A hard lesson learned about chickens and pit bull not mixing well

[hungryhensfarm]

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I am familiar with the ban against pits in Lanett, AL. A woman was viciously attacked and killed. I can't remember exactly how many pits were involved in the attack but I believe it was more than one. It is also my understanding that the dogs had been trained to be aggressive intentionally. It was a very awful thing to have happen to anyone. I believe that emotions were involved in that ban. Lanett is the next town over from mine. About hens, I will speak with my cousin about that soon. The hens he used to have we believe were killed by a chicken hawk. One hen probably died trying to save her 3 little chicks. It was very sad.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I wish I was closer to you. I have so many comet pullets that I have to thin them down. Pitts are trained by bad owners. If trained right they will be loyal. In my book I read that they are... "poor to keep as guard dogs because they will just go up to the robber and lick him. Your best bet is to get a rottie." I laughed at that part. I would show you a youtube vid about why they are aggressive but it is way to graphic. I can PM it to you if you want

 

[hungryhensfarm]

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My grandparents had a rottie. "Freon" was one of a kind. After my grandfather passed away Freon became my Granny's companion. We used to tease Granny that she cared more about that dog than she did us. She denied that to the hilt. Granny broke her hip in Fall 2004. Dementia took her mind after that and she called constantly for my grandfather and Freon.

Unfortunately Granny had to be placed in a nursing home but she came home for any and all special occasions. Each time she and Freon would literally have a conversation and let each other know how glad they were to see the other. It was an amazing event to witness. Freon passed away in 2007. Granny followed in October 2008. I love rotties!

Feel free to PM that vid. I think I would like to see that. Thanks. For the information and support.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

We dont know if we have a rottie mix or a coonhound mix but she is a great dog. I wanted to bring up some info for people who think pitts have locking jaws. Its just an urban legend. I am also going to quote a link that will tell you why your roo was chased.

First here is the urban legend/myths

http://www.understand-a-bull.com/PitbullInformation/Urbanlegends.htm


Now here is a quote and the link underneath.

"For hundreds of years Pit Bulls were bred to fight dogs, certain traits were bred into the bloodlines for that purpose, high pain tolerance, high prey drive, etc. However a quality that was never bred into Pit Bulls was human aggression. Human "aggressive" dogs were undesirable as these dogs required extensive handling prior to and during their fights AND most of these dogs were also family pets so no human aggression was ever tolerated. Dogs that exhibited human aggression were typically killed, meaning that only human friendly lines were perpetuated and desired."

http://www.understand-a-bull.com/PitbullInformation/PitBullIndex.htm

 

[hungryhensfarm]

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The information provided in these links are very educational. Sheds alot of light on pits. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Your welcome. Thought some info should be read

 

[12 Acres]

I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. We all need to vent our frustrations at times and not be judged for them. I hope you find some solution to the problem and try again with chickens very soon. God bless!

 

[brandywine]

The clue in your original post about the source of the problem is that the dog "broke loose" and went after the roo.

Dogs that are restrained -- particularly tied up -- with fast moving prey just out of reach are going to build frustration and drive to go after that prey. It's canine nature. We do this exact thing when training young protection dogs -- backtie them and elicit their prey drive by teasing with a bite sleeve or tug just out of reach.

I can tell you that if a full-grown pit bulldog gets hold of a rooster, and the rooster lives to crow about it, the dog did not intend to kill the bird. This was experimental and "playful" in nature. It could well have killed the bird, because chickens are awfully fragile, but if the dog had a well-considered lethal intent, the roo wouldn't have lasted a half second in her jaws. (YMMV next time.)

Your daughter needs to get with a good, effective, balanced obedience trainer who isn't afraid of pits. (It's scary how many new-age trainettes are afraid of big "tough" breeds, whether they admit it or not. Many will take your money anyway, and mince around twitching whenever the dog yawns while cooing about what a sweet baby he is to reassure themselves.) When the dog is taught to restrain herself, not be physically held back, she can begin to train her to be safe around poultry. You'll get a better all-around dog who you might like to have near you, and your daughter will honor her boyfriend's memory by doing the right thing for his dog.

You might consider taking the same lessons with your dachshund; little dogs deserve an education as well.

Predation towards poultry has nothing to do with aggression. It's predation. It's nothing personal.

Some dogs (breed irrelevant) cannot be trusted around poultry unsupervised, even after effective training. This will have to do with their degree of prey drive, how much it's directed towards feathered creatures, and their capacity for self-control.

I have a GSD with extremely high prey drive and virtually zero self-directed impulse control. None of her prey drive is directed towards poultry. Guineas have crash-landed in her run and spent unsupervised hours running, flapping, and shrieking under her nose. She doesn't appear to notice they are there. They are not, after all, tennis balls. Yes, this is an unusual animal, but shows how individuals can defy generalizations. This same dog is genuinely dangerous towards other dogs in her own pack -- she's a dimwitted social climber willing to try lethal force to get to the top. (Hence, she has a run. She gets free-range time every day, but is the only dog of mine ever confined in this way.) Absolutely harmless to strange dogs and all humans.

My English shepherds have poultry-guarding duties that they take very seriously. Predators fear the security crew. My youngest also has rooster-discipline duties, which require her to chase him and make him *think* he's gonna die, without ever actually touching him, and peel off when he's had enough. That's a tough thing to ask of a young keen stockdog, but she has not disappointed me.

None of my own dogs were raised with poultry. The youngest was a year old when I got the first chooks.

Yesterday my foster pup (6 months old) went missing. Found him inside the electronet with 117 five-week-old range broiler chicks. They were all perfectly content with one another -- he was eating poop and stealing mash. It took me and my older dogs about a month to break him of playfully chasing chickens (my layers free-range all day), but he learned well, and got free-range privileges himself. (He's accidentally run afoul of the broody a few times and gotten a good pinch, which supported the training very nicely, even though he was innocent of intent towards her babies.)

This can be done, with most dogs, with an outcome varying from complete success (dogs and chickens can range together unsupervised, and dogs will protect chickens from predators and theft) to a relaxed management protocol that requires that the dog be under command and have human eyeballs glued to her whenever she's in the same space as the chooks.

 

[Rolsjo]

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Well spoken!

 

[hungryhensfarm]

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Well spoken!

I agree. This dog broke her collar while being walked on a leash. She is in need of some serious training and we are looking into that now.