No good deed goes unpunished.....

[ChickenPox]

We took in a foster dog with an extremely sad story. She was a good dog, just needed love and attention. No indication that she would go after the birds. Two weeks without incident, and this morning I woke up to her chasing down a second bird and the remains of the first strewn everywhere. I am heartbroken and feel very betrayed. Dogs are impossible to get rid of. No one wants them. We weren't originally planning on keeping her, but was thinking about it.....until this. I don't even want to look at her right now. She jumped into the pen with them to do this. We work full time and can't watch her 24/7. Our other two dogs we've never had a problem with.

It makes me never want to try to help ever again. These were meaties, and were going to the pot saturday, but that's not the point. I had saved that one from heat stroke about 6 weeks ago. It was a miracle she was still alive.

 

[bobbi-j]

When you got the dog, did you make any attempt to introduce it to the chickens? To see how it would react around them? To train it that they are your chickens? If not, why would the dog know that this was not acceptable behavior? You can't just get a dog, throw it into a situation and expect it to automatically know what's right from wrong. The dog didn't "betray" you. If anything, you betrayed the dog by setting it up for failure. While we're at it, if the dog could jump into the fence where your chickens are, they're not safe from anything, really. A fox, coyote, raccoon, opossum, mink hawk, owl or even a stray dog can get in there and kill your birds, too. You don't want the dog anymore, but can't get rid of her? Simple - take her out and shoot her in the head. That will solve all your current problems, and the dog's, too. You won't have to train her, find her a new home or figure out a simple way to keep the dog and chickens separated so she can't get any more of them. Your dog won't have to live in a place where she is just expected to know things without proper training, consideration for her breed or temperament or anything else. She won't have to be always wondering if she's going to get in trouble for something.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Dogs are always ongoing projects, and they always need more training.


Get yourself a crate or a kennel, and keep the dog inside while you're not home. You've got a lot of training to do before the dog should be out unsupervised with fast moving squeaky toys.

 

[ChickenPox]

Wow bobbi, judgemental much? I never once said that I didn't introduce the chickens to the dog and discourage any interest in them. And this is not OUR dog, but one we took in to prevent its "owners" from dumping it. I am sad. You don't know me, know nothing about me. Save your judgemets.

 

[20736]

Sorry this happened, I have had dog problems from time to time myself.
You did the right thing for the right reasons, so what would you have done differently; the wrong thing for the right reasons or the right thing for the wrong reasons?
Yeah, this stuff happens. I am sure you will be able to find a workable solution and move on from this experience older and wiser.
Probably have the fun of keeping birds is learning more about yourself.
Good Luck, you will be fine.

 

[ChickenPox]

We have had the dog less than 2 weeks. She showed some interest in the caged birds but was reprimanded. She showed zero interest in the meaties. They are in a TEMPORARY pen in our fully enclosed back yard and guarded by our other dog, not LGD, but chases off other preds. Unfortunately he was inside this morning. They have been in there since Saturday without an issue. The dog hasn't bothered the caged birds in our presence since. She HAD BEEN TRAINED in the less than 2 weeks we had her to ignore the birds, at least when we are around. She's a very smart dog, which is her problem.

Just because I don't list all the details doesn't mean I'm a complete moron and deserve to have my hand slapped by the internet police. Geez.

 

[ChickenPox]

Thank you for the constructive post! I am fully aware that I trusted the dog too soon, but I don't need to be told to shoot her in the head. How cruel.

 

[1muttsfan]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Fostering is a very tricky business. Many dogs just need a good home, and have no behavior issues, others may have problems that are unknown. It is certainly kind of you to try to help.

As to the remarks from the second poster above, they seem unnecessarily harsh. Please do not feel that everyone sees the situation in that way.

 

[ChickenPox]

Thank you. I am upset. Its been a rough day in more ways than one.

 

[SavageDestiny]

I just don't know why people are always shocked when dogs act like dogs. They're predators. They tend to also have a "honeymoon period" in a new home before displaying problem behaviors, usually right around 2 weeks.

Bobbi made a VERY good point that if the dog can get in to kill your chickens, so can everything else. That security problem really needs to be addressed.