If you haven't already read Part 1: The Jungle Fowl Incident
About a year ago I bought two brown Moscovy ducklings. These two ducklings were like part of the family as they were hand raised, and even slept close as we are off grid and didn't want to run our generator all night to keep a light bulb burning. These ducks were so cool, as they would follow us around in the yard and really bonded to us! They had the strangest behaviors like they would bob there heads up and down and pretend like they were talking. We really loved those ducks!
From Part 1, you read that we rescued two dogs from the pound Klöe and Chochang. With two new puppies I began to watch Dog Whisperer who teaches to nudge your dog by giving a gentle kick or tap in the ribs if the dog enters an excited or aggressive type state. I also watched my favorite British control freak, the lady that does It's Me Or the Dog, who basically uses a treat based positive reenforcement technique. Both methods have their merits, so I used a little of both!
Guess what it worked after painstakingly appraising the dogs for ignoring the chickens and our two ducks we had success. Not to mention Chochang was terrified of our big rooster who is very protective of of his girls. Even after our success we still took every precaution when leaving the house and even asked our neighbor to please watch our house if she hears something strange like chickens making a ruckus to please check it out. My main concern was the ducks because they ran free to eat Couqui frogs a noisy pest we have on the Big Island, thanks to ships coming from central America 10 years ago.
One day I left to work when my neighbor heard Chochang barking and she thought she saw her loose. Sure enough, she had wiggled her way out of the collar and was free! Unfortunately the damage had been done and Chochang had already mauled both ducks who where injured pretty bad. When I got home and saw my beloved ducks in such bad shape, I became very angry at Chochang who throgh the training I had developed a strong bond with. I felt that she knew how much the ducks meant to me and still she did what she did.
We convened and made a family decision... Chochang must go. The reasoning was two fold; first we did not want Chochang to hurt anymore animals as she had a strong prey drive. Second we were afraid that her behavior would somehow rub off on Klöe.
We took her to the humane society confident she would be adopted. She was such a beautiful dog and was very kind and gentle. Truthfully it was very hard to decide to do this but she had more than three chance.
The ducks made a miraculous recovery as we put them on antibiotics and cared for their wounds. The decision paid off as we were able to spend more time with Klöe and she quickly mastered the concept- chickens are to be ignored!
Wow we had it all! Free range chickens, and a dog that could run around the property when were not at home and not be chained!
Did we make the right decision? I still feel very guilty about it... On the flip side she did get placed in a really good home!
Stay Tuned for Part 3... Klöe The Water Dog... But I'm Inocent!
About a year ago I bought two brown Moscovy ducklings. These two ducklings were like part of the family as they were hand raised, and even slept close as we are off grid and didn't want to run our generator all night to keep a light bulb burning. These ducks were so cool, as they would follow us around in the yard and really bonded to us! They had the strangest behaviors like they would bob there heads up and down and pretend like they were talking. We really loved those ducks!
From Part 1, you read that we rescued two dogs from the pound Klöe and Chochang. With two new puppies I began to watch Dog Whisperer who teaches to nudge your dog by giving a gentle kick or tap in the ribs if the dog enters an excited or aggressive type state. I also watched my favorite British control freak, the lady that does It's Me Or the Dog, who basically uses a treat based positive reenforcement technique. Both methods have their merits, so I used a little of both!
Guess what it worked after painstakingly appraising the dogs for ignoring the chickens and our two ducks we had success. Not to mention Chochang was terrified of our big rooster who is very protective of of his girls. Even after our success we still took every precaution when leaving the house and even asked our neighbor to please watch our house if she hears something strange like chickens making a ruckus to please check it out. My main concern was the ducks because they ran free to eat Couqui frogs a noisy pest we have on the Big Island, thanks to ships coming from central America 10 years ago.
One day I left to work when my neighbor heard Chochang barking and she thought she saw her loose. Sure enough, she had wiggled her way out of the collar and was free! Unfortunately the damage had been done and Chochang had already mauled both ducks who where injured pretty bad. When I got home and saw my beloved ducks in such bad shape, I became very angry at Chochang who throgh the training I had developed a strong bond with. I felt that she knew how much the ducks meant to me and still she did what she did.
We convened and made a family decision... Chochang must go. The reasoning was two fold; first we did not want Chochang to hurt anymore animals as she had a strong prey drive. Second we were afraid that her behavior would somehow rub off on Klöe.
We took her to the humane society confident she would be adopted. She was such a beautiful dog and was very kind and gentle. Truthfully it was very hard to decide to do this but she had more than three chance.
The ducks made a miraculous recovery as we put them on antibiotics and cared for their wounds. The decision paid off as we were able to spend more time with Klöe and she quickly mastered the concept- chickens are to be ignored!
Wow we had it all! Free range chickens, and a dog that could run around the property when were not at home and not be chained!
Did we make the right decision? I still feel very guilty about it... On the flip side she did get placed in a really good home!
Stay Tuned for Part 3... Klöe The Water Dog... But I'm Inocent!
