➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[BantyChooks]

Did they end up putting him down or rehoming him? I forget.

They almost put him down, but then I think they found a friend in town willing to take him. Not sure how they managed to transition a giant Husky used to acres of space to one house in the suburbs, but hey, he hasn't come back so I don't care.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I told myself I wouldn’t get involved in anymore debates...


I disagree that the two GSD in question were neurotic (“bad dogs”) based solely on their actions. Clearly they had no training and were neglected by their owner.
The pack mentality is real; maybe it’s weird for one dog to break into a coop to kill an entire flock, but it doesn’t surprise me at all that two would.

For the record, Triumph has maimed his fair share of small animals. Yes, for fun. I’ve seen him rip apart an armadillo and drag it’s intestines out, while wagging his tail and having the time of his life.
No, I did not condone that and would’ve stopped it if I could.
I have no doubt that in his younger years he would’ve killed an entire flock of chickens (given the chance) if he did not have the proper training.
All dogs kill for fun. It’s a game. It’s whether or not you can curb that behavior with training that really matters.

That being said, I’m not disillusioned and those dogs will probably he euthanized by animal control, if for no other reason than there’s just too many dogs and not enough homes. A dog with a record is a hard sell.
In an ideal world, I think they should be evaluated for human and dog aggression, and offered for adoption (with a disclosure) if they cleared that. But that’s just my opinion.

Exactly!!! I 100% agree with all of this and this is what I was trying to say but you said it so much better than I did!!

 

[Conan]

They almost put him down, but then I think they found a friend in town willing to take him. Not sure how they managed to transition a giant Husky used to acres of space to one house in the suburbs, but hey, he hasn't come back so I don't care.

He probably ate their house and turned their suburban yard into a trench warfare zone.

When I pet sat for a couple years in college, I could not believe the damage done to yards and homes by huskies and malamutes. Most of them had to kenneled on cement and only let out for a brief period. One home I visited had a pair of malamutes that were housed together, and a second single male alone. I had to let them out separately because the males tried to kill each other if they out at the same time. The yard was INSANE.
Those folks were wild. They had like five cats in a room (yes, it reeked), an African gray parrot, a cockatiel (sp?), and a hamster running around in a ball. It was chaos.

 

[BantyChooks]

He probably ate their house and turned their suburban yard into a trench warfare zone.

When I pet sat for a couple years in college, I could not believe the damage done to years and homes by huskies and malamutes. Most of them had to kenneled on cement and only let out for a brief period. One home I visited had a pair of malamutes that were housed together, and a second single male alone. I had to let them out separately because the males tried to kill each other if they out at the same time. The yard was INSANE.
Those folks were wild. They had like five cats in a room (yes, it reeked), an African gray parrot, a cockatiel (sp?), and a hamster running around in a ball. It was chaos.

Agreed. Any dog that has to be contained on a concrete pad is just not in the right place at all.

So y'all won't think I just have a vendetta against dogs, there's also the case of the border collie down the road. She's a few years old, super smart, and gorgeous. The owners did a training regime on her like none I've ever seen. She wasn't allowed off leash until she behaved perfectly ALL the time. She got taken on long walks, and she was required to always listen to commands, not half listen some of the time. They were insistent on her never being allowed to even go on our property. (Thank goodness) The end result? A smart dog that doesn't roam and doesn't even know I have chickens. Her owners are VERY consistent with keeping tabs on her and they still enforce listening to commands. She was swimming in a pond with ducks last year and she didn't do more than swim around them a couple times and then get out of the pond when her owners called her. That's the kind of owner that can own these dogs humanely and without destruction of others' property (chickens or not) resulting from it. It's just really hard if not impossible to fix these personality types once they've gotten that chance. She didn't need a second chance 'cause she never used up the first one.

 

[Conan]

Agreed. Any dog that has to be contained on a concrete pad is just not in the right place at all.

