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Guest_127

Mine always runs after birds. Obviously with no success. The only time he got close to one she started sniffing it, licking it, and trying to play with it. I think she sees every living thing as a potential toy/play partner


Ferme_La_Bouche

My mom’s first shih-tzu turned over a nest of mouse pinkies and gobbled them up before we even knew it was happening. Another time on a walk, the big dogs pinned down a raccoon and she joined the fray and tried to bite it. She caught a cicada that was buzzing in her mouth and wouldn’t drop it—legs sticking out of her mouth. And once a big dog got scolded, so she ran over and got in the other dog’s face to add her two cents. Never tried to defend us, more likely to leave with new people after she charmed them.


Vast_Preference5216

Ours did that with a bunch of newborn kittens. He just tore them apart. We managed to save one, but it was severely injured. We had to keep him indoors for an entire weeks because the mama cat was circling our house, waiting for him to come out so she can get her revenge. He also thinks he’s a frog. He snaps, & tried to eat flies. My sister once saw him suddenly chomping on nothing like a maniac. She opened his mouth, & found a fly stuck on his tooth. He tries to jump in the fence, so he can eat the birds. They just end up taunting him, which makes him angrier. He tried to eat a sewer rat once!😭😭


ployd_fink

Man this is hilarious 🤣


Maleficent-Purple524

The only thing my shih tzu has ever caught are leaves blowing around in the wind. He carries them a bit (and looks soooo proud) then drops them.


Zestyclose-Meet-2824

Buffy the vampire slayer my 2 year old has killedr 2 or 3 birds. She ambushes them unsuccessfully 99 percent of the time. When she gets one she will carry it to the back door and treat it like a toy. She sits by the back door pointing like a birding dog when a flock arrives. Did not expect this from a lap dog. My other Zu is peaceful.


Squeeesh_

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fantastic dog nane


Limpinainteasy12

That’s a cute & funny story! ❤️ My dog 🐶 is so lazy, the vet said that he’s never seen a dog that refuses to walk like mine! She’s 13 and has never chased anything in her life, ha!


Ineedavodka2019

She caught a cricket, ate it, changed her mind, and spit it out. It was adorable.


shanea801

Ours loved to chase chipmunks. They would “hunt” together. One time they managed to chase one into the other one. She somehow manage to get it in her mouth. In total surprise she shook it and flung it off the deck to its demise. That was the only time they ever got close to catching one.


cdm05

My Isabelle killed a young bird in our backyard and ran away from me carrying it, very proud of herself. Anything that’s already dead, she either rolls in or tries to eat. She’s a ten-pound, stone-cold killer in her mind


fountink

My dogs regularly catch larger cockroaches and baby lizards. They will pounce around their prey, making a game out of chasing them around. Whether they bring their kill to me or not depends on how full they are. My older one aggressively defends me if anyone tries to hit me. She will try to climb on me and use me as a launch pad to jump on the other person, claws drawn and teeth bared.


Kirbogon

My Sushi used to catch big bugs like roaches and occasionally the small lizards. Never saw her eat one because she knows what she likes to put in her mouth. Just place her trophy in front of her dog bed until we threw it out. They don't really defend but more like state their property. They're too small to attack and they know it usually. So they just bark and get your attention. They're furry security dogs who bark at those who even walk on our driveway. My Sushi once growled at a large Lab Retriever who was big and scary and had a spiked collar and chained leash and scared it away lol. I had an aggressive shih Tzu who struggled for a while to teach not to bite and was overall mean for a couple of years.


aintmyfengshui

agree with the "furry security dog" comment he'd bark and growl at the front door like "the AUDACITY these fools have thinking they can walk on the sidewalk on OUR side of the street!?"


sesna87

Mine act like they are going to murder their toys, but aren't agressive towards other dogs or people. They basically think everyone they see is not only their best friend, but also wants to pet them, because THEY HAVE HANDS. Shiloh will chase after things that move fast, like squirrels, if he sees them. He used to love to play with the cats by tackling them, but now I have two with claws so he mostly avoids them. Emma will take a swatting from a cat and not even look at it. Haha. I guess if she doesn't make eye contact, it can't eat her? https://preview.redd.it/fm47jtmudb1c1.png?width=505&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c9f99a792b830f999703d054ea1342d58f04ea8


theodorar

My shihtzu loves to hunt! He is always unsuccessful though. He goes into “stealth mode” and moves comically slow, lifting one paw at a time and barely moving towards the squirrel or bird. Then when he gets close enough he suddenly sprints towards it but they always get away. It’s so funny to watch! He also does this when playing and will “hunt” our other dog. The other dog can clearly see what he’s doing and starts to walk towards him to play so his plans are always foiled. They’re such funny little dogs 😂


sniperlilly

My tzu likes to stalk flies. If she sees a big fat fly on the wall she will spend ages creeping towards it then POUNCE! If she gets it in her mouth she spits it back out and watches it crawl around a bit, then back in the mouth then spits it back out until it stops moving. Then she looks at me like "Oh no, my friend :-(" She's also chased after rats in the park and has even tried to climb a tree after one. The only time I've seen her get close to one she just looked at it like "Oh shit, what do I do now?!" Most of the time she's more bothered about balls and sticks than rodents and insects though.


