Trapped a Neighbor's Dog on My Deck....Got an Earful

Well, sometimes you have tried all the honest ways of trying to solve a problem, and , you have to think of alternative means. I mean there are chicken lives at stake!

~~In the "real country" dogs may not be as well liked a chickens, but here in the Connecticut country, we value our dogs. They have been protectors, companions, babysitters, guards, hunting companions, friends, and family members for about the last 120,000 years. When I had to put my black lab down a few years ago, I was absolutely devastated, took 2 days off from work and wasn't the least bit ashamed. Poultry is a food source with a brain the size of a pea. A lizard with feathers, with the same emotion and intelligence. Don't get me wrong, I love my birds, I smile when I see them, and watching them is fun. When my mallards see my truck pull into the driveway, they start quite a racket. The chickens and pheasant don't even look up. If something kills one, and it happens, I take it personally, but there is no comparison to the human/canine symbiotic relationship. If your chicken comes on my land and helps itself to my vegetables by your logic I should just blast away. Crazy. I'd just run him off of have the dog do it. If I shoot a problem dog with a BB gun, you guys feel it's cruel, but if I blow his brains out, then it's better for the dog ? Crazy. Dogs can learn. Behavioral modification. I say its better than death. If it were me being the problem, I'd rather get shot with a BB gun. Hey, if a dog is running cows or spooking sheep, he is a problem, big difference between a ten dollar chicken and an $5000.00 cow, My entire point being that I love New England, I am proud of New England, I was raised here, never been more than 100 miles from the Atlantic ocean, and I'll die here, and be buried right in this town. Your other state is pathetic. While northern California is beautiful, and the Pacific is second only to the Atlantic, its still full of simpering commie freaks running around in sandals and beads, smoking dope and it's broke. California is like a bowl of cereal, its full of fruit, nuts, and flakes. Nevada ? Three words " Senator Harry Reid. " remeber, "Better yet, Connecticut." Apologies in advance, this time I really am done with this thread, lol. PEACE.

Some people actually rely on poultry to earn their living - which is why I refer to the "real country" as opposed to "Connecticut country." Yes, there are working farms in Connecticut - but people on real farms understand that their dogs can turn into wannabe wolves off-property and don't let them destroy the stock down the road. Farming is a business, and farmers understand that having a symbiotic relationship with a dog doesn't trump someone else's right to make a living or enjoy their property.

I have some really nice neighbors in Nevada, people who came to retire. Really good folks, but not used to living outside a developed area. They had a really sweet dog who was a perpetual puppy. Unfortunately, the people didn't really understand that dogs do not roam free in the country for very long. The perpetual puppy went down the road, chased some other stock, and then dispatched a chicken or a few. The stock owners came over and explained the problem and asked them very nicely to please keep the dog on their own property, and the good neighbors bought them a sack of chicken feed as compensation. It happened again. No more perpetual puppy. Since they were good neighbors, they accepted the inevitable and understood why it happened. I'm just grateful that I wasn't the one who had to do it because the dog was such a sweet, playful, friendly creature with a fatal flaw - he hadn't been trained to be around stock. After the fact they realized that had the dog persisted in chasing expensive miniature horses at the stud next door - among other stock - they could have been financially destroyed.

I agree the Atlantic is nice, unlike most of the Pacific Coast you can actually swim in it, and I like eating lobster although as a native of the Pacific Northwest I'm more partial to Dungeness crab. I sail a catboat on SF Bay - not the classic Cape Cod kind because you can't find them here - mine is essentially a very fast 23' deep keel dinghy with a cabin and berths with a sail that reaches more than 30' above the waterline on a carbon fiber mast - and the truth is I'd rather have a beamy shoal draft centerboard Cape Cod or Long Island Sound - NY- NJ type catboat. I even like mast hoops and gaffs more than Marconi rigs. My mother's family has New England roots, tracing to the Mayflower and the Arabella, as well as to the Iroquois people of New York. Her father was a Mathews from the early New York family. They moved to Washington Territory to raise horses for the Remount. I descend from a long line of religious nuts, including Elder William Brewster. B^)

Spooking sheep? Ever tried to pull apart a bunch of sheep suffocating against a fence and dying of hyperthermia after some idiot let their little sweet lap dog run because "He wouldn't hurt them" which is usually followed by "He didn't mean any harm" and culminated with "How dare the judge order me to pay for those sheep after that mean awful person shot my poor beloved doggy? I've suffered enough."

seminolewind said:

My 2 dogs (one's a Boston Terrier) have a well fenced in area separate from the chickens. My neighbor's chickens frequently get thru the fence and roam the dogs' yard. We have to watch before we leg the dogs go. But a hen decided to lay an egg at the corner of our side of the fence. Of course my dog shook the hen like a play thing. I actually buried the hen for him. But his hens jump the fence now and then still do.

I hope he's not expecting my hubby to reinforce his fence. My dogs are contained.
When another neighbor moved in on the other side, first thing I told him was that my mule is very territorial and WILL kill any animal that comes into the yard, so be careful with his dog.

You could tell your neighbor that racoons have forced you to put down leg traps on your property, and are concerned about their dog having his leg crushed. It might work.

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I've known a number of mules like that. I've known some on very good terms with the sheep or cattle that are pastured with them that will dispatch any dog that even thinks about approaching the other stock - almost as if the other stock are their pets. Others would as soon flatten a sheep or a cow as dog.

Awesome that he grew up and took responsibility. It sounds like there is hope for him and life should be good in your neck of the woods.

The young man moved out west so no longer lives with his father next door, however, the dog is still around and sometimes, I see it at the end of my driveway. If I'd spent as much as he did on that huge chainlink fence area, that dog would never get out of it.

Well, we just caught the very dog from this thread in our pasture just outside the livestock fencing, seven years later. They never learn. This time, I think someone is there taking care of the place while the guy is off on his job somewhere, but I can't be sure. No more warnings. Why put up an expensive chain link fence if the dog is never in it?

And now, 10 years later, this kid is a grown man and has inherited his father's house. His dad passed away last fall. This is what I caught in my driveway a few days ago, supposedly belonging to a frequent visitor to that neighbor and also, supposedly a "service dog". Seems a lackadaisical way to manage a valuable dog, if she really is. My gate was open for a delivery and chickens had been free ranging and dustbathing under my steps not long before, but I had thankfully decided to keep the next groups penned that day so none were in imminent danger. I've also included a sign that is on the way to me that will be posted at the front of the property, positioned to face the road and sort of turned toward their property. We did call. Whoever answered the phone said only "well, she's down here now". No apology, nada. The next day, Mark Jr called us to apologize for the dog being here, BUT today the dog was loose and running all over the place, saw it when I walked to the mailbox.