My Greyhound killed a kangaroo

[NewUser]

The title says it all, really.

I'm completely in shock. We have an easement along the river that is fully fenced on one side, and 'fenced' by the river on the other. As such it's a secure stretch and I often let my greyhound off the lead to sniff and play there. Never had any issues.

Tonight as i was shutting the gate I turned and realised there was a young kangaroo near the water. It was so camouflaged I completely missed it, but of course my greyhound didn't. He took off after it and I expected two things to happen: 1, the kangaroo would jump across the river (it's more of a creek, really, and I have seen kangaroos clear it plenty of times before), and 2, my greyhound would stop, bark, and that would be the end of it. That has happened once or twice on our property (we live in the country, it's fully fenced but the roos can clear the fences and they're everywhere).

But tonight, I don't know really how it happened because it was all so fast, but I blinked and the next thing I know my greyhound had this kangaroo in its jaws. He didn't tear into it or anything, just shook it once then stood there with this kangaroo dangling and struggling feebly. I nearly died, it was so horrible. He wouldn't let go even when I smacked him, in the end I had to grab his tail hard to get him to release the poor thing. I was desperately hoping the kangaroo would be okay, but when my partner went to check he said it was dead. No puncture wounds or anything, so maybe it simply died of fright, but now it's lying there by the river and I'm at a complete loss about what to do.

I always keep my boy on the leash when we're off the property as I know greyhounds have high prey drive, but I honestly never expected him to seize a kangaroo by the throat like that. I know in racing training they teach the dogs to nip rather than grab and hold, and I always thought that training would be enough, I've had my boy for going on 3 years and never had an incident like this but, well... obviously it's happened now. And now I'm worried he'll do it again, and a larger kangaroo could genuinely hurt him, if not kill him, not to mention if he was to kill another one it would be just awful. 

I don't know what to do, I'm shocked and heartbroken and feeling stupid, like this was all my fault. And so sad for the little joey. 

[macoduck]

In racing they are not taught to nip, grab or hold. It is a natural instinct for them to chase something moving in the distance. Have your boy wear his racing muzzle when he is in your fenced backyard.

[LBass]

I'm so sorry that happened.  Forgive your hound. He was only engaging in normal hound behavior. I second Ducky's good advice to let your hound enjoy that property while wearing his kennel muzzle.  That will keep prey animals safe while letting him enjoy a run. 

[EllenEveBaz]

I have had several hounds with high prey drives, and it is such a shock to be reminded that your affectionate, loving dog is actually an apex predator.  As posted above, the instinct that has always existed in them and then been selectively bred into them for thousands of years is to chase, catch from behind, shake to break the neck, and drop the kill for the human to come pick up and put into the stew pot. 

Your dog didn't think about it or make a conscious choice; he simply obeyed the lightning bolt of instinct.  Try to think of it as a quick, relatively painless death for the joey compared to other possible causes.   

If your hound is like most others, he will tell you that wearing the kennel muzzle is the most annoying thing on earth.  Not true, so just ignore him.   

[Jerilyn]

That must have been so difficult and scary for you to see. Please know this does not mean that your dog is some vicious killer. Dogs are predators, he was just doing what his deep down DNA told him to do. Odds of it happening again are very slim. I’d just be extra vigilant and do a scan of the area before letting him out. Give your boy a big hug and tell him that all the greyhounds in the USA are jealous of him having kangaroos in his backyard.

[FiveRoooooers]

So thrilling for your pup but so terrifying for you! I'm sorry you had to see that. Most of us here have had hounds who have caught *something*, your boy's prey was just unusual and unusually large! Excellent advice above re: muzzling. I would add that while the incident will stay with you for a while, I promise you your dog forgot about it long ago. 

[greysmom]

Seconding all of the above.

Adding to keep your greyhound on leash and do a quick walk around the area to make sure it's free of critters, large and small, before letting him off leash.  You may not have been given what we call a "kennel muzzle" here in the States, but they are easily obtainable and great safety equipment to have for many reasons.

