Help with DOGS

[Beginner2015]

Ok so I have 2 young puppy's (less than a year old) one is a beagle and the other is a blue tick hound) my dad purchased them after our other two dogs died a few months ago. I wanted a bluetick (beca use they are smart) but I didn't ask for this beagle. This satanic beagle. He behaves in every way exept 2 1 he bites our other dog and that's fine that's for the dogs to settle and 2 he eats chickens... No he gnaws on chickens till their skin comes off and they die. I wish he'd just eat the stupid things so we could save a little on food.
anyway I asked my paretns if I could get chickens about 7 months ago and my dad went and built me a very nice chicken coop. And for that I am thankful, but the best and worst part about the coop it's built inside our giant chainlink dog lot. It's great for keeping out predators but it's also really bad because now that we have two "hunting dogs who like to wander" (or at least that's what dad calls them) we have to keep the puppies in the dog lot during the day. And for two days in a row (today will probably make 3) my dogs have killed one chicken a piece weather it's one dog killing 2 or both dogs sharing the fun I do not know. All I know is that I'm loosing chickens and loosing money and these dogs are taking more chickens than they coyotes would if I got rid of the dogs.
Any advice on how to rid them of this behavior

Before you answer
- yes they are dogs and no this is not NORMAL DOG BEHAVIOR I'm so tired of hearing that. This is not normal dog behavior
- I have tried shoving their face in it and spanking them with the carcass they don't get why I'm. Mad and my family dosent help when they go and pet all over them for "being good dogs" 10 seconds after I just punished the for being bad
- my parents are unwilling to help and I don't know how I'm going to keep these stubborn dogs in line
- I have even tried tieing the dead chickens around the dogs neck but that's "inhumane"
No it's not those chickens dying day after day is inhumane.
- thank you for your helpful answers

 

[chicmom]

I understand why you're really upset. I have my dogs in a chain link fenced area, and the hen house (with an attached chicken run) is on the OUTSIDE of the fenced area. The fence is for the DOGS and the chickens are out.

Your dad made a mistake and he needs to fix it, because the dogs aren't protecting the chickens from predators. They are just another predator.

If he won't fix it, then you need to keep the chickens in the coop. (Which is really not great if you don't have a chicken run for them.)

Can he put the chicken coop outside the fenced dog yard? I let mine free range during the day and then they are locked in the coop/run at night, so they're pretty safe from most predators. There's still some risk, but not much. I seem to lose one chicken a year.

I hate to say this, but if your dad won't cooperate, then you probably should just give your chickens to someone with a safer environment. Maybe you could sell them. Then maybe get a different pet?

I know that's not what you want to hear and I'm sorry.

 

[gawildlife]

Get rid of the dogs.

 

[CrazyTalk]

You can't fix these sort of things after they happen - you need to fix them while they're happening. Your parents petting the dog 10 seconds later isn't doing any damage - the dog has already mentally moved on. That's why shoving dogs faces in things, and tying dead chickens around them doesn't work - they can't associate the punishment with the action. They either associate the presence of the item as being punishable (IE, they kill more chickens because you just told them chickens being around is a punishable offence), or they associate you with the punishment.

I'm guessing you didn't do much training with the dogs and chickens together before they started killing birds - that's always the problem - people just expect these things to work for some reason.

At this point, the dogs can't be around the birds without you being there, and they should probably only be out there one at a time, on leash (short at first, then long), so you have more control. Any move towards the birds needs to be loudly rebuked. Any chasing that isn't immediately rebuked is just reinforcing the behavior.

 

[gawildlife]

It's to late to correct these mutts, the habit has been set.

Stopping this begins at birth the same as keeping one of our own human babies from harm. To many dog havers acquire a dog at some stage of growth toss it in the back yard and hope all turns out well.
You wouldn't do this to a child and not expect to have some sort of interpersonal conflicts.
Young pups need almost constant interaction with their people with positive reinforcement of correct behavior and instant correction of error. Raise a dog the same way you would a child and you shouldn't have major problems.
Now this isn't to equate canines to humans but the principle is the same. Dogs are pack oriented and we are family oriented. Deal with issues as they arise and save yourself the grief of having to cut off a pack member.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Plenty of chicken killing dogs have been reformed. This is no different than a dog pooing in the house, or raiding the trashcan - it's a bad behavior that's easy to fix as long as you control the situation, reward the correct behavior, and reprimand any sign of bad behavior.

Killing a chicken doesn't instantly turn your pet into some sort of unredeemable dangerous monster. There are some dogs that aren't worth the time training, or aren't easy to train in general, but there's nothing special or unique about chicken killing.

 

[gawildlife]

Keep telling yourself that. Someday you might believe it.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Your inability to train dogs properly does not prove that dogs are untrainable.

 

[gawildlife]

I welcome you to visit with any of the dogs I've trained. My own peanut responds to my every command mostly via hand signal.
Big difference between training and emotion.

 

[bobbi-j]

OK, so returning to our regularly scheduled program.... You're in a tough situation. I will not get into the argument of whether or not these dogs can be reformed. You are the only one who will know how that turns out and the only way you'll know is if you spend a LOT of consistent time and training on these dogs. Until you are able to do that, separation is your only option. The chickens need a run that's their own place. The dogs need their own separate place. Do some chores, earn some money, and ask your dad to help you with the project. Thank him for building your coop, tell him how much you appreciate it. Then explain that you need to separate the chickens and dogs.