Can you retrain a chicken killing dog?

[LuannKeller]

My neighbor is a very nice fellow. We both have huge fenced yards. His new dog - a rescued 9 month lab mix - digs under the fence or climbs the fence to enter my yard each morning and kill chickens. Last week it was 2 assaults, then Sunday his first kill, caught him making good effort to kill yesterday, and this morning I caught him too late for 2 Serama roosters and 3 white leghorn hens. I had warned my neighbor that once they start killing it gets worse and that he could kill a lot of chickens in just 30 minutes.

I think the dog needs to be put down - uncontainable, uncontrolable, thrill killer. My neighbor does not want to do that. I explained that finding him a new home would just put other people's pets in danger. He nearly got my cat and it was a murderous intent - i could tell. My neighbor has a big 2 acre fenced yard with a companion for the bad dog...but he wants to kill chickens. He lunges at cages and got into a cage to do his killing this morning.

I cured my other neighbors dog after just one attack. When he pulled a hen off her nest and ran with her, I waited for him to come back. I locked him in my fence for hours and terrorized him (never hurting but yelling and threatening and chasing him "with the fury of God's own thurnder.") My 2 younger girls were crying and begging me to stop, but I told them it was for his own good. He's never come back and barks at me when I am out in my yard.

On Monday, when I caught him trying to kill chickens, I picked him up and yelled and shoved his nose in the dead chicken he killed Sunday while I was at church and caged him, but today's episode makes it clear that my averson therapy isn't working and the thrill is worth it.

Can you tell me how to break his bad habit?

 

[ginbart]

Put him down he's not going to stop. OR, my father in law tied a dead chicken around a dogs neck and made him keep it on until it stunk.

Maybe if you do that when he goes home the neighbor may understand. As an mater of fact, tie all the dead chickens around his neck. Good kuck

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I had a neighbors dog come onto our property and wipe out my entire flock in no time about a month or so ago...so I know what you're going through.

I'd call the police & file a report. I would then ask the neighbor to buy a shock colllar and either perimeter train the dog with the kind of collar that shocks if they leave their designated place, or a remote shock collar and give you the remote. Once the dog starts digging, shock it. Make it very unpleasant to be coming onto your place.

So as far as retraining the dog, is may be possible. But it will take time. Every time it tries to dig, it should be stopped. It sounds like an energetic young dog that needs more direction, exercise and training....not to mention supervision.

I've always heard once a killer, always...and once they taste blood, they will be back. However, I'm not sure if this is true, or not. That's just what I've heard. My MIL lost all of her ducks & all of her chickens about 5 years ago to another neighbor dog. She caught the dog, tied a dead chicken to the back of it's neck and made a sign that read, "I AM A CHICKEN KILLIN' DOG." and then she shooed it home. Those neighbors were so embarassed and it never did happen again.

I'd make my coop Fort Knox. Use hardware cloth instead of flimsy chicken wire around the run. Sadly, I've not let my birds free range since the attack. I'm just too paranoid about them picking killed again. While they love to free range, I just don't think the risks outweight the rewards. You could also install electric poultry fencing on the inside of your fence and around the outside of the chicken coop. Let him chew on it. He's going to only do that once. You could also get a paintball gun and shoot the poop outta that dog if he comes over. Then your neighbor will know it's been at your place.

Lastly, I would inventory your chickens. This is something I wished I'd done before the attack. Make a list of every chicken you own, take photos of them, alive & happy. Set values on each one so you'll have a monetary amount per chicken. I figured mine on $25-$45 a piece. And be sure to take photos of the carnage, if it happens again. Even better, if you can take a photo or video of the dog in the act (if you know the chicken is dead already). I'd take the carcasses, dog and your inventory list over to the neighbor and have him pay. The police may or may not choose to get involved because sometimes they say it's a "civil matter," but I'd still file police reports & follow up a call to the humane society.

 

[horsejody]

If the neighbor can't afford a better fence, then he can't afford the dog. I had a rescued great dane when I was a kid. It hated everything except me and my Dad's daschund. Dad had to fence part of the yard with 8 foot high fence and bury some too. If the neighbor won't fix the problem, SSS.

 

[horsejody]

Did the guy rescue it through the humane society or was it through another rescue group? Many groups have policies that they have the right to take the dog back if it is not properly cared for or it is in jeopardy. If he did get the dog from one of those groups, call them and tell them he is not properly confining the dog, and it will be shot next time. They may reclaim the dog and rehome it with somebody more concerned for its welfare. However, if it came from the humane society, they won't do anything.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Nope! Once they get a taste for it, there's no stopping them. Sorry.

 

[LuannKeller]

I won't let him pay for the chickens - they were my pets, not for sale at any price. I would not want him to feel that I have been compensated - he can't pay enough to erase the sadness of the losses. But I will let him earmark those funds for his shock collar, electric fence...any device that will keep his dog from making a repeat of this attack.

My poor leghorn hens were just 8 survivors I managed to get out of their burning coop when my barn burned down in January, and he killed them with such glee. I think I must call myself a former dog lover.

But I still want to be a good neighbor. The fellow is out of town often and his less than dutiful son is not vigilant with the dog care anyway. I think I need to insist that the killer is sent away.

 

[augiedranch]

no no no. he will not stop. and EVERY pound adopts dogs out that are "lab crosses". i volunteer at a humane shelter and i work at a vet clinic.

why do u think the dog was in the pound in the first place? poss cuz he killed another animal..

put it down. or give it away to someone eles who doesnt have any animals and a fence it cannot get out of.

i personally DO NOT like labs.


at the humane shelter, we cannot adopt out pits, so we call them lab mixes, when they are pit mixes.. he might have pit bull in him.


i love animals, hence going through vet school and working at a vet clinic, but i also know that this behavior will not stop

 

[jacyjones]

I am so sorry to hear about this dog! I agree - it sounds like it needs proper training and its energies channelled in the right way. We had a Springer that killed chickens before we had our own and we were very worried she would kill again. we used a shock collar on her and it only took a couple of shocks - after that she would go no where near the birds and if 1 walked up to her she would run the other way. She is now an old lady of 12 and still is no trouble with the poultry. Of course it is different when the dog belongs to some one else and this guy needs to take responsibility for his dog. Good luck.

 

[augiedranch]

also, i wouldnt spend money dog proofing your place. its not your responsibility. your fence works fine for you. its his problem, and he should be the one to fix the problem. and spend his money fixing it, not yours. also, if it gets out again,and comes to your property legally u can take it to the pound or eleswhere.

just get rid of it, u said the guy was out of town alot,, take care of the dog then,, u know what i mean.