Imagine taking a walk with your dog, and while you are both having a great time, he suddenly falls behind a few steps. You suddenly notice him playing with something, and it is not a toy. You call him, and he comes running with something in his mouth, and guess what is; a severely decomposed squirrel carcass! Dogs are always dogs and often give in to their canine delights and play with assorted items and might proudly bring them home. These are not the typical items you find at a toy store, but they are a lot more fun to them.
Why Do Dogs Play With Dead Animals?
Dogs have a better sense of smell than humans, and they can easily find dead animals because of their olfactory sense. Humans like aromas that are floral, fresh, and fragrant, dogs like dirty, dead, and disgusting things. To humans, they are disgusting, but to dogs, the smell is divine. Even the best-behaved dog will play with dead animals and other stinking things.
Dogs naturally have a knack for finding and playing with dead things, dead raccoons, dead rabbits, or dead squirrels. They sniff them, paw at them, turn them over from one side to the other, and mostly pick them up using their mouths. Interestingly, a dead animal becomes more intriguing to a dog after a few days when they have decomposed.
The popular theory as to why dogs, like dead animals, want to mask their own scent makes it easier for them to sneak up to animals. This is an instinct that is carried across generations of pets even though they no longer hunt for food. Potential prey cannot be attacked by an animal that smells rancid. Playing with the dead animal is less likely to harm the dog.
Why Do Dogs Pick Up Dead Animals With Their Mouths?
This results from human-driven dog breeding over time, especially breeding dogs for a specific purpose, most of which include killing and retrieving dead things. A hunting dog is a natural born killer, while golden retriever dogs have instincts to pick up dead animals using their mouths and bring them back. While it is disgusting to humans, dogs feel extremely proud of themselves after completing these naturally driven tasks.
Is Handling Dead Animals Dangerous For Dogs?
Handling- pawning, nosing, sniffing, or carrying a dead animal is not bad for the dog. However, there are two things to keep in mind. If the dead animal was poisoned to death, the poison might be toxic to the dog. Rats and mouse poison are the common poisons to look out for.
The second thing to keep in mind is the chances of the dead animal carrying disease-causing bacteria that the dog can pick up. The most dangerous bacteria is clostridium botulinum, type C performed neurotoxin that is sometimes found in dead animal carcasses. The neurotoxin causes botulism.
It is rare for dogs to contract botulism, but the effects are damaging. The neurotoxin weakens the dog’s body starting in the back legs and then goes forward to the torso, front legs, and neck. This eventually leads to paralysis of the four limbs, impacting the dog’s ability to breathe and causes death.
What To Do If Your Dog Plays With A Dead Animal
Much as you advocate for letting dogs enjoy what they want, playing with dead animals is not appropriate. However, dogs will always be dogs, and as much as they might not be wild anymore, they can still retain their ancestor’s traits. The best thing to do is to keep the playing dog safe.
One resourceful way is to teach them the ‘drop it’ trick. The idea behind the cue is to use something the dog regards as a reward for doing something you want him to do. Whenever the dog starts to pick up and play with dead animals, encourage him to back off. Once he drops it, he becomes less excited about the dead animal. You can allow him to go back and sniff it but not to pick it up.
This type of training makes the dog lose interest in the dead animal faster than before. Practice first with something less enticing than a dead animal. If you see your dog playing with a dead animal, do not be angry with the dog. Consider why the dog would bring home or play with a dead animal. Ensure that the dead animal is disposed off in a way that the dog would not retrieve it.
Getting angry at the dog or reprimanding him may not help and even strain your relationship. Opt for positive reinforcement to change rather than punishment.
What To Do If Your Dog Eats A Dead Animal
The technical term for this conduct is dietary indiscretion. This typically means that dogs eat whatever they see, even when it is not actual food. Dietary indiscretion applies to various items the dog might ingest, including dead animals, feces, toxic chemicals inanimate objects like socks and plastic. Some dietary indiscretion acts are more dangerous than others, like chemical toxins but all warrant attention from you.
If your dog has eaten a dead animal, call your vet and explain everything you know about the incident. This includes what kind of animal it was, how long it had been dead if you know, and how much of it did the dog eat. The vet might ask you to make a visit right away or recommend keeping an eye on the dog. It would be best if you looked out for signs that the dead animal is making your dog sick. The signs include diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, or loss of appetite.
Eating wild animals can be dangerous to the dog, dead or alive. Dead rats and mice commonly have poison in them. Some other small mammals could be carrying fleas, which can be transmitted to the dog. Take the dog to a vet for x-rays immediately. Inducing vomiting to the dog can cause harm to the pet if the bones cut the esophagus. The x-rays will reveal if any bones are dangerous to the internal organs if left to pass naturally. If that is the case, the vet will need to carry out surgery to remove the bones.