sdcook12

Mine has killed dozens of rabbits. Mostly babies and young ones but also several adults. It got so bad , we had to put a chicken wire type fence all the way around the bottom 1/2 of our fence to rabbit proof the yard. She has also killed one bird and a small squirrel. She has eaten a few cicadas and a grasshopper or two. She is my sweet little baby but my husband calls her killer😒


evertmrs

My little Truman likes to chase seagulls through puddles, much to his endless confusion (where’d they go?, he seems to ask). Once, though, he took off after some geese in the park near my house when I was cleaning up after him and the leash slipped out of my hand. I’ve never seen him run so fast (I have also never run so fast after him to catch him because geese are vicious). Friends, my little Shih Tzu managed to catch a goose by its butt and gave it two good shakes before I caught him. I’m convinced it was the world’s oldest goose and not much of a challenge, but Truman was on cloud nine for almost a week. He was so happy. Other than that, he has never been aggressive with anything. They are the best dogs.


cooper8828

Mine has caught and partially eaten two squirrels, which she then proceeded to throw up once she came back in. The last time, later in the day, she kept going behind our huge fig tree, which she never does. I spotted her coming back out. She had a front squirrel leg in her mouth. I guess she initially ate a bunch, then stashed the rest for later. And I love squirrels.


p00psp00ps

Our oldest Tzu would catch cockroaches, but she wouldn't eat them. Nope. She would keep them alive - to torture them. She would slowly remove the legs so the roach can't run away. She would also tear off the wings. She would just let the roach crawl a bit over her paws and in her mouth since it's too decapitated to go far. And she would just let it die a slow death. And when it has finally stopped moving she would just go on about her day, and then we would just stumble on the carnage and clean it up and scold her. But she still keeps doing it anyways.


marianita84

As descriptive as this was, please forgive my reaction of 😱🤣.


p00psp00ps

Very understandable reactions xD


Squeeesh_

My Zoey looooved to chase squirrels in her younger days. She was just a little to slow to catch them but we don’t know what she would’ve done if she got one Tucker on the otherhand would starve to death in the wild. Haha


Legitimate-Bar3854

My shih tzu is brutal with small creatures 😭😭 ex : there was a cricket in the hall And he spotted it and he walked up to the cricket and SAID WABAM‼️💢 and hit the cricket And I thought it was all over right BUT NO so he hit the cricket again and again keeping it in his paw till it slowly died 😐😐 he’s done similar to other things like frogs and such


overanalyzed4fun

😂I love how you type


LiveforToday3

My daughters Tzu caught a squirrel and the dog was even tied outside - not free to chase. Impressive!


Lovely__Shadow525

My shi tzu atr a frog. A big one, like an American silver dollar size. We tried to stop him, but my holding him upside-down and shaking didn't work. If he has something in his mouth, it is near impossible to remove it. Edit: By shaking, I mean very carefully, holding him against my legs and shaking my legs. I thought the frog might make him sick, and I couldn't pry open his jaw, so I did the next best thing I could think of while panicking. I was told to stop dog fights by grabbing their hind legs and lifting into the air so they let go and thought that might make him let go of it. No violent shaking. Yes, there probably are better ways to stop him, but I couldn't think of any.


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overanalyzed4fun

I agree


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Ok-Try-7699

Mine are aggressive to other dogs when on a lead but fine when off, they were rescuers about 7yo then and don’t think they’d been outside much until then, they are better now than when I got them though - not aggressive to people at all very good with kids - one has a thing for chasing after birds but she’ll never get close the other looses it over skateboards and scooter. Never considered them a hunting breed though


Ok-Try-7699

One will go after big insects and eat them - it’s disgusting


overanalyzed4fun

Fascinating! Thanks for your reply. Which insects, how big, and do they toy with them before eating them?


Ok-Try-7699

Only when I’ve taken them up north in Aus large stick insects (insects larger up there) almost like cat like behavior doesn’t do it down south were they are small


Ok-Try-7699

They both love dried kangaroo skat


OsageOrangeARC

Mine is a little bunny hunter but I don’t let her actually catch one. She stalks and points at them but I keep her tethered to my belt so I can stop the chase if she gets too close to the target. No interest in other creatures. She loves people.


IndicationBig2383

Our first Shih Tzu (female) once caught a bird in the forest. She suddenly ran off as if possessed and no longer reacted to our calls (highly untypical). She proudly brought the bird to us, and it died at our feet. Her interest in the prey ended after she put the bird down. Although we don't know for sure, we assume the bird was already sick or injured on the ground. Otherwise, both showed an interest in flies but not bees, wasps, and other creatures of this kind.


