I figured a picture of an elk would be less triggering than a picture of a snake. But this goes for ALL wildlife. I am not a fan of letting dogs harass wildlife. I know chasing critters and burrowing can be activities that they enjoy, but we can find other ways for them to engage in these behaviors that do not stress out the wildlife.
Why is wildlife awareness and safety important? Simply put, it can mean the difference between life and death for your dog. While curiosity is often a good thing and something we want to nuture and grow (curiosity and being brave to check out new and scary things can build confidence afterall!), we don’t want to nuture it in ways that could be dangerous for our dogs or for wild creatures. As their guardians, it is our job to keep them safe and redirect when they are making dumb decisions (like say, trying to interact with or chase an elk! No no puppy! Really bad idea!)
I’m not saying that dogs can’t interact with wildife in certain ways. They certainly can and it can be fun for them to do so! But we have to put some guidelines in place and be fair with our enforcement of these guidelines.
Here are some tips:
Determine what your dog is interested in. Some dogs may only have one critter that they are particualry intersted in or it could be all critters.
Prey drive (and the instinct to chase and pursue) can be activated by movement of any type.
Treat all critters the same. Whether or not it’s something they regularly see or have not seen.
Use a management tool such as a long line/leash to prevent your dog from running off after something.
Teach and regularly work on recall.
Teach and regularly work on leave it and the value of moving away from things.
Teach and regulary work on watching skills and observing and reporting. Basically, if a dog sees something cool, I want them to tell me about it first so we can figure out what to do together.
Teach and regularly work on watching and observing and reporting about critters they don’t necessarily find interesting. This creates muscle memory and helps them work on the skill in a less intense environment in order to set them up for success when they are in a more intense environment.
Let’s all do our part to keep our dogs safe and happy and wildlife safe and happy!
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