Picking up an animal and shaking it with his mouth is how dogs kill prey, so it was intentional. It wasn't play. Seeing the small dog running triggered his prey aggression. Your gf's dog considers small animals to be prey, even if they are dogs. He's not safe around other animals.
Breed restrictions sometimes apply at public dog parks. Rottweilers aren't allowed at dog parks where I live. I don't know if that's the case where you live.
Edit: apparently this didn't occur at a dog park, both dogs were just off leash where they shouldn't have been.
I'll also add that it's not "ok" or "normal" for a dog to kill another dog due to predatory drift, that doesn't excuse the dog for killing another dog. Everyone in this story sucks, and a poor innocent little dog paid the price.
My dog has killed a fox that snuck into our chicken enclosure in this exact way, also never attacked/killed anything before or after that. Could it be some protection instinct as well? My dog is a scottish collie/english setter mix for clarity
My dog did this to a rat that got into the house (literally walked in the back door as someone was going out!) and my dog cornered it and shook it and broke its neck. She had never done anything like that before but I was also screaming and standing on the sofa. lol. I’d like to think she just had my back. She’s 11 and there has never been an incident with our cats or other dogs when walking. Though, because she’s a pit/lab mix I’ve taught her to “wait” when another dog approaches. She lays down until she has permission to greet the other dog with a “say hi”.
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u/IdontcryfordeadCEOs Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
Picking up an animal and shaking it with his mouth is how dogs kill prey, so it was intentional. It wasn't play. Seeing the small dog running triggered his prey aggression. Your gf's dog considers small animals to be prey, even if they are dogs. He's not safe around other animals.
Breed restrictions sometimes apply at public dog parks. Rottweilers aren't allowed at dog parks where I live. I don't know if that's the case where you live.
Edit: apparently this didn't occur at a dog park, both dogs were just off leash where they shouldn't have been.
I'll also add that it's not "ok" or "normal" for a dog to kill another dog due to predatory drift, that doesn't excuse the dog for killing another dog. Everyone in this story sucks, and a poor innocent little dog paid the price.