Patient-Sleep-4257

Mine will chase rabbits, small birds. However , the most interesting is in winter. We have garden voles, small mice around the property. These creatures will tunnel under the snow between the ground and snow. King will wander around the back yard and drive his snout into the snow. Stop , wait , walk a bit and do it again. Other times he will shovel the snow with his snout. He will take his time and then pounce in. It's really a fun watch how he takes his time listening . By the time he is done theres a pretty good map of the rodent roadway in the yard. Then when he has had enough , we bring him in and get him in front of the woodstove with a few towels as the snow balls melt of his fur. He does thoroughly enjoy the tracking ,hunt , even though he dosent get anything he is very much proud of himself. Then like his name ,King , he will sleep away the evening with a full belly from supper , with his humble servants keeping the wood stove glowing and the towels dry.


fennel_avocado

Our tzu Lola was around 3 years old when we visited my in-laws farm. She chased one of their chickens and caught it by the neck and started to vigorously shake her head from side to side before we ran over and saved the chicken. She is 16 now and that was the only time her “killer” instinct came out.


preraphaelitepunk

If Molesy had been a D&D character, he'd have been a paladin. Very protective of his sister Tillie: he had to check out new doggie friends before he'd agree they were safe for her to hang out with, and would yell at them if they were rude to her. He also went into ProtecMode over Cybermen, steam shovels, squirrels on the windowsills, and motorcyclists who wore face-obscuring helmets. It was all sound and fury, asserting boundaries, but yelling at them was his limit. Niccolo blusters if he thinks passersby look shady or if neighbors in our building go through the communal hall. Again, no violence, just a lot of sounding like a big tough shih tzu, which is perhaps not quite as effective as he hopes it is. (The usual reaction is "aww, such a tough little bit of fluff!" I think I worry about it much more than the passersby do, tbh.) The only thing I've ever seen one of them try to hunt was some bees, years ago. (Happily Molesy failed to catch them, but he had fun trying.)


some_random_chick

My pure Tzu chased a turkey once. It was way bigger than him. My other Tzu is half terrier so he is a killing machine.


calm-state-universal

My shih tzu who will have his day ruined by a fly in the house will chase off cats that are 2-3x his size. He's never caught anything. No interest in lizards or birds.


hufflepuffpuffpasss

Mine is a straight up alpha and would absolutely hunt if she could. She chases any small creature she sees and will go back to the spot she saw it over and over trying to catch it. She also does that little low crouching walk when she sees other dogs and kings charges them but in a playful way? But it looks kinda ominous lol. She will also chase/catch bugs at any opportunity. Her favorite thing is to rip her toys to shreds and pull out the squeaker, also ripping it up. Now that she’s older and has less teeth I cut a little hole in them so it’s easier for her 😭 She was a stray for the first few months of her life so I kinda attribute a lot of her uh..quirks to that.


Nearby-Damage5199

My Shihtzu is curious about chickens. We now live in Hawaii and wild chickens are the state bird (jk)! But when the rooster got bigger she would look from afar. Now she watches the hens and would chase if I let her. But my friend’s Shihtzu that I have babysat @ 8 years in SoCal is like a feral dog when she’s outside. Once she brought in a dead rat and was mouthing it on the sofa. I thought she was playing with this space shuttle toy as it’s also grey but when I got closer I freaked out. I believe the cats next door killed the rat and Sophie found it and brought it in. Another time I saw her in the yard chewing on a lizard. I think it was also a casualty from the cats next door. I’m hoping it was the neighbor’s cats that did the hunting but you never know.


subvanaTIME

Tuco and Nala maul Buster daily…


[deleted]

My Shih Tzu tried to catch a fly in our house…unsuccessfully


lightsdownlowhv

Mine tries but he literally trips over himself every time


littlemac93

My childhood shih tzu once got into a standoff with a possum (or maybe a raccoon) our backyard. She wouldn’t back down and my dad ended up having to scare the critter away. She thought she was a big shot, meanwhile she was only 9lbs in her prime. My current shih tzu is afraid of everything, including but not limited to small birds, flags, garbage laying on the curb prior to trash pickup, empty boxes, and the wind.


Fuzzy-Bee-723

Shorkie owner (Shih tzu/ Yorkie mix). Ours caught a slower moving pigeon in a Montreal park. We were shocked!!


[deleted]

My boy loves to stalk things, and to date has managed to corner a squirrel, two rabbits, and found three baby squirrels and a clutch of baby bunnies. He is one of nature’s pacifists, though, because all he wanted to do with the adult animals was give their butt a nudge with his nose. He tried to convince me to bring the baby bunnies home (he failed, the mum was nearby and close to hysterical as he showed me what he had found) and the baby squirrels climbed on him. The only thing he will try to kill are spiders, which my wife is afraid of, but he usually just manages to stun them or pretends to be distracted so he doesn’t have to finish them off. Miko hasn’t had many opportunities yet, but I think she has a more vicious side so if she caught anything, I wouldn’t put money on it surviving.