Why does my dog bark at chipmunks, but not at birds?
Posted On July 30 In Cardinal Bird House
It’s the strangest thing. My dog sits in front of the window all day and looks outside, it’s one of his favorite things to do. All sorts of birds come and go throughout the day, sparrows, mourning doves, cardinals, crows. He doesn’t bark at any of them. In fact, just the other day a sparrow got into the house and he hardly paid it any heed! He just glanced up as it flew by every so often. He was more excited by my activity trying to catch it than by the bird. (I got it out safe and sound.)
But he goes crazy any time he sees a chipmunk outside. The chipmunk is about the size of a sparrow and has the same patterns and coloring. He barks and jumps up and down and turns circles for a long time after it leaves. Why is that?
My dog is a maltese.
Comments (6)
Bird Watching is said to be one of the most relaxing and peaceful hobbies that anyone can do.
We have 2 chipmunks living in a stone wall in fromt of our house.
My dog would bark at them to no end.
One day, I was on the porch, and I was watching the chipmunks.
I swear they were teasing the dog intentionally.
Dogs are peculiar! My German Shepherd doesn’t bark at birds,squirrels,or chipmunks,but she whines when she sees a raccoon,rabbit or cat outside. I don’t know if it is because she sees the squirrels,birds and chipmunks more often or what,but I have cats in the house and she doesn’t whine or bark at them,only the ones she sees out the window.
not sure. never thought about it. my dog would rather go after squirrels than birds. but he’s short so i don’t think he notices birds very much. plus maybe something on the ground seems more catchable, so easier prey.
You didn’t say what kinda dog? May be the birds are not prey but the chipmunk is.?
Because it runs on the ground like him, and theoretically, he could catch it! Not those crazy things with wings!
Your dog seems very smart. He knows the difference between visitors (birds) and a live-in intruder (chipmunk). Your dog knows the birds do not stay in the yard, they come and go so that’s okay with him. However, he probably realizes that the chipmunk actually LIVES on your property somewhere and that’s not okay with him because that’s HIS territory, not the chipmunk’s. He feels like it’s an intrusion into his space and he wants rid of the intruder. And he may very well have had a run-in with that chipmunk before so your dog may also be holding a grudge against the chipmunk because hasn’t been able to catch it or scare it out of his territory.
And dogs seem to instinctively know (except hunting dogs, they’re different) that they cannot catch birds, so they leave them pretty much alone. However, anything on the ground is perceived as fair game.