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You’ve probably heard the dire warnings before. . . Once a dog has killed another animal, he develops a taste for blood and you’ll never be able to stop him. You may have heard similar things in different contexts, but the point is always: once your dog does something, he has developed a “taste” for it and it will be next-to-impossible to stop him from trying to continue the behavior.
But is that really true? I have not seen any studies to indicate one way or the other, but I will share my own experience. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do my best not to cause harm to other living creatures. So, I am not happy that this happened, but I do want to see what lessons I can learn from it.
Romeo normally is walked twice a day (August 2013), and most of the time he is off-leash. When he is on leash, he knows that he is not allowed to chase rabbits. However, when he is off leash, he sometimes does. Normally, the rabbits are close to their hiding spots or thick scrub oak, so it’s never been a problem. Until recently. Romeo came around a corner and there was a bunny. The bunny took off, but Romeo caught it within about 15 feet. Romeo is normally excellent at “drop it” but we have not had a chance to practice it with a live bunny in a couple of years. Yes, he has had his mouth on a live bunny twice in the past. And I was able to get him to drop it both times. But this time, the adrenalin was a little too high. It took a little longer to get him to drop the bunny, who then ran away.
I put Romeo in the house and went back out to find the rabbit had run about 30 feet away, but was now unable to move. Shortly after, he died. Some would say that now that Romeo has killed a rabbit, he will have more desire to do so in the future. But based on what I have seen since then, I do not believe that is true.
The bunny did not die instantly, and I do not believe that Romeo had a desire to kill the bunny. He did not grab and shake the neck. He was simply trying to hold on to the bunny. So I was curious to see how he would respond after that incident. Would he now have a stronger desire to catch bunnies?
Actually, no, that is not what I have seen. Now that he “knows he can” I believe the desire has actually decreased. He still loves to chase the bunnies, but he often seems to be less intent about it now. There is not that same intent to catch that there used to be. Now, sometimes he won’t even chase if they are farther away, or he will run toward them but not continue pursuit.
So, what is my point in all of this? I think that sometimes we focus so hard on NOT letting our dogs do things because we are afraid it will increase their desire to do it in the future. While the case might certainly be different for different dogs, I do believe that at least in some cases, by allowing our dogs safe opportunities to do some of these “forbidden” things, that we will actually decrease their desire to continue doing them.
From a strictly anthropomorphic standpoint, it is almost as if Romeo had “catch a bunny” on his bucket list, and now that he has crossed it off his list, there is not that same strong desire to do it again. He just wanted to know that he could do it.
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Sorry to bother everyone, but I’m hoping to set my wife’s fears to rest. We have 2 French Bulldogs, approximately 1 and 2 years old. We discovered a mouse upstairs recently, caught it in a standard trap yesterday morning and disposed of it. This evening while downstairs taking the dogs out to potty another mouse darted in front of us. The two dogs hunted and caught the mouse together. The older male dropped it, alive but mortally injured, on command. I disposed of the mouse in a set of bags set outside in the trash cart, checked the male 2 years) who had caught it for wounds or bites… these pups are like our children and my wife is worried that the male will be more aggressive toward other animals now. He has played with a larger bulldog for much of his youth and has lived with the female peacefully for the last year. Can I reassure my wife that her little one isn’t going to be a killer now?
Hi Shanan, there is a difference between a dog’s prey drive and desire to chase “prey” than there is in dealing with other dogs or animals that it does not see as prey. So will chasing and catching a mouse impact his behavior toward other dogs? Especially ones he already knows? Not likely at all. My two current dogs like to chase bunnies or mice or other animals. It has nothing to do with their relationship to each other. There are some large dogs who will see small dogs more like prey than like other dogs, so there can be some issues there. But in your case, it’s highly unlikely that chasing and catching a mouse would have any impact at all on the relationship toward another bulldog or the female dog that he lives with. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about!
