Reply #24: Dogs are carnivores, of course their origins lie as "killing machines" [View All]

I admit that it can be bred out of them to some extent. Every lab I have owned has failed to attack animals they have cornered (rabbits, possums etc.). They just don't have that instinct any more.


Other breeds still do. Most lie somewhere in between. The dog I have now was fast enough to catch squirrels in her youth. If I could get her to drop them then the poor things would still run away after being caught. If another dog ran up and tried to take it from her (I had 2 for a while there) then she would clamp down on it and the poor thing would die. (The dog I am referring to is a black lab mix who looked like a black lab when I took her in as a stray puppy)


The idea that dogs don't qualify as "killing machines" is just wrong. Maybe some are further from their origins than others but they are all still carnivores.