I am no longer a dog person

[muddler6]

I use to love dogs, but today when we got home there were two dogs going after my rooster, that changed my perspective on dogs. They managed to get ahold of him from outside the run and pull him right through the chicken wire. The worst part was that my daughters saw the whole thing. My 8 year old was screaming. I managed to run the dogs off, but it was too late. He was so badly hurt and torn up there was no question about what had to be done. I told the girls to go inside and waited for my wife to get out of sight before I did anything. Luckily my two bantam cochins that were free ranging all day made it to safety, but I was worried when I couldn't find them for a while. I was relieved not to see any white feathers in the yard. They eventually came back unharmed. They have survived opposum attacks and now a dog attack.

 

[Zookeeper9000]

:aww

 

[chickens4jojo]

I am so very sorry. That is a terrible thing for anyone to see especially for little girls...

I am glad your little bantams are OK.

 

[redhen]

oh, i'm sorry to hear about that!!....the poor children!..i hope the dogs dont come back...sorry for your loss..Wendy

 

[ptig78d]

Sorry to hear about your loss! It's too bad that it happened, and more so, that your child witnessed it.
However, I don't feel that changing your attitude towards dogs is necessary. I'm sure to a dog, a chicken looks like one of two things: food, or something to play with/chase. It's in their nature!
I think it's worth rethinking your awareness of dogs and seeing them for their potential to wreak havoc on a backyard flock.
We have a chocolate lab, and we don't let her loose to run around if the chickens are free-ranging. She'd just chase them around to death!
Again, sorry to hear about the loss. Good luck with your other two feathered friends!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

OH that's horrible! Your poor family and your daughter who had to watch that

I hope she is ok.

 

[deb1]

I am so sorry. :aww

The dogs though were just being animals. They didn't understand that the chickens were yours. All that they know is that those chickens looked like prey that they were supposed to hunt.

I think that you should be more upset with the owners then the dogs.

I don't understand how people who love their dogs can let them roam.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

My red healer pup likes to chase the chickens. I finally caught him in the act and now he is in the kennel when the chicken are free ranging. However, If I had seen him destroy a chicken, he would have eaten a bullet. It is my humble opinion that once a dog has done this you MUST kill it or get rid of it.

Nothing will work here. I know people that have tried all the tricks. In time the dog will just go right back to the old habits. My corgie will simply ignore the chiickens. She knows that I will not tolerate her harming the chickens in any way. It really depends on the dog and perhaps a bit of training.

Hope you never see this again.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
I have two corgies that really like my chickens. They've been with them since they hatched.

 

[jacyjones]

Quote:
I agree a lot depends on the type of dog. I would disagree that nothing can be done. We had our Springer spaniel before we started keeping chickens and she killed a neighbour's chicken that came in our garden. we used an electric collar on her once when we first got our own and it worked perfectly. She is an old dog of 12 now but she has never looked at the chickens. She will look the other way if one walks up to her and she has passed on her "chicken sense" to our young spaniel. Of course these are not your dogs so it is a different matter. I just hope they don't come back - I think you need to be ready for that to happen.