So y'all won't think I just have a vendetta against dogs, there's also the case of the border collie down the road. She's a few years old, super smart, and gorgeous. The owners did a training regime on her like none I've ever seen. She wasn't allowed off leash until she behaved perfectly ALL the time. She got taken on long walks, and she was required to always listen to commands, not half listen some of the time. They were insistent on her never being allowed to even go on our property. (Thank goodness) The end result? A smart dog that doesn't roam and doesn't even know I have chickens. Her owners are VERY consistent with keeping tabs on her and they still enforce listening to commands. She was swimming in a pond with ducks last year and she didn't do more than swim around them a couple times and then get out of the pond when her owners called her. That's the kind of owner that can own these dogs humanely and without destruction of others' property (chickens or not) resulting from it. She didn't need a second chance 'cause she never used up the first one.

... in a perfect world, right? I love a nice, well trained dog. She sounds lovely.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Not at all.
Shoot, my awesome dobie/lab chased a chicken the first time he saw one. Once.
Same with the street rat. I do understand that it's instinct, and is stronger in some breeds than others. Training is required.
These specific dogs destroyed two coops/runs and killed two flocks of birds within a couple weeks. Who knows what else they did in that time period. I sure as heck would never want a dog like that and I doubt anyone else would either.

Phew, that’s a relief then

You are absolutely right, they require training and sadly a lot of dogs aren’t getting that.

And hmm, that’s true, and it’s definitely a concern, but then again they could have been out mauling humans like some free roaming dogs do, even dogs of their very breed, yet they chose to just hunt chickens instead which is not really aggressive behavior. We’ve had dogs come onto our property and bark at us, growl and try to protect/defend my property and not let us on our own property. Some loose dogs kill people.

Not that killing chickens is a good activity, it’s awful, but I’m still not sure it means the dogs are evil bad dogs. Idk.

They just lack training and structure. Which GSDs especially need more than most breeds.

But I’m aware most people won’t want to deal with a dog like that unfortunately for these two.

No. I was not armed, so I had to chase futiley after him while he killed my birds. If I had been armed, I would not have hesitated to put a bullet in his skull.

That would have changed nothing. He was allowed to roam wherever and whenever he wanted. Their dogs had miles of forest as their playground. He had plenty of things to do. They trained him too, so he wasn't lacking in mental stimulation. He had several other dogs to play with. He chose to come on my property and kill them for sport. I don't think a dog with instincts like that belongs anywhere around here except in a sled team. They should not be in a farming community, period. The hard facts are that there are few places nearby where there aren't chickens and other small livestock running free, and hundreds of better dogs are getting put down daily. Why save the difficult dogs at greater cost to time and resources when you could save two other dogs instead?

I accept there are risks to free ranging, or keeping birds at all, but I will defend my birds with lethal force if needed, and I see no reason why dogs should be exempt.

Oh wow that sounds awful!! He wasn’t scared off?

And wow that is definitely very weird he was so fascinated with your bids then with so much else to do! I’m glad he moved on.

And yeah, he probably shouldn’t have been there but I also think he should have been contained and controlled better by his owners. If they’re controlled, they can be great dogs. This one obviously was not controlled at all and the owners should have been more responsible. Did they offer to pay at all?

As for the difficult dogs not being worth saving or there being better dogs or whatever, maybe this is me being soft hearted again but I believe every dog deserves a chance. And yeah, maybe there are better dogs out there, but I guess I figure somebody else will adopt the easy dogs. Nobody usually gives the “difficult” dogs or the older dogs or the hyper/crazy dogs a chance. Everybody gives them up/passes them by. Which I don’t think is fair and I don’t think one life is worth more than another. I also love training and love a challenge so I like the idea of taking a more difficult dog that everybody else gave up on and turning him into a good dog. A calm, well behaved dog. Yeah, it’s definitely more work, but when it comes to dogs, I like work. It’s rewarding taking a totally untrained, hyper beast and making him calm and well behaved. Other people maybe won’t be up for that and that’s fine but I like the difficult dogs and the challenge. And not even just hyper dogs or chicken killers or whatever either. A lot of people won’t take on the shy, anxious dog either. I like building their confidence. Training is fun to me and I like doing it. And to me it’s worth it.

KILLER dogs. Not dogs that have chased a chicken once or twice. There's a difference.

Hmm I guess that’s true. Although I still don’t really think that killing chickens or rabbits or even cats necessarily translates to a vicious killer that’s going to maul humans.

