I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about
it, so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does
one look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?


My friends have always had cats. The cats are expected to earn their
keep by killing mice in their basement. Their last cat wasn't working
out. He wasn't getting along with their present cat. He would pounce
and attack and scrap and scrape and wasn't affectionate. He was showing
signs of killing mice. Then he was killed in a car wreck while they
were here visiting me.


Cubbe did her usual ferocious-my-territory/oh-you-have-biscuits routine.
I always think this is hysterical as she goes from protective alert to
biscuits in a few minutes. She allowed herself to be petted a bit. She
allowed herself to be taken for a walk by that strange woman. I put
biscuits in an Irish crystal bowl ($1 at a garage sale!) and made sure
the stranges knew to walk by the biscuit bowl and give them to her
whenever they felt like it.


In time, the strange man was saying that she was a nice dog. He also
said that he's allergic to cats but fine with dogs. (So why did we
spend half a day vacuuming and washing bedding?)


I don't think they're getting a dog, but I did get curious about whether
there's a dog out there that would be perfect for them, one that's a
good mouser and one that wouldn't get into the mischief their kitten
did. (They're not the sort to ignore an animal and expect it to behave.
The kitten was on the extreme side.) Mostly I'm wondering what you'd
look for when checking out dogs to adopt. I see all sorts of things
about how to tell if a dog is a natural retriever. But mousing?
Mousing trials? Not every terrier is a mouser.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler spoke these words of wisdom in
:

I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about
it, so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does
one look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?

Terriers in General. JRT's specifically

"diddy" none wrote :

Terriers in General. JRT's specifically

Only problem with that is the specification of "won't get into
mischief"....

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:

What breeds make good mousers? Or what does
one look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?

My lab/dal mix killed mice, rats, opposums. One cat killed mice. All
of the others have been duds, but I suspect Rudy is a mouse killer, even
if unintentionally. He has killed birds and assisted in the killing of
squirrels. He's a PM Golden.

Franklin licked mice (they may have died from a chill), others play with
them, carry them around, etc, but no killings.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

diddy wrote:
Julia Altshuler spoke these words of wisdom in
:


I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about
it, so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does
one look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?


Terriers in General. JRT's specifically

Yes. Except if they've been involved in a trap-related drama.

We had mice in the pantry. A major invasion. So I cleaned out the
floor and shelves, placing anything gnaw-able in jars or tins and placed
traps baited with peanut butter on the ground.

Now, I don't know which dog actually set off the trap. All I heard was
a single *SNAP* and both BCs and the JRT came around the corner bug-eyed
and scrambling for traction on the pergo. It apparently made a big
impression on all of them. I do have my suspicions, though.

At the next earth dog fun day Cooper, although wildly excited by a caged
rat placed in plain view, flatly refused to enter a dark tunnel in
pursuit. He said the last time he smelled rodents in such concentration
there were also things that went "snap" in the dark.

So for now we stick to lure coursing, racing, the barn hunt, and maybe
next time, the muskrat swim.

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about it,
so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does one
look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?


Supposedly most northern breeds are good mousers, especially keeshonden.
But not Toklat.

"BethInAK" spoke these words of wisdom in
:


"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about it,
so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does one
look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?


Supposedly most northern breeds are good mousers, especially keeshonden.
But not Toklat.

Can't say mine are either

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
I don't expect anything to come of this, but I've been thinking about it,
so I thought I'd ask. What breeds make good mousers? Or what does one
look for in adopted dogs to make sure they're good mousers?


My wire fox terrier was a wonderful varmit dog. I got her when she was five
and a retired champion bought back by her breeder. She was good with cats
in the house though not outside.

The problem with most terriers is that they will keep things stirred up.

Beth

I had a lab/basset/beagle mix who was a better mouser than my cats were.
Her and the cat would tag team the mice he might chase them around but she
was always the one who caught them.

I came home one day and wondered why only Barney was barking. When I opened
the door I found out .......there was Brandy proud as can be holding a mouse
in her mouth with only the back legs and tail sticking out. Oh my god did I
have a hell of a time convincing her to let it go and give it to me. She
had to have been holding the thing in her mouth for an hour or more it was
dead as can be a soaked in dog slime.

Ewwwwww still gives me the willys.

Celeste

"sionnach" wrote in message
...

"diddy" none wrote :

Terriers in General. JRT's specifically

Only problem with that is the specification of "won't get into
mischief"....


our JRT, Willow, is an excellent mouser.. she even checks our dishwasher
for mice every day (ok, true. we did catch one in there once.. still no idea
how he got in there.....)
she has caught like 11 mice in our house in the last 2 years.. (we live in
the country and when we moved in, the place was just full of them.... ) and
that's not counting my stepson's pet mice in the basement, of which she's
gotten 2 of...
she is very much into the mischief though....

our poms.. well, only one of them has tried... and she, well, she's just
not very good at it... the new one hasn't had the chance to try yet.. the
great winter mouse invasion hasn't happened yet this year (we're hoping
we've finally gotten everything sealed so we won't have one...)

Davina
in Alaska