And then there was 10......................

[ebonykawai]

Please re-home the dog. You shouldn't murder it because of its instinct, which you should have prepared for. What an awful thing to contemplate doing.

 

[jdr250]

As many have already said, shooting the dog should be your last resort. The first choice should be to attempt to train your dog that chickens are not for eating. I have a german shepard cross that has an extremely high pray drive, but he knows that my cats, birds, guinea pigs etc. are mine and he is never to touch them. Poor thing has been terrorized by one of my cats and he would cower in a corner never touching it, but the minute a stray cat comes along he will kill it in a heart beat. It can be done. If you aren't able to retrain your dog rehome him with someone who doesn't own chickens.
And as an extra if at some point you decide to get another dog for your son, research the breeds carefully as some do have a higher prey drive than others which makes it harder to teach them not eat your chickens.
Please call your local spca or list him in the paper. You have to remember part of the fault lies with you if you were unsure how your dog would react with your chickens then you needed to ensure he was never around them without being in control and the situation would have never happened.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

You know what this is your decision. There are shelter options some places and not others, but good luck with your decision.

 

[EllyMae]

This is so disturbing to me. How traumatic that will be for the kids.

 

[pixiechic]

Quote:
Um. It's a dog. Some dogs naturally go after chickens. If you are going to have chickens, it is your job to keep the chickens safely fenced in. It's not the dog's responsibility; he's just doing what he thinks he is supposed to do. Keep the chickens safe, and the dog won't be a threat. If the chickens are not in a safe place, it's only a matter of time before some other predator gets them. Are you going to shoot every raccoon, possum, hawk, coyote, bear, and rat too? And all the neighbor's dogs when they get loose?

It breaks my heart to think you'd shoot a dog -- a child's pet, no less -- rather than make the effort to keep the chickens safe. If the dog went after your kids I could see putting him down, but a chicken? I suspect there is something else behind this. Have you been trying to get rid of the dog for some other reason?

 

[Reinbeau]

Hopefully we never hear the outcome, if it's after a bullet

Even more hopeful is that Catfish listens to you all and reconsiders.

 

[mmajw]

My dog use to kill anything now after we have should him that our chickens are also our pets he leaves them totally alone and just watches. Maybe you should watch the video on here about training your dog not to eat/kill chickens.

If you are sure that you want to get rid of him at least take him to a shelter. He shouldn't be killed for acting on his own instincts.

You never know maybe someone on here would want him and retrain him.

 

[Cassandra]

I never got the impression catfish was asking for opinions or alternatives. It's easy for us to judge one side since we weren't there.

Catfish, I'm guessing you posted because you weren't thrilled about the decision. But because of that, I have to believe that you gave it enough thought to know what you were doing and consider the consequences.

I had a dog euthanized one time. I couldn't do it myself, but I had it done at the vet. He was an 18 month old shih-tzu/pekingese mix named Halo. He nipped my little boy on the hand. Didn't make him bleed or anything, just scared the tar out of him.

Most people who found out about it were shocked and disturbed that I would have a dog killed for that. But I knew Halo. He had a history of staring down my son over a cookie that had fallen on the floor. There had been a couple of times when I was really afraid he was going to bite. Halo had always been a little "off." He had to be completely sedated to be groomed and stuff like that. And when I took him to the vet that last time, it took three people to get this little (8 pound) dog out of his crate. I think he just snapped.

That was SO hard for me. But I knew it had to be done. And I believe you know what you are doing.

I respect you for doing your best for your family. I hope you neither of us ever has to make that decision again.

Cassandra

 

[luvmychicknkids]

You are right, I don't think he was looking for alternatives either. THAT is the most disturbing part of this entire thread. When there ARE alternatives to killing and we are too lazy or uncaring to try them, there is a problem.

Oh, and just for the record, when someone sticks me in a carrier and takes me off to kill me I think I just might snap too. Some dogs aren't meant to be with kids, some not meant to be with chickens. Most of the time there are alternatives to killing. I like knowing that I raise my children with compassion and the knoweledge that we try our best to preserve life and would only kill if we had no other choice.

 

[illinichick]

We've had the same problem in the past year, since we've been trying to raise chickens. We have an Irish Setter and a Choc. Lab, both with high bird drive. They have both broken into, tore off chicken wire and had a free-for-all in the chicken pen. The last straw was Easter weekend when the Lab pulled off the door hinge to the chicken house, tore off chicken wire to the chicken room and killed 10, half our flock. The next day, an electric fence was placed around the top of their dog pen and it only took one shock and she has not jumped out since. I feel sad because we cant trust them to be out, but I'm not going to start our flock over for the 3rd time.