Niko's Prey (Killer Instinct)

I have seen Niko go through enough furry toys to make some important observations. 

He picks up his prey by the head with his mouth of course. He shakes his head violently with the poor animal in his mouth. This is to knock it unconscious. Next, he works on the eyes. He doesn't give up until the eyes of his prey are gone. All his toys are eyeless. With the eyes gone, he's now found a hole where he proceeds to take the stuffing out. Depending on the quality of the toy, it could take him a few minutes or a few hours to get to this point.
After this, he may let go of the toy or we take away to try to make the purchase last more than a day. When he comes back to it, he chews the head pretty good. Often, if we get to the toy, the head is unrecognizable and the tail is almost untouched. 
The animal pictured on this post is a squirrel. 

Vital organs missing

Looking innocent
Perhaps it is in his nature to know how to "kill" in order to survive. Shiba Inus have a history of being bird hunting dogs in Japan after all. Interestingly enough, Niko was out in the yard on the tether yesterday. I looked out the window and saw a live squirrel hopping around. I went outside to check on Niko because he always lunges toward squirrels to chase them. I found him up on the hill by the deck cowering back and looking at the squirrel. Not so vicious after all, are you Niko?