He was a terror. There was no way to contain him. He could get out of any run or slip any collar, and when he did, he'd come right back to my birds. Damages he did went well over $300, I'd say.

Oh wow that’s a lot of damage! I’m sorry.

So did they purposely let him roam then or he was just very difficult to keep contained and escaped a lot?

YES. This. If folks want to have the difficult dogs, fine, but they sure as heck better keep them contained and controlled at all times.

Yeah, they definitely should not be allowed to run free. Most people should not even own such dogs.

I guess what it comes down to is that I've turned the other cheek far more times than my limit. I've picked up the bodies, said "that's okay" and I asked them to find a way to keep the dog contained again, and again, and again. I'm sick of people that breed dogs like this and make excuses for dogs like this and I've long lost any sympathy or desire to give second chances.

Touchy subject. I'll shut up now. Our basic values clearly contradict on this front.

sorry for all your losses and having to deal with that! It’s completely understandable why you’d feel that way and I might start feeling that way too if I had to deal with that.

Exactly. IMO, there are ever so many more difficult dogs than there are owners suited for difficult dogs.

That’s true. I think most owners are not suited or equipped to handle such dogs. Which is probably the reason they’re “difficult” in the first place.

They almost put him down, but then I think they found a friend in town willing to take him. Not sure how they managed to transition a giant Husky used to acres of space to one house in the suburbs, but hey, he hasn't come back so I don't care.

Glad he found another home!

He probably ate their house and turned their suburban yard into a trench warfare zone.

When I pet sat for a couple years in college, I could not believe the damage done to years and homes by huskies and malamutes. Most of them had to kenneled on cement and only let out for a brief period. One home I visited had a pair of malamutes that were housed together, and a second single male alone. I had to let them out separately because the males tried to kill each other if they out at the same time. The yard was INSANE.
Those folks were wild. They had like five cats in a room (yes, it reeked), an African gray parrot, a cockatiel (sp?), and a hamster running around in a ball. It was chaos.

Oh wow that definitely sounds like absolute chaos!! Haha were the males neutered? As much as I want to help difficult dogs, etc. I don’t think I could live like that and have dogs that couldn’t be together. Way too much work and too stressful. Not sure why anyone would want to live like that. But they probably didn’t know they wouldn’t get along at the time then were too attached to give them up.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Agreed. Any dog that has to be contained on a concrete pad is just not in the right place at all.

So y'all won't think I just have a vendetta against dogs, there's also the case of the border collie down the road. She's a few years old, super smart, and gorgeous. The owners did a training regime on her like none I've ever seen. She wasn't allowed off leash until she behaved perfectly ALL the time. She got taken on long walks, and she was required to always listen to commands, not half listen some of the time. They were insistent on her never being allowed to even go on our property. (Thank goodness) The end result? A smart dog that doesn't roam and doesn't even know I have chickens. Her owners are VERY consistent with keeping tabs on her and they still enforce listening to commands. She was swimming in a pond with ducks last year and she didn't do more than swim around them a couple times and then get out of the pond when her owners called her. That's the kind of owner that can own these dogs humanely and without destruction of others' property (chickens or not) resulting from it. It's just really hard if not impossible to fix these personality types once they've gotten that chance. She didn't need a second chance 'cause she never used up the first one.

Personally I think that some of those dogs might not need a concrete pad if they got enough mental stimulation and exercise but that’s a whole separate issue haha but most people are not equipped to own huskies. A walk around the block once or twice a day and crated the rest of the time while the owner is at work like most people do is not enough for these dogs. I don’t know what those particular owners did but that’d be enough to make any dog neurotic.

Obviously in your case though it didn’t help but I bet it would help those other dogs.

And wow she sounds absolutely lovely.

That’s amazing. You almost never see that level of dedication with most owners.

... in a perfect world, right? I love a nice, well trained dog. She sounds lovely.

X2!!

 

[BantyChooks]

Personally I think that some of those dogs might not need a concrete pad if they got enough mental stimulation and exercise but that’s a whole separate issue haha but most people are not equipped to own huskies. A walk around the block once or twice a day and crated the rest of the time while the owner is at work like most people do is not enough for these dogs. I don’t know what those particular owners did but that’d be enough to make any dog neurotic.

