My 15-month old male malamute has provent to be an excellent hunter; he's been catching voles and field mice on our farm for nearly a year. Unfortunately, he's also recently taken a small fawn, and I worry about him turning this instinctive behavior on other dogs, etc.
On walks, he responds well to sit, stay, down, come--unless he sees a duck or a rabbit and then he nearly yanks my arm off and I struggle to control him when he's in that hunting mode. It's as if he's on a very fast autopilot.
We keep him kenneled at night (when he responds to the call) and when we're not home, but otherwise he has free reign of 40 acres and usually stays pretty close to home.
I know I can't change his genes, but I was wondering if any one had a similar experience and any success in moderating the behavior.
Thanks in advance.