If the dead animal that the dog ate had ingested poison, it could be passed to your pet. When you visit the vet, ensure that they check for anything harmful your dog may have unintentionally ingested and contracted. Besides, ask about worm, flea, and tick prevention products and protocol suggestions. There are available products that are easy to administer yourself.
How To Prevent Dogs From Eating Dead Animals
The best way to prevent your dog from eating dead animals is by teaching them the ‘leave it’ command. This is taught by teaching them with treats that they love. Put the treat on the floor, and when the dog approaches to sniff or eat, cover the treat with your foot. The dog will still sniff and want to get the treat but wait for him to give up. When he gives up, find another treat to reward him with. The purpose of this command is to lose interest in the hidden treat and walk away.
Repeat this process until the dog associates the foot on the treat with leaving it alone and getting rewarded for leaving. When he gets used to, start saying ‘leave it’ when you cover the treat with your foot and continue rewarding when the dog loses interest. When the dog masters this, you can advance to dropping the treat on the floor and saying leave it to signal the desired interest.
What To Do When Your Dog Catches A Squirrel
Dogs are apex predators. This means that they sit on top of the food chain and do not have enemies who are the primary food sources. They are hunters and such; it is normal for a dog to chase and catch smaller animals, including squirrels. It does not necessarily mean that the dog was hungry when the squirrel came by. Dogs chase squirrels because it is a fun thing to do.
Dogs tend to enjoy things that assure their survival. All that is part of the predatory hunting sequence: searching, stalking, fighting, celebration, and consumption.
What To Do To Stop Your Dog From Killing Squirrels
If your dog desires chasing and killing squirrels, the high prey drive is a danger to both the dog and the prey. It is your job to manage this drive and his environment to discourage him from killing squirrels. You can do this by redirecting their focus and teaching them to listen to you.
- Put a leash on your dog when he is out in the yard– to stop the dog from killing squirrels, the dog needs to be carefully trained, and his environment managed. If the yard has many squirrels, put him on a leash with different obedience commands and reward him when he responds.
- Allow the dog to chase the squirrel– when out in the yard, allow the dog to chase a squirrel as it races up the tree. If the squirrel runs up a tree, the dog will sit for hours under the tree waiting for the squirrel. This is the perfect opportunity to divert the attention away from the squirrel.
- Distract the dog with the scent of food– break the dog’s engrossed attention on the squirrel by wafting the scent of nice tasty food near his nose. Keep the food hidden in your hand, so he only detects the food. When he turns his attention towards the food, open your hand, give him the food, and then put the leash on.
- Walk the dog back to the house– with the dog amply distracted from the squirrel, walk away from the tree. Command the dog to sit, and then walk back to the house. With the repeated process, the dog will learn to control his prey drive and stop him from killing squirrels.
Can My Dog Get Sick From A Dead Squirrel?
If the dog has eaten a squirrel that was already dead when he found it, the dog’s well being is at risk. If the squirrel was rotting for several days, it could be having an infestation of parasites. The dog will also end up with food poisoning that will lead to a lot of diarrhea.
Poisoning
The worrying part of the dog eating a dead squirrel is the possibility that the squirrel was poisoned. If the squirrel has poison in the system, the poison will transmit to the dog’s system. While poisoning is against the law, some neighbors might have poisoned the squirrels to get rid of them. You need to ask your neighbors diplomatically if any of them poisoned the squirrels, and if so, you must immediately bring the dog to the vet.
If the dog has ingested poison due to eating a dead squirrel, he will become very sick. The dose of poison might not kill the dog, but the illness’s severity needs proper attention.
Parasites
Two parasites that the dog can become infected with when he eats a dead squirrel are the roundworm and Coccidia.
Roundworm– the dog will get roundworms if the squirrel he ate was infested with roundworm larvae. Adult roundworms are two to six inches long. The worms consume the nutrients from the dog’s food and lead to the dog struggling to get the nutrients from food, making him malnourished. Signs of roundworm include vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea, and a pot-bellied appearance.
Coccidia– if the dog eats a dead squirrel, he can contract coccidiosis if the squirrel was infected. Coccidiosis is highly contagious from pet to pet, and if you have multiple dogs in your home, they may all become sick. The symptoms include vomiting, dehydration, blood and mucus diarrhea, and loss of appetite. While the parasite is very rare to cause death, it can cause dehydration, which can be damaging. Some dogs are asymptomatic and act as carriers, so you should get your dog checked even if he does not fall ill.
The Bottom Line
Dogs are not picky eaters, and it is common for them to eat dead animals like squirrels. Other than being unpleasant, he could pick up an unwanted illness from eating dead flesh. The best way to prevent him from eating dead animals is by thoroughly training him. This can be done at home by doing exercises that train their command following ability and impulse control. He can also be trained in an obedience school.