.  

Our last terrier-- a larger, heavier, wheatland-Scotty kind of guy-- killed well into double digits throughout the course of his life.  Mostly skunks, possums, and birds, but when he was younger, cats.  

I had been thinking of getting a green-cheeked conure at some point.  Now I'm thinking... maybe not.  Spike has zero interest in our turtle, fortunately.

[CamilleatGaelforce]

'Bout all you need to watch for is tapeworm segments in his stool in a week or so.  Tapes need to pass through fleas before they can infest a mammal, so odds are that that mouse was carrying fleas in it's fur when Spike swallowed it, and those fleas had tapeworm eggs inside them, and now those eggs will hatch in Spike's guts, and infest him.  Just call your vet on Monday and tell them Spike ate a mouse, and ask them when they want to give him some Droncit.   They may want to wait until he actually has segments, but maybe they can give him a tape de-wormer prophylactively.  If you use Interceptor Plus, it has a low dose of a de-wormer that is effective against tapes in it, that might be enough to prevent infestation, check with your vet.

[Dogcoat lady]

Geez, dog ownership never gets easy.  When you think of owners of yesteryear…….no headaches.  Just a good dog doing his job. Your last terrier was a big game hunter!  Possums yucko, too big to eat, I hope.

[Hillscreek]

Angus kills and eats voles and baby rabbits now and then. The voles he digs for. He knows where the rabbits nest each year but they alas do not realize this. Never had a problem. I just have thought fresh meat is a cairn's natural food. He stays away from anything 'big' like woodchucks possums etc.

[pkcrossley]

yes they are natural born killers. i noticed that my cairns would kind of turn-off the prey drive with animals of the same species that i kept as pets --so, because i had rabbits (i surmise) they did not bother rabbits, but i didn't have mice, squirrels etc so those were all fair game. if you scold him he would have no idea what you are talking about, and even if he understood and wanted to comply.... it's a prey drive. keep him up to date on rabies shots, keep him out of rooms (if practical) where you know there are mice, and otherwise this is probably something you have to be philosophical about. 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Well, Dogcoat Lady, dog owners of yesteryear had other things to be afraid of, like rabies or other diseases like distemper that dog owners in the developed world don't think much about, except for griping about the cost of shots at the vet's.  Dogs getting killed while hunting, getting so parasite-ridden that they die of it (anemia from gi tract blood loss to parasites, heartworm, malnutrition, etc.)  So it was far from care-free to any dog owner that actually cared for and loved their dogs.  Of course, back then, that mindset was not considered the societal norm for dog ownership, dogs were just tools, like horses for the work they did, cattle and sheep for eating, etc.  I, for one, am incredibly grateful for modern veterinary medicine today!

[Dogcoat lady]

True, but it did appear to be a simpler time.

[Eliz222]

I'm glad we live in the "burbs" and Atticus doesn't go outside unless he is on a leash!

[Catalyzt]

14 minutes ago, Eliz222 said:

I'm glad we live in the "burbs" and Atticus doesn't go outside unless he is on a leash!

Oh, no, this was an indoor mouse, for sure.  We probably have them in the garage and he made the mistake of coming into the kitchen.  We find it easier to live in harmony with nature.  (Translation: Too lazy to put out traps, though we better do so soon.)

Spike still has not outgrown his fibbing.  Here's his narrative of what happened:  "I was a little worried when I saw the rat was 18 inches long, but remember, I'm a Cairn X, my dad was a coyote and former canine UFC champion who's doing 5 to 10 in Chino for Domestic Livestock Harassment, and he taught me a few moves before they sent him away.  First, the rat busted a whiskey bottle and came at me with it, but I grabbed a pool cue and busted a sick move, caught him right between the eyes.  Of course, that only stunned him, and I looked down and saw he'd pulled a shiv from his boot..."

Spike will go on and on like that for as long as anyone will listen... it was a really small mouse.  I expect he'll outgrow the fibbing eventually, but as you all say, this breed is very, very slow to mature...

[bradl]

Dundee and Elroy have heard of Spike's reputation (word travels fast) and took inspiration. They have been been in Hunt Mode the last few days, in the back yard and snorfling around the deck frantically and incessantly.

This morning Peggy let them out after breakfast bemoaning the fact they would be unlikely to poop as usual due to being distracted by hunting. In a few minutes she came back in to put them back in their crates so she could go back out and toss the mouse that Elroy had been prancing around with proudly. (He actually put it down when asked; he must have come trained from the womb because we sure haven't taught him anything.)  No doubt he will claim it was the size of an opossum, despite clear evidence to the contrary.  

Sigh. If there's one there's more, so I suspect we're in for a lot of no-poop mornings for a while.

[Dogcoat lady]

Go Elroy!

[CamilleatGaelforce]

Well, thankfully, Max didn't actually tangle with them, but last year's baby racoon must have been a girl, because she came back last night with a young 'un of her own, and Max had both of them treed on the deck railing last night, at, of course, one in the morning.   Chased him, Johnny and Charlie off the deck and put the block in the doggie door so I could go back to bed.  The coons cleaned out the squirrel feeder of peanuts, but that's okay.  They didn't seem particularly terrified of the dogs, knowing the gate and deck rails kept the dogs from actually getting to them, but they were afraid of me when I came out to collect the geriatric Murder Squad.  I sweet-talked them, turned, yelled at the dogs, and chased the K-9 crew into the house.  At least Charlie was a late-comer to the party, or his screaming would have woken the neighbors!  I need to get him PAL-registered with the AKC, so he can enter earthdog trials, his working voice could wake the dead!

[Hillscreek]

Elroy. Doing what a good cairn should - hunting and showing off the result! Brad must be proud of you - sounds you are about ready to win prizes at earth dog trials.

[Eliz222]

On 11/17/2021 at 8:46 AM, bradl said:

Dundee and Elroy have heard of Spike's reputation (word travels fast) and took inspiration. They have been been in Hunt Mode the last few days, in the back yard and snorfling around the deck frantically and incessantly.

This morning Peggy let them out after breakfast bemoaning the fact they would be unlikely to poop as usual due to being distracted by hunting. In a few minutes she came back in to put them back in their crates so she could go back out and toss the mouse that Elroy had been prancing around with proudly. (He actually put it down when asked; he must have come trained from the womb because we sure haven't taught him anything.)  No doubt he will claim it was the size of an opossum, despite clear evidence to the contrary.  

Sigh. If there's one there's more, so I suspect we're in for a lot of no-poop mornings for a while.

I do know how "no poop" mornings go!