After last weeks problems with her being too lethargic, S & D, & a bad limp~my dog has fully recovered even to the point of hunting down & catching a squirrel!
She came running out of the bushes with a very bloody nose which required several tissues to mop up...There was blood everywhere difficult to see where it was coming from After attending to her needs I then wondered what she had encountered in the bushes!
So on investigation there I found a squirrel laid with its eyes open as if it was in a state of shock.. Difficult to know what to do (it may have just been in shock   ~no blood that I could see) or it's back could have been broken!!!  Has anyone been in this situ? I did eventually leave the animal but have kept thinking whether I should have done more for it!

My little Tilly (terrierX) also caught a squirrel once. She came out of the wood with the poor thing in her mouth. I am sure she had caught it & killed it, because it was still warm. Zak (GSD) loves chasing them, but has never caught one. He always stops at the tree it escaped up & rips the bark off the tree. I always call him off (poor trees), I don't know whether he thinks he can tear the tree down or what

There is nothing you could have done, looks as though the squirrel put up quite a fight, it was probably internally hurt, shook by your dog probably or gripped by the neck.

Some on here would have probably put it out of it's misery, I wouldn't, (or couldn't more to the point) it will either have died or been taken by a larger mammal. It will feed other wildlife.

After this thread take it from your mind and don't think on it anymore, these things happen all the time it is nature, the circle of life.

Our Golden Retriever caught a squirrel the other day

He was so fast I couldn't do anything about it -after a chase he caught it by the neck and brought it back to us. It wasn't quite dead but I couldn't walk off and leave it so found a large stick and was just trying to get the courage up to hit it over the head when it drew it's last breath and died.

I know squirrels are considered vermin but I really don't want to deal with that situation again so we are working hard on our emergency stop now. He is usually pretty good at a leave command but instinct took over and that was that.

We recently joined as volunteers for the Trust that manages our local urban 'woods'.  Having previously discouraged our dogs' habit of chasing and occasionally dispatching squirrels we were invited to encourage them as the squirrels cause so much damage, particularly to new (and expensive) stock, that any reduction in their numbers was welcome.  They are currrently exploring more efficient options but until one is identified we are to allow the slaughter to continue.  Neither terrier nor lurcher have (so far) left one alive; one bite/flick and it's all over - thank heavens, because I have absolutely no stomach for execution.

The only problem with encouraging dogs to catch squirrels is that they are more than capable of fighting back and potentially giving your dog a nasty injury.  So personally I try and discourage ours.

tree rats....aka squirrels...are one of the most dangerous thing your dog can catch & I know a number of hardened working terriers that have lost eyes to them and a cocker who died from squirrel injuries. its the only vermin I do not allow our terrier or hounds to catch.

:d Another person that call them tree rats...

I have cheeky tree rats that shin up the works building to my first floor windows
to get at the peanuts for the wild birds, they even rattle my windows for the nuts!!

We have so many of them in our garden and they are not welcome !!!! They dig my plants, my grass and the noise they make when chasing each other around the trees drives me mad

My GR Kez stalks them but he is very good and never chases !!! I am sure sometimes they almost taunt him by freezing on the spot. Hopefully he will never want to catch one not sure I could with that one as much as I don't like them

Grey Squirrels are classed as vermin so helping it would have only consisted of dispatching it quickly.  chances are that is what your dogs did.

My GSD girl caught one a couple of weeks ago, threw it up in the air a couple of times, but it did then get away. Did give her a bite on her lip though. Not something I'd like her to make a habit of, though I think it was more luck than judgement she caught it that day, she doesn't usually get that close
Kat