It was bound to happen sooner or later. You can’t have a dog with a high prey drive and not expect him to catch a wild animal from time to time. Even though we live in the suburbs, we still have quite a few wild animals around. There are birds, squirrels, rodents, skinks, snakes, hawks, and, yes, rabbits.
The rodent-like animals are prolific here. There are certain times of the year when I can’t walk the dogs without having a squirrel cross our path every half-block. And don’t get me started on the rabbits. Since the hawks can’t hunt well through the maze of structures and fences, the rabbits breed like… well, like rabbits.
We have a family of rabbits living under our shed in our back yard. I see them often in the early morning and just before dark. I am careful about not letting the dogs out at those times. But every so often, a rabbit braves the full light of day and Pierson gets a little more exercise. He’s never caught one, though, until Thursday night.
This wouldn’t be the first time Pierson has killed a wild animal. When he lived as a stray in Pierson Park, I noticed a dead squirrel in his vicinity. Last year sometime, or maybe earlier this year, I saw him catch and kill a bird.
Thankfully, I didn’t see Pierson catch and kill the rabbit from the other night. All I know is that it was after dark and Pierson was reluctant to come when I called. I saw him hovering over something in the yard so I grabbed my flashlight to investigate. It was a young bunny. It wasn’t a baby bunny, but it wasn’t an adult either. A juvenile, I’d say – one that stayed out past curfew and suffered the consequences.
Very sad, but I can’t blame Pierson. It is his instinct. I just have to be careful when I take him out of the home environment. He is never to be off-leash except in his own back yard. No going to the dog park. We have to avoid certain sections of the pet store. And I can’t have any small pets.
Rabbit Treats?
Coincidentally, Pierson ate rabbit treats earlier that day. I received an unexpected package in the mail Thursday morning and was happily surprised to see two bags of treats from 2BrownDawgs! One of the bags was from Zukes and it was the Lil’ Links rabbit & apple recipe.
Do you think Pierson got a taste for rabbit from those treats? LOL! Probably not, but it is an interesting happenstance. 😀
So why did 2BrownDawgs send us treats? Remember the art work I did of their dog Thunder? I wanted no compensation for it since I solicited them and not the other way around. So getting the package of treats was a very nice surprise. ❤
Maya & Pierson were especially thankful. When I opened the bag, they automatically started doing their synchronized spinning.
I made them sit and stay for a moment and Maya started drooling. Pierson kept licking his chops. Finally, when they got the treats they scarfed them down in a flash! The treats were delicious. Thanks 2BrownDawgs!!! 🙂

This is actually an older photo for other treats. But the begging looks still apply to the dog treats given by 2BrownDawgs.
Tags: 2browndawgs, bunnies, bunny foo foo, dog treats, maya, pierson, rabbits, squirrels, Thunder, zukes
September 14, 2013 at 10:48 am |
Yumyumwumwumwum, treats! I never ate a bunny though. Sorry bunny. 😦
September 14, 2013 at 8:13 pm |
syncronized spinning sounds like a funny talent 😀 Did they learn from each other? Sorry about the rabbit.
September 15, 2013 at 7:50 am |
Maya was the first to master the spin trick. Both Sephi and Pierson learned it from her. Pierson has perfected the technique by going clockwise, counterclockwise, then a figure-8. 🙂
September 18, 2013 at 4:38 am
Bravo Pierson, not only can you spin you can spin in all sorts of directions!!! 😀 Seriously impressed. 😀
September 15, 2013 at 7:38 am |
Oh, poor bunny rabbit. But it’s all part of nature that we have to accept, even if we don’t like it so much.
Yummy treats! Ha ha, I used to be afraid to give my dogs a bite of venison because I was afraid it would make them want to chase the deer we have around sometimes!
September 15, 2013 at 7:51 am |
😀 Good thing we don’t have any deer around here. Pierson has had venison too.
September 15, 2013 at 9:00 am |
Well, if your neighbours have cats, I’m happy there are no cat treats for dogs. My sis has a lovely whippet. I know they eat cats.