It can be scary to see your sweet greyhound catch and kill another creature.  Usually a greyhound will ignore another animal unless it's moving, and then, once they catch it and it stops moving, they'll just drop it and walk away.  But it's also instructive.  You know now you have a high prey drive dog, so you can be careful with introductions to small dogs and other animals, and be proactive in looking for possible prey before letting him off leash.

[Beachbum1]

Taylor, even with 3 legs his last 2 years, would go after anything with a pulse.

I had a back yard that was around 100' wide, and wrap around 30' on either side of the house.

Had 8' tall solid wood privacy fence.  Floodlit everywhere

I would always look first before I would let Taylor and Facebook out.

One night at midnight, Taylor ran (3-legged) the length of the back yard.  I had missed seeing a palm rat (yes, we have rats in palm trees in Florida), that was on one of the cross members 6' up in the air.  Taylor leaped up in the air and grabbed it.  I yelled at him to drop it, and he did.  Both dogs then peed and we went to bed.  Found the rat, dead, in the morning.  Taylor either snapped it's back, or it died of stress.

Used to have possums climb down out of the trees, out of sight of me.  Taylor would grab them.  I would yell at him to drop it.  He would.  He was just holding them. The possum would then do what they have been doing forever: it would play possum.  Lay on it's side; motionless; showing it's teeth.  They can stay that way for up to 45 minutes.  I would gently scoop it up with a flat shovel, and drop it over the fence onto the grass in the neighbor's yard.

You would THINK that a possum would get tired of getting grabbed and carried around in the mouth of a 97 pound Greyhound.  Nope.  He would catch them a few times a week.  Different sizes, too. 

 

 

 

[NewUser]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and advice, really appreciated. 

Definitely agree that it was such a poignant reminder of the inherent predator instinct that can be so easy to overlook and forget about given most greyhounds 'life choices' . Our boy is (sometimes quite literally) scared of his own shadow and is the gentlest softest laziest thing, that seeing that switch get flipped like that was just so abrupt and confronting. 

Now that I have had time to decompress I will try to take this as a very stern reminder from the universe to be vigilant about these things. We have become a bit 'leash lazy' over the course of 3 years of easy living, but yesterday was a reminder that you should never get too comfortable, because that instinct is still there even after a lifetime of couch-potatoeing. 

Thanks again for being so kind and non-judgmental, I felt so rotten yesterday I was sure I should hand in my 'responsible pet owner' license and surrender myself in cuffs to the RSPCA immediately. Still feeling very sad but have told myself I will take responsibility, learn from this and do better in the future. Now, I'm off to dust off the old muzzle!

Pic from my boy Ben to say thanks, friends.

[palmettobug]

Aww, big speckled boy!

Another story for you--Our family Golden Retriever was a typical Golden, but she did eliminate quite a few varmints in her time. She got a woodchuck when she was still a puppy, and any raccoon that got in her pen was not coming back out. Wouldn't hurt a fly otherwise, she would pick up toads and frogs and turtles and carry them around.

[greysmom]

I also want to add that I believe this is the fisrt time ever that we've had a thread where the issue was a kangaroo!!  

I know in the past greyhounds were one of the breeds that had to be muzzled when out in public in Australia (where I assume you and the kangaroo are?).  Has that restriction been lifted??

[FiveRoooooers]

@greysmom We’ve heard of some hounds being *mistaken* for kangaroos, tho 

Ben is andorable, and a smiling snuggler to boot! 

Edited July 13 by FiveRoooooers

[zimsmom]

On 7/12/2024 at 9:50 PM, Beachbum1 said:

Taylor, even with 3 legs his last 2 years, would go after anything with a pulse.

OMG this is Mackenley.  She almost killed a bunny last week; I managed to scream my head off and she let it go.   But the look on her face was like what did I do??   It' very upsetting.    But we can't blame them.