# Sophy the Mighty Huntress!



## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

Wow that's pretty impressive. All that practice finally paid off! I bet she was very pleased with herself. If that was Gunther or Gustav I imagine there'd be a moment of 'oh, urrr I caught it, this has never happened before, what do I do now?'!
Did she eat any of the fur or did she rip it off to get to the good bits? I bet the farmers would be grateful if they knew!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Ripped it off, chucked away the unwanted innards, ate the liver, and moved on to skinning the rest of it. After a while I intervened...!


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

fjm said:


> Ripped it off, chucked away the unwanted innards, ate the liver, and moved on to skinning the rest of it. After a while I intervened...!


Like a little wolf, bless her!


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## LizzysMom (Sep 27, 2016)

Wow! Impressive! But, I'm curious - what was Poppy doing while Sophy was enjoying her lunch?


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Wow! Molly would would be sooooo jealous! Molly isn't allowed to eat the gophers she catches, although I'm sure she would love to! I just don't want to risk the internal parasites they might carry.........as I saw worms in one of her first catches when she ripped it open, UGH!!!!


P.S. Gophers also can carry Hantavirus!!! Risky catches for sure!


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

I am always impressed with your Sophy:smart, brave and fearless. Also curious what Poppy was doing during the kill and feasting.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Poppy came running to tell me all about it, as Sophy had made it very clear that she was _not_ going to share. Rabbits here are an intermediate host for canine tapeworms - I shall be extra vigilant about worming this year. I try to discourage catching and eating them, but as Tilly regularly shares hers, and Sophy caught this one several hundred yards away, sometimes it is a lost cause! It seemed more sensible to let her enjoy it for a few minutes then swap it for a biscuit when the first excitement had worn off, rather than to try and force the issue when she was so immensely pleased with herself and with her trophy. There were a few raised eyebrows in the carpark when people realised what this tiny, fluffy little thing had been up to, though!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Wow. I know the cockapoos across the street have killed and eating rabbit that were stupid enough to get inside their fenced yard.

My dog wants to chase them but I have no idea if she knows what to do with them if she did catch one.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sophy's big breakthrough was realising that stalking very slowly and quietly from down wind while using her nose and then pouncing as the rabbit emerges from its burrow is much more effective than chasing madly after every rabbit she sees, all of which disappear into the ground at the first sign of trouble. Poppy can't resist the chase, and I wish Sophy felt the same way - a bit of stalking, a sprint, some happy snuffling down the holes, and everyone has had a physical and mental work out with no harm done! At least she shows no tendency to go down the holes after them - she doesn't like small, dark spaces.

It is silly really - I would have expected a terrier her size to catch rabbits but find myself surprised when a papillon does it. It somehow doesn't fit with her silky coat and propensity for posing on the most comfortable cushion in the house...


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I'm not letting my poodles read this one. Sophy is indeed a mighty huntress! My Lab use to get rabbits and eat them sometimes. It was gross. I wasn't into raw feeding back then. lol. So, Sophy can get her own dinner and maybe you won't have to work so hard. lol. But yeah...worms would worry me. I guess if you worm them enough, that takes care of that though. Did she carry home a bone to work on?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

No - once she was ready to let go the remains were bagged and binned - yet another use for a pocketful of poo bags!


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## StormeeK (Aug 3, 2015)

Well my big guys just run, chase and sometimes catch anything that comes onto our property. No stealth involved. However I always go back and forth between, free raw meal ??? and oh my gosh parasites ??? will Rex throw up the entire rabbit inside the house like he did once before?? I love the fact that a little, tiny Papillon can cause the same reaction on the other side of the world! Go Sophy


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Good job Sophie! 

The ladies who own the local feed stores where I used to work had a lovely Papillon, Frankie. He was a master bunny hunter on their farm. None of their other farm /ranch dogs could hold a candle to Frankie and his bunny hunting/eating skills.

The ladies were astonished at his excellence, but also grateful as he helped keep their bunny population under control. The barn cats also had nothing on Frank in the mouse hunting department as well.

Sophie's skills do not surprise me at all.....carry on Sophie!


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## TrixieTreasure (May 24, 2015)

Please don't jump on me for saying this, but... that poor rabbit. :-(

With that said, I understand about prey drive, and the normal instinct when a dog wants to go in for the kill. But I still feel sorry for the prey. Whenever I watch the National Geographic channel, about animals and how they have to survive in the wild, I totally understand that they have to kill in order to survive. It's instinct, but still, I'm always rooting for the prey, hoping that it will get away.

About 2 years ago, a pretty little bunny rabbit was coming around our house, and I was enjoying watching it whenever it came around. Then one morning, as I was leaving in the car, I noticed the black stray that we feed, hovering over something, and when I went to look, it was that pretty little bunny that I had been enjoying watching. I yelled at the cat to get away from it, but it was too late. It was already dead. I didn't actually see the cat kill the rabbit, but I'm pretty sure he did. For a moment, I felt like kicking some cat butt, but then I realized that he was just doing what comes naturally. Still though... I felt so bad for the bunny. :-( At least it had a decent burial. I put it in a box and buried it next to a Rose bush.

So.. I do understand. I really do, about prey drive, and the natural instinct to kill and eat. But I can't help it. I don't like it.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Whenever possible I rescue them, Karen - the only time I feel at ease about letting the dogs hunt is when the rabbit is suffering from myxomatosis (which is endemic here), when the animals save them from a slow and painful death. But if I am not in time to intervene then I prefer that they kill quickly and cleanly, and for food rather than for sport. This is the first time Sophy has killed a healthy rabbit - last time she caught one she let me take it from her and return it to its burrow, so it is a pretty rare occurrence.


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