September 15, 2013 at 10:59 am |
Pierson would probably eat a cat too. Thankfully, most of our neighbors that have cats keep their cats indoors. If there are outdoor cats, they are good about staying out of our back yard.
September 15, 2013 at 1:22 pm |
Well, I can’t blame ya Pierson…I would have done the same thingie…I’m a terrier, and we hunt them all!!! Ma is never ‘happy’ when I gets somethin’, cause she usually has to ‘clean the aftermath’ which makes her queasy. She’s a wuss. She could never be a terrier! BOL
Anyhu, that sure was a lovely pressie you guys got!! I’ve never had any bunny treaties! I’m gonna have Ma keep an eye out…
Oh, that synchronized spinnin’ is FABulous!!! You should take it on the road!!! BOL
Kisses,
Ruby ♥☺
September 15, 2013 at 1:29 pm |
Clean up is definitely no fun.
Thanks, Ruby! We don’t always get the synchronized part down, but we do love this trick! 🙂
September 15, 2013 at 8:20 pm |
You are very welcome. I got the framed pictures back and they are beautiful. Thunder’s breeder loved hers. I will post a picture this week (Thursday I think). Thank you again.
Loved the spinning!
As for the rabbit treats leading to the demise of the rabbit well Storm takes complete credit for that. She is the one in this house who chased down a rabbit while pheasant hunting a few years ago. It was rabbit season and the bunny did make it into one of the hunter’s pots. I bet Storm would love to hunt with Pierson!
September 16, 2013 at 7:46 am |
Wonderful! I can’t wait to see what the pictures look like framed. 🙂
If Pierson could get along with other dogs, I’m sure he’d love to share a hunting expedition. 😉
September 16, 2013 at 10:18 am |
I kind of feel lucky that Gizmo is small…Though he does chase bunnies his legs are short and he can’t get up enough speed to catch them…I know he’d like to if he could…No, it’s not Pierson’s fault…He’s just doing what comes naturally…There is a funny irony in getting rabbit treat…Bet the dogs really loved them (Gizmo did)
September 16, 2013 at 11:11 am |
I’m imagining Gizmo chasing a bunny now. Cute! 🙂 Sephi always made me laugh when she chased bunnies. See, the back door where I let them out is on the second floor so she has to run down stairs first. Where Pierson does this silently, Sephi would bark as she ran down. By the time she got to the bottom of the steps, the bunnies had gone into hiding. She never had a chance.
September 16, 2013 at 6:35 pm |
Hi Dawn,
Sorry for the wild rabbit. Can’t you get Pierson to go after the gophers? If you could I have a job for him.
Our Sydney was raised with a cat and when we adopted him, he came home to find he had Paris (our shelter Rex mix) for a big brother. Because we took it slow, Sydney learned that Paris would NEVER budge or run.
But we do have moles and gophers that popup and Sydney zooms to the new holes they make in our lawn. Sometimes I think the critters are playing hide and seek with our dog.
September 16, 2013 at 6:48 pm |
We don’t have problems with gophers but I bet Pierson would have no problem going after them. 🙂
September 18, 2013 at 4:43 pm |
Good job, Pierson! Get those rabbits! I let my dogs out at dawn and dusk, hoping they’ll keep the rabbit population down. This weekend Patches caught what we think is a wood rat. I took photos. Pretty little brown thing. Git ’em!
September 18, 2013 at 4:57 pm |
I saw that… along with people’s comments about photographing a dead rat. Hilarious! Although I don’t like the pesky bunnies, I do feel bad that Pierson killed one. Plus I am worried that it intensifies his predatory instincts and he might try to kill a cat next time.
September 18, 2013 at 10:37 pm |
Oh dear poor bunny! I think my Mum is super glad we don’t get any and the Squirrels only run across the top of the fence and they’re lucky I’m not any taller!
Wags to all
Your pal Snoopy 🙂