dogs killing small animals

Question
hi i have two chow chows 3 years old five months apart.  Our dogs me and my husband are everything to us.  they are uncontrollable when we walk them and dolce the older male has already killed 5 groundhogs.  how do we control them when we walk them and how do we get them not to kill animals.  we are afraid they will go after our neighbors cat and kill it and then they will take action against our dog. we love or animals but it is getting too much. please help

Answer
Hi Denise,

You didn't say that your dogs are leashed while you're walking them. If your dogs were leashed, I would imagine these attacks would not have happened. There are long leashes, or leads, you could use while walking your dogs so they can have some room to explore during these walks while still being under your control.

Aside from long leashes, your dogs should be muzzled if you can't control them. A basket style muzzle is very humane, a dog can even drink while wearing one, but what it can't do is attack an animal.

Your dogs should not be left outside alone if your back yard is not fenced. It sounds like your fear of them killing a neighbor's cat is a very real possiblity. Should that happen, you would be liable. Depending on the local laws there's a chance your dogs could be taken away. Even if you have a fenced yard, it would be wise to keep your dogs muzzled when outside. Better safe than sorry.

You need to take steps to get your dogs under your control. This means the dogs need to learn some basic obedience commands. Enrolling in a dog obedience class would offer the fastest results, because you'd be learning directly from an experienced person, rather than attempting to read about how to do it from a web site or book.

Aside from the horror of knowing that your dogs have killed more than one animal, they are at risk of contracting disease from the groundhogs. You should contact your vet, as your dogs might require booster shots.

Best of luck,

Patti