I’m sorry but I have to disagree to a certain extent only because I had to put my dog Maxwell down and couldn’t trust it around my family after it started running down and killing livestock . My dog Maxwell was a big dog , he could put his front paws on my shoulders and his head would be still a foot taller than my five foot eight inches . He had gotten out of his holding pen by breaking his steal lead line that was staked to the ground one day and killed a calf the farmer next door had . We managed to cover that up and then later he actually got out of the house one day by bumping my wife , who was maybe a hundred and ten pounds , out of the way and then ran down and killed a yearling . This time the farmer found out and charged us $1,500.00 . So I started making sure that he stayed in the house . Then one day I came home and my wife has Max by the collar and her foot against the wall pulling Maxwell back with all she had due to him having my five yr old daughter backed into a corner with his muzzle about an inch from her throat and growling with teeth barred . Literally ready to snap her tiny throat into his mouth , while my wife is pulling with all her might to try to get him to stop . Now this is the same daughter that he himself would stop anyone strange from going near all her life . Protected her as if she was his pup . She could do whatever she wanted to him and he just looked at her silly . That day all she had done was jog across the front room while playing with her brother and he snapped. He had no wolf in him or any feral dog he was all black lab . Mind you , the biggest one you probably ever saw but still pure black lab . So I beg you to explain to me why I ended up having to put my dog down because I could no longer trust him around my family after and only after he got the taste of hunting , a taste for blood , in his mouth . I lived in South Carolina at the time , far from any major cities and animal control so you can only guess what heart breaking thing I had to go do . So you go right ahead and tell me there is no such thing as a domesticated dog going feral or getting a taste for blood and I’ll have to tell you that you don’t really know squat until you’ve seen that for yourself ! I loved that dog enough that I sat eight hours with him and paid a good bit of money in order to have his portrait painted .
I’m seeking any advice possible and happened to stumble across your page. My daughter talked me into taking over the care of a pitbull, who is three years old. She has been raised with other dogs, she was severely under fed when we took her in and I believe some abuse probably has taken place by her previous owners. When we first got her she tried mothering my now 13 yr old wiener dog and 7 yr old Teddy bear, Buddy, now after 2 yes she the, putty has decided to attack my two older, much smaller dogs and has drawn blood biting my wiener dog, I love all these dogs and really want to keep her but I can’t let her kill my older, much smaller dogs just wanting some good sound advice plz and thanx
Hi Donita, if she has done well for two years and is now having issues, the first thing I would do is get everyone in for a thorough vet check. If this was a gradual change, it most likely is behavioral. If it is a sudden change in behavior, there often is a medical issue that has caused it. This could be a medical issue with the dog who attacked or it could be a medical issue with the dog who was attacked. Some dogs will change behavior toward an elderly or sick dog (for example, a dog who has cancer now smells different to the other dog). If cleared of medical issues, then you would need to address it behaviorally by setting up a consult with either a veterinary behaviorist or a certified behavior consultant such as myself. If you can’t find a qualified professional near you, you could set up a virtual consult. Meanwhile, I would be keeping the dogs separated to keep everyone safe until it can be assessed and addressed. If you need help finding a consultant, let me know!
Hi. I found this in a search for dogs and “taste of blood”. I had never heard the term. I have 2 grand puppies. They are like children to my daughter and son in law. The one is 12 years old and the other was rescued as a puppy and brought into the family just over a year ago. The two dogs seemed to get along. They slept in the same bed since they brought the puppy in. With seemingly no trigger the two dogs got j to a violent fight. My son in law was bitten in the process. Both dogs are sore and beat up because my son in law was able to separate them. He explained to my daughter that the dogs now have a “blood thirst” and can not be in the same room together. My daughter’s heart is broken because they had to move the old dog into our home. Is there any safe way to have these dogs living in the same house again? Neither has shown any aggressive behavior prior to this fight.
Hi Wendy, so sorry to hear that. I hope no one was seriously injured. The short answer to “can they live safely together again” is IT DEPENDS. If your daughter and son-in-law want to find out, they should hire an experienced professional positive reinforcement based behavior consultant to go over the case in detail and help them determine what would need to be done and what the chances of success are. In some cases, yes, they can. And in some cases, no, it probably would not be safe. But a skilled professional can help determine that. You could start by searching the IAABC consultant locator https://iaabc.org/consultants%20 for someone nearby who might be able to help.
