Don't say I didn't warn you.
Darling Eva went out into her kennel for her last potty break of the night. She was out there for a really long time and since it is now cold out, Dear Husband (DH) and I were starting to wonder.
Finally we heard her coming back in, but then I heard DH scream "Oh my god!" (in a manly way of course.)
I run around the couch to see what's going on... and there she is. Eva has a dead wild rabbit in her mouth and she is so very, VERY proud of herself and what she has brought to us.
So what happened? We have seen rabbits around since we moved in. Eva has given chase to a few and we have seen her track them through the grass (and eating their poo), but she has never been close to actually catching one. We never encouraged this behavior, but we didn't discourage it either as it is instinct. Except the poo part... we try to keep her from eating that. Ick.
That night though, Eva didn't have access to the whole yard, just her 20'x10' kennel which she can use at any time. So the rabbit must have been daft enough to squeeze into Eva's kennel, which undoubtedly smelled of dog, in search of some munchies. The rabbit kind of had it coming if you ask me.
Well Eva must have popped out of the doggie door at just the right moment, finding the bunny exposed and trapped in her kennel. She probably ran it around and grabbed it as it was trying to squeeze out the gap by the kennel door. For my own sanity, I am choosing to belive that the rabbit had a quck and relatively painless death. As far as we know, Eva didn't puncture the rabbit as there was no blood anywhere. So I'm thinking that she got the rabbit's back or neck and shook, so it snapped quickly. Poor guy.
The useless death of any animal is never ever a good thing. I would never train/encourage a dog to attack or kill anything. This was pure canine instinct. Eva is part terrier (Schnauzer, we think) and their true bred purpose was to chase and kill rats and other vermin. Her mom is a Maltipoo (Malteese + Poodle), and believe it or not Poodles were originally bred for retrieving water fowl and other animals that had been shot by the dog's owner.
That being said, part of me (probably the sick and twisted part) is actually very proud of Eva. She is taking after her ancestors, showing her true purpose as a bred canine. She chased the prey down, quickly and efficiently took it out, and brought it to us without ruining the meat. What amazes me the most is that she brought it to us. Instead of playing with it or chewing on it, she pulled it through a doggie door (that she has to jump through), up a ramp, then though another doggie door in order to get the rabbit to us. She really loves us and was proud to show and share her trophy. Part of me realizes how blessed we would be to have Eva if we were starving, and relied on that kind of meat to survive.
While we did have stew that night, it was beef stew and the rabbit was destined for the trash. I didn't gag, but my stomach roiled as I picked the rabbit up with a double-gloved hand and put it in a trash bag. After it was disposed of, Eva would sniff the carpet where the rabbit was, and run over to me wondering what I had done with it. Confused, she continued to search. While I know I did the right thing and am a responsible dog owner for throwing it out (avoiding sickness, disease, and bone ingestion injury), I felt really bad as a dog-mom for taking away her prize that she so proudly provided for the pack. But I was still grossed out. I brushed her teeth twice (with doggie toothpaste), and refused to let her give me any goodnight kisses. I still couldn't stand to get any puppy kisses this morning. Maybe I will give her a bath tonight.
I look at her a little differently now knowing that we have a killer in the house, but my heart also swells knowing how much she loves us.
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