The Hunter

Shiba inus were originally bred to hunt small game, birds, etc. It is in their blood. With that being said, Pepper killed her first squirrel today.

As per our daily ritual, Pepper woke me (never my boyfriend) up at 9:30AM to let her out. Zoey, the Collie-Aussie mix was already outside. I usually leave them out there for about an hour so that they get tired from playing, then they come inside to sleep. It was the morning ritual.

However, a half hour later, I started awake from the constant barking of Zoey, the herding dog. It usually stops after a few minutes, but this time there was almost a panicky twinge to her bark. I've heard this bark before: DANGER! (The last time Zoey barked like this, there was a 3 1/2-foot snake in our yard!... not too uncommon in South Carolina.)

I rushed downstairs only to find Pepper and Zoey fighting over the carcass of a poor very-much-dead little squirrel. I WAS HORRIFIED! I yelled at them and they dropped it immediately. The body was limp and wet from the freshly rained-on grass. I almost cried as I quickly disposed of it. Because there was no blood, I am guessing that they played with it to death, as they'd done with several bugs before.

Honestly, I don't think there was really anything I could do at that moment. Pepper has just gotten so fast! The squirrels used to be able to outrun her, but I guess not anymore. I don't think she'll do it anymore because  she now knows that it's bad. Even so, I've just kept her inside all day, just in case she might get tempted. So far, she's killed (I don't know for certain that she was the one which killed; however, she is the faster of the two --the Collie mix likes to lay down a lot -- so it is most likely that she was the one that caught, then tried to play with the animals.) a rat and a squirrel, and caught the 3 1/2 foot snake. I don't know what to do. My sweet little Pepper is a born hunter and a killer, but I can't help loving her.