I have two aggressive pits that live next to me. I have a small dog and a husky. They are constantly trying to get through the fence. Last night the fence had enough space to let me small dog in. Needless to say he didn’t have a chance. The owner was sorry and said that he would beat his dog. We can’t afford a brick wall now, but that will be the plan. Now we can just fix the fence as we go. We have a small child in the house and do not let him outside in backyard because I am afraid it just takes once to push through the fence. Beating their dog is not the answer. I feel bad that I did not check the fence everyday to make it more secure. Once these dogs have killed, will this even make them more aggressive. What should I do?
Diane, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your small dog. You are correct that the neighbor beating his dogs will do no good, other than to perhaps cause less trust in humans and more likelihood of actually biting/attacking a human. Fixing the fence is obviously needed, and I would add if there is a way to add a secondary fence so that your husky and child are not able to get close to the fence where the other dogs are. Did you report the incident to your local animal control? If not, you should. It should be on record if one or both of your neighbor’s dogs participated in killing another dog. There should be documented history in case there are other incidents with these dogs. The neighbor hopefully will be prompted to get training for his dogs and perhaps put some better management in place to prevent further tragedies. Killing another animal does not make them more likely to kill again. They have already demonstrated that ability, it’s already there. Make sure you have a secure fence (and double if possible) in place, and do not let your dog or child out in the backyard unsupervised. Do the best you can to keep everyone in your household safe – but also do what you can to help ensure everyone else in the neighborhood is safe as well! Best wishes to you.
My friend has a beautiful dog sweet when he hasn’t been awaken by anyone besides the owner. What can he do to train his not not to attack other people when they wake him up. This dog has a extreme bite. Once the dog wakes up and realizes whats going on he stops, but it’s that first bite is doing so much damage.
Hi Chrystal, first I would ask why anyone else needs to wake up the dog. If possible, I would make sure everyone else leaves the dog alone when sleeping. If needed, try to ensure the dog sleeps in an out-of-the-way spot so he’s not disruptive of anyone else (in a doorway, etc.) while he sleeps. As far as addressing the actual response if he is startled awake, I would highly recommend hiring an experienced and qualified positive-reinforcement (sometimes called force free) professional to help with this type of issue. When it comes to aggression issues, quick responses via blog posts and such are not sufficient for safely addressing these situations without knowing more about the specifics. This is one I would not suggest owners attempt to address on their own. Especially if this dog has or is likely to injure someone.
Have a Pitt that was with cats, dogs n birds. Another dog came into the house and both the Pitt n the new dog should constantly get into fights. The Pitt initiated over treats at first but then began attacking whenever she saw the other dog and blood drawn each time from the other dog. More the pitt attacks the other animals and that other dog. The other dog got PTSD and after the recent fight was put down. Each fight blood was drawn from that dog and the human who broke up the fight. Should the Pitt be put down? At this point she’s tasted animal blood many times due to aggression. Her main owner believes the Pitt can do no wrong but I disagree. Opinions please, she seems ok until she randomly goes after the other animals, was it because the new dog and she will b better now that its gone or is it too late? ( the owner never punished her for attacking anything).
Mercedes, based on what you have stated, it would appear to me that the dog was set up for failure. After the first dog fight, I would have put measures into place to manage things and keep everyone safe while working to teach the dog how to make better choices in those situations. If no one intervenes, then nothing will change. If triggers can be clearly identified (food, toys, bones, etc.) then it’s much easier to manage the situation and help teach the dog a better way to handle things. But if no one is willing to step in and change the current situation, then the dog does not have the chance to be successful going forward.
I believe it was your training with the dog that prevented him from developing the killer instinct. The fact that you have trained him to “drop it” means he has a sense that his owner disapproves of doing anything further. I wonder if the same test was done without you intervening and the dog had the opportunity to shake it and know that he actually killed it, along with actually eating some raw rabbit, if your test results would be the same.
