Spaniel eaten rabbit skin-question

[Twizzel]

We went lamping last night and gutted one of the rabbits whilst lacing the rest on the line to gut today. I put the guts in a bag into a bucket along with the whole skin/fur/head. Spangle has found said bucket and b*ggered off with the skin, once I got it off her it appears she's eaten half the skin fur etc (from the bunnies waist down )

So will this do any harm? Also we are training her to pick up rabbits and bring them back (she will pick one up that we've brought back from a lamping trip and isn't gun shy but we haven't put bunny + gun together yet), is this going to be a problem now she's eaten some?

 

[Toffee44]

Mine eat rabbit as a staple this time of year

Teal eats pheasant but also retrieves out shooting. However when fed I alway slice off head and chest (I have thr breast) so I think that helps. Also it's weird how digs distinguish food and work, he hunts but doesn't touch the chickens or pigeons at the yard.

 

[Twizzel]

I'm hoping that as it was just the fur and head it might have felt totally different to if she had picked up a whole rabbit like she would out shooting? There are 12 rabbits hanging on the line and she hasn't tried to eat them, just sniffed them once in a while when she's out for a pee...

 

[Alec Swan]

If I ever had a gundog which ate, or stole game, I'd be looking at my own management. It isn't the dog at fault. Sorry but that's the truth.

Will the dog come to any harm? I very much doubt it.

Alec.

 

[Twizzel]

If I ever had a gundog which ate, or stole game, I'd be looking at my own management. It isn't the dog at fault. Sorry but that's the truth.

.

Yes I know that, I was merely asking if it would make any difference to her training and whether she would be ok having eaten it, not looking for a who is to blame reply.

 

[true dragon]

If I ever had a gundog which ate, or stole game, I'd be looking at my own management. It isn't the dog at fault. Sorry but that's the truth.

Will the dog come to any harm? I very much doubt it.

Alec.

thats a bit judgemental and uncalled for


im sure she will not be harmed by eating the skin. however, now she has the taste, she might have a bit of a chew next time she retrieves.

 

[PorkChop]

Mine are on a raw diet, which sometimes includes rabbit, this does not affect them in any way when picking-up. I am sure they can differentiate, and I am sure she will come to no harm.

 

[Dry Rot]

Dogs are well aware of what is "their" property and what belongs to the boss, or should be if the owner is anything of a good trainer/handler.

In a dog's eyes, being sent to retrieve a shot rabbit is a completely different thing to finding a dead rabbit (or game trimmings) when the boss is not about and eating it. So I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds as if the dog was using it's initiative!

If eating a rabbit skin was harmful to a dog, there would be an awful lot of dead foxes in the countryside.

 

[missieh]

No harm will come to her I'm sure and it won't effect her training.....but I would worm her ( speaking from experience)

 

[Dry Rot]

No harm will come to her I'm sure and it won't effect her training.....but I would worm her ( speaking from experience)

+1.

I think rabbits (and sheep) are intermediate hosts for tape worm, so dose for that too. But don't panic! Dogs and worms have been living together for thousands of years.

More important, working dogs should be kept kennelled and not given the opportunity to scavenge as long term it WILL become a problem despite my earlier post.

 

[Alec Swan]

+1.

I think rabbits (and sheep) are intermediate hosts for tape worm, so dose for that too. .......

So I'm advised, parasites such as worms are species specific, so that the Tape Worm which infects a dog is a different sub species from that which infects a sheep. That's "So I'm advised"!! The Fluke cross-uses any species, including man, so why not the Tape Worm?

thats a bit judgemental and uncalled for


im sure she will not be harmed by eating the skin. however, now she has the taste, she might have a bit of a chew next time she retrieves.

Judgemental? Perhaps so, but in your last sentence, you've reinforced my point.

It's vital that those who train any dog to retrieve (and strangely perhaps, that includes sheep dogs, and sheep), remembers that the dog is performing a task, and for the dog that should be a privilege. It is not a right. Allowing, or even encouraging a dog to have no respect for the retrieved item, be it a dummy, game, or in the case of collies, sheep, is making a huge mistake.

With a spaniel being allowed to eat what may have been, or in the future may be, its "retrieve", the chances are high that the OP will be back in a while asking why their dog is "worrying" at dead game, and refusing to retrieve cleanly to hand. The answer will be in the fact that the dog had no respect for its prize, or its duties.

OP, it wasn't my intention to be harsh, and I apologise, but many a young dog has been ruined by the less than obvious oversight.

Alec.

 

[ester]

not totally species specific alec, although I don't know about dog tapes and what else is susceptible, plus it depends on their life cycle stage.

Human tapes are mostly cattle tapes

 

[Natch]

I don't know about dog worms specifically, but with some parasites there are species which lead part of their lifecycle in an intermediate host but only complete it in their target host. I think doggy lungworm in snails is an example of this?