I said "not in the right PLACE", not "not in the right plane of existence."

 

[BantyChooks]

Phew, that’s a relief then

You are absolutely right, they require training and sadly a lot of dogs aren’t getting that.

And hmm, that’s true, and it’s definitely a concern, but then again they could have been out mauling humans like some free roaming dogs do, even dogs of their very breed, yet they chose to just hunt chickens instead which is not really aggressive behavior. We’ve had dogs come onto our property and bark at us, growl and try to protect/defend my property and not let us on our own property. Some loose dogs kill people.

Not that killing chickens is a good activity, it’s awful, but I’m still not sure it means the dogs are evil bad dogs. Idk.

They just lack training and structure. Which GSDs especially need more than most breeds.

But I’m aware most people won’t want to deal with a dog like that unfortunately for these two.



Oh wow that sounds awful!! He wasn’t scared off?

And wow that is definitely very weird he was so fascinated with your bids then with so much else to do! I’m glad he moved on.

And yeah, he probably shouldn’t have been there but I also think he should have been contained and controlled better by his owners. If they’re controlled, they can be great dogs. This one obviously was not controlled at all and the owners should have been more responsible. Did they offer to pay at all?

As for the difficult dogs not being worth saving or there being better dogs or whatever, maybe this is me being soft hearted again but I believe every dog deserves a chance. And yeah, maybe there are better dogs out there, but I guess I figure somebody else will adopt the easy dogs. Nobody usually gives the “difficult” dogs or the older dogs or the hyper/crazy dogs a chance. Everybody gives them up/passes them by. Which I don’t think is fair and I don’t think one life is worth more than another. I also love training and love a challenge so I like the idea of taking a more difficult dog that everybody else gave up on and turning him into a good dog. A calm, well behaved dog. Yeah, it’s definitely more work, but when it comes to dogs, I like work. It’s rewarding taking a totally untrained, hyper beast and making him calm and well behaved. Other people maybe won’t be up for that and that’s fine but I like the difficult dogs and the challenge. And not even just hyper dogs or chicken killers or whatever either. A lot of people won’t take on the shy, anxious dog either. I like building their confidence. Training is fun to me and I like doing it. And to me it’s worth it.



Hmm I guess that’s true. Although I still don’t really think that killing chickens or rabbits or even cats necessarily translates to a vicious killer that’s going to maul humans.



Oh wow that’s a lot of damage! I’m sorry.

So did they purposely let him roam then or he was just very difficult to keep contained and escaped a lot?



Yeah, they definitely should not be allowed to run free. Most people should not even own such dogs.



sorry for all your losses and having to deal with that! It’s completely understandable why you’d feel that way and I might start feeling that way too if I had to deal with that.



That’s true. I think most owners are not suited or equipped to handle such dogs. Which is probably the reason they’re “difficult” in the first place.



Glad he found another home!



Oh wow that definitely sounds like absolute chaos!! Haha were the males neutered? As much as I want to help difficult dogs, etc. I don’t think I could live like that and have dogs that couldn’t be together. Way too much work and too stressful. Not sure why anyone would want to live like that. But they probably didn’t know they wouldn’t get along at the time then were too attached to give them up.

I don't think we're even arguing the same points here. I'm not sure how to phrase what I mean in a manner clear enough for you to understand—sorry. Words... so useless at times, eh?

I'm not saying it's the dog's fault. I'm saying that these super smart dogs that need extra care are hard to fix once they've gone down these paths, whereas more average dogs might be more feasible. Believe me, I've had experience. Fault isn't what I care about. It's the problematic behaviour, and more specifically, whether it can be fixed. If not, then I think euthanasia is a viable option, since there are far more problematic dogs than there are problematic dog homes.

I also don't think they're "bad" dogs in the traditional sense of being wired psychopathic from birth, I just don't know what else to call them. Malice is almost exclusively human. It's not something I'm trying to assign to their actions.

 

[Conan]

@KDOGG331 — Have you ever experienced euthanasia on a personal level? Honestly, we should all be so lucky. It's remarkably peaceful, and a better death than most get.