Hi Bernadette, interesting theory! As I mentioned in my original blog post, my post was just one anecdotal story about my Vizsla. Results will vary by individual dog, but part of my point was that blanket statements about dog behavior is often incorrect. While it might be true in some cases, it should not be taken as a true statement for all or even most dogs. Your theory is that if I had not intervened, the results would be different. I will share that my younger dog, a Greyhound mix, with a strong hunting instinct disputes your theory! She has had more opportunities to hunt and catch rabbits (she’s very fast!) and the results are actually very similar to those of my Vizsla. Yes, she has had some training so has never been left completely to her own devices, but not to the extent of my Vizsla. She has caught many rabbits (and other critters) and she has NOT developed a taste for blood either. So at least in my personal cases, my theory has held up. But I always love some discussion on the topics I blog about!
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I dont know if this site is active….
My Sister, Robin, was friend’s with, a nurse to, almost a member if John’s family. So, in John’s will he left $10k and his Pit Bull Lucky to Robin. In the past year that she has had this dog in her family, it has killed 2 of her other pets! Scottie Dog and Guinevere (her cat). Both animals weren’t doing a thing. They were violently attacked! My opinion only, this animal should be put down. What is your opinion on the ‘Taste of Blood’.
Sorry to hear that two pets have been killed by this dog. I don’t know enough about the dog or the situation to know if this dog can be trained to live with other animals or not. Some of these dogs do fine as only animals in a household but cannot live safely with other pets. At this point, it sounds as if this family and dog could use the help of a professional behavior consultant to determine if the dog can live out his life safely without harming anyone else.
Thank you for adding the $10K part, now all i can of is “what did she do with the money?”
I love your articles, and I am so glad you mentioned that once the chase is done many times the interest fades. Our own Sierra was adept at catching the robins that unwarily hunted worms in our back yard and Bryan and I saw her take a mouse she flushed in deep grass in mid air. Actually I was quite impressed with her abilities, yet very worried that she was on to a habit that I did not want her to enhance. I was not only worried for the creatures of nature, but the fact that she seemed interested in lets just say, maiming and sampling them a bit, and I didn’t want her to get any parasites if the animal parts were ingested at all. Suddenly when she found she could do this, she lost complete interest in chasing or pursuing these urban yard creatures. Now she placidly lays in the grass and ignores the dozens of robins that hop around her. To her it is much more fun to chase and catch her worn out frisbee, do her daily sit stay workouts with treats, and play chase with Turbo.
Thats wlwhat happend to my dog watch. He showed up to my porch when i lived in the city and about 2 years later we moved him with us to the country and we had chickens. He was always off a leash, but he was in a cage some times and got out. So he chased one chicken around the yard and cought him. So the chicken was in his mouth and was calm and not struggling, watch didnt shake him just simply picked him up in a gentle way like he was playing with the chicken. But my mim said he has tasted blood and when a dog tast blood you cant help him anymore. So my mom took him to the animal shelter and that day i lost my best friend. That was 4 years ago and i still cant get over it but about 3 months after all that ALL the chickens but 1 was eaten by hawks so WTF
So sorry to hear that you lost your best friend four years ago. It sounds as if your dog didn’t really have a “taste for blood” if he never harmed the chicken. Our dogs live with chickens (who free range some of the time) and have been trained to ignore them. With some training, your dog certainly could have learned to ignore the chickens as well. I hope that some day you will find another best friend.
Sue, do you have any suggestions as to safe alternate chase outlets? Balls & tugs are low value in the face of distractions, water hose is high but not portable…this dog has me stumped. Thanks for help!!
Do you think this has any application in car chasing? My dog has an extreme problem with ‘fight to chase’ cars and other prey to a slightly lesser degree. The times he has ‘caught’ a car (as in it stopped) do not seem to matter. We do our best to prevent this behavior but have not succeeded in finding a training solution.
Ann, I think there are some behaviors we can safely allow and others that will always be unsafe and therefore not allowed. I would put car chasing in the “never allowed” category. However, I think a lot of people, trainers included, would say that your dog should never be allowed to chase anything as a result. I disagree with that. Clearly, the desire to chase is strong, but I think the best option is to not only work on training him to perform an alternative, incompatible behavior with cars but also to find an appropriate outlet for his desire to chase. It might take a bit of creativity, but I think by providing a safe and acceptable outlet for his chasing, it might (there’s no guarantee when it comes to dogs, of course!) actually help curb his desire to chase cars.