Back to the future!
Yorkshire Terriers were originally bred to be rat killers because their small size would allow them to chase the rats into almost every safe haven that humans could not even think about.
We have an AKC male that has shown this trait since the day we received him. He loves his little plush squeekie toys that are about the size of a small rat to an obsession. When playing with him, we throw it and he pounces on it and finds a particular portion to latch his teeth onto and then whip shakes the heck out of it while growling at the same time. We are told this was the way they broke the necks of their prey.
“We are told this was the way they broke the necks of their prey.”
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I watched my daughter’s spaniel do that with a squirrel.
He held it for a few seconds in his mouth,then he went right,left.right,left,and the squirrel was dead.
He then put it on the ground and walked away——there was no bite mark or blood on the squirrel.
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My rat terrier would do the same. She is more like a cat and as a puppy wouldn’t eat unless I rolled her dry food across the floor. Still doing it for fun (hockey dog never lets it pass) 10 years later.