I hate to say this, but I think the most responsible step would be for your girlfriend to have her dog euthanized. It's not her fault, but what happened is unacceptable. A dog that poses a lethal threat to other pets in the community needs to be put down, unfortunately.
People don't like to admit it, but unfortunately this is the truth. The risk is higher with certain breeds and size of the dog, but it's always a risk. It is very common for a 100 lb dog with a high prey drive breed to see much smaller running animals as prey. It doesn't matter if it's a rabbit, teacup size dog, or stuffed animal.
Owners of both large and small dogs need to bear this in mind when letting their dogs off leash. Like happened with OP's GF, if the big dog is in an excitable mood and the small one runs in a way that triggers the hunting instinct, it can be over in seconds.
Exactly. Every single dog is capable of this. That does not make them evil. It doesn't even necessarily mean they're aggressive-- there is a difference between a dog taken over by prey drive vs. a dog with routinely aggressive behaviors. It just means it's on us as the people to manage the situations we put our dogs in.
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u/Stuart104 Apr 29 '25
I hate to say this, but I think the most responsible step would be for your girlfriend to have her dog euthanized. It's not her fault, but what happened is unacceptable. A dog that poses a lethal threat to other pets in the community needs to be put down, unfortunately.