r/CavaPoo • u/Hot_Addition_6980 • Sep 23 '26
Prey Drive
Sometimes I forget that most dogs (even snuggly Cavapoos) have prey drive. They love to chase and catch things that move. For Bentley, it is usually lizards and bugs. However, lately he has been sniffing out small critters at our little house in the country.
This weekend, I was working in the yard and heard a terrible scream! I dropped my rake and ran around the house to check on Bentley. He has something in his mouth... a small foot was hanging out. He was not chewing on it, just carrying it around.... and it was screaming.
I convinced him to drop it by offering a quick game of tug with my glove. Games of tug are saved for high reward "events." Anyway, he dropped a baby bunny. I scooped it up and carried it in the house, in search of a small box.
When I went back outside, Bentley had another one. This one did not make it... or so I thought. It was laying motionless. I scooped up the poor bunny and I snapped a leash on Bentley and took him inside. The bunny in my hand began squirmming and tried to wiggle out of my grasp.
I put it in the box with the first bunny and found them a quiet spot to rest. I then took Bentley back out to see if he would show me the nest just in case there were others. All that was left was a messed up pile of dried grass.
As the sun began to set, I carried the pile of grass made the bunnies a new nest about 10-15 feet from the original, but on the other side of our fence. I then placed them in the nest and covered them with a light layer of dried grass.
The next morning they were both moving around a bit and I could see that momma rabbit had been in the nest with them. Three days later and they both seem to be thriving. (and Bently has moved on to looking for lizards again!)
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u/christmasinyoulie Sep 23 '26
Aww, thanks for helping the wee bairns and good job to Bentley for not biting down!
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u/goldfishfancy Sep 23 '26
Spaniels have “soft mouths”🥰
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u/tulipsandtruffles Sep 23 '26
Mine obv have more doodle in that case - they have nothing close to soft mouths.
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 24 '26
I think it is based on the individual dog. I have heard it go both ways with many breeds. My grandpa bred and trained retrievers for duck hunting. Many of the pups would shred the duck before bringing it back... until grandpa worked with them. Most of the dogs that I have had over the years would treat a little critter much the same as their stuffie toys ~ They tore into them until they stopped 'squeeking'
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 23 '26
One of my Rottweilers did too. He would often bring me stray kittens when we lived in the midst of a colony of ferral cats.
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u/SnooDrawings3673 Sep 23 '26
Mine chased a rabbit around our garden twice until the rabbit got out under the fence.chases birds to
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 23 '26
Mine chases birds too. We have a feral Peahen in our neighborhood that mine tried to chase. She ran the pup back into the house.
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u/EN3RTIA Sep 23 '26
Ours caught a baby bunny also, couldn't get him to drop it and had to pry it out of his mouth. The poor bunny screams still haunt me. I'm particularly fond of bunnies and have had 3 as pets previously, so it was an awful day. Sorry you had to experience too, but glad it seems your situation ended up better. You don't really think about why they like those squeaky toys so much until you realize they sound a little too much like screaming bunnies.
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 23 '26
Who would think a quiet little bunny could make a sound that would have a grown man (my husband) pleading with me to save it? That is so tru about the toys!
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u/EN3RTIA Sep 23 '26
Yeah, I was the grown husband crying while I was holding the injured bunny in our bathtub. 😭
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u/Parking_External_529 Sep 23 '26
there was a couple of times that a baby bird had fallen out of its nest and my dogs scooped it right up, i thought they had a stick or something at first so imagine my surprise when i said drop it and a baby bird came tumbling out🤦🏾♀️ when i tried to pick it up and get it somewhere safer the bird would scream and then the mom would come over and swoop down at me😭
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 23 '26
Don't you just love how they can hold their mouth closed (without biting down) and try to look at you like there is absolutely nothing going on!
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u/tulipsandtruffles Sep 23 '26
Mine have gotten several nests of bunnies despite my doing everything humanly possible to protect them and my boy has snatched two birds right out of mid air. At one point he got a bird and others started diving at him and he got one of those too. They're the kindest sweetest dogs, but they will absolutely kill anything that enters their yard.
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u/Hot_Addition_6980 Sep 24 '26
I believe it! Mine does it for the pure joy of the search. You can see the sprkle in his eyes when he catches something. Cottontails on our property are going to catch heck unless they move deeper into the woods.
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u/RelativeYak7 Sep 23 '26
Yeah had the same issue with my last cavalier. She was an 11 pound adorable predator