Another dog attack. Dead chickies.

[Finn]

If a pet doesn't listen or obey or understand the way things are meant to be at your house,people just point their index finger at their doggy and say (in babytalk)"NO".

I had a 185 lb St Bernard that hated other dogs,our cat,and people walking by her when she was eating,when I walked by one day whilst she was eating (I fed her) she growled and snapped at me,after smacking her upside the head and picking her up by the jowls and explaining in a really PO'd voice that what she did was wrong guess what,after that you could pull on her jowls while she was eating and it wasn't a problem, and she even tolerated our cat,because I EXPLAINED to her that her behaviour wasn't going to fly and that I was thee alpha making the rules.

Either you explain to your foo foo dog that this is not right,lock one or thee other up constantly,or you get rid of poopsy or the birds.

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

I lost two more chickens to the gnats. I saved two other sick ones. Thank goodness I am hatching all these eggies because my flock is dwindling. And on top of it all our first court date is Thursday. So send me all the prayers, good vibes adn whatever else y'all got my way!

 

[Julie08]

None of that sounds good at all!! Sorry to hear about your chickens, court date doesn't sound like a good thing either..... sending good vibes.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Hugs, Vamp!!! And good vibes!!!

 

[Vamp-A-Billy Princess]

Lost my golden seabright to the gnats. I cant wait til they are gone. I've lost like a dozen birds now. What a great week for it too...I am so stressed out.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
With all due respect, the situation you describe (a dominance issue between YOU and your dog) could not be more different from Vamp's situation. I agree she should find a way to keep her dog separated from her chickens AT ALL TIMES, but to claim that a dog following its prey drive when unsupervised reflects a *training problem* is ridiculous. The fact that you felt it necessary to "smack [your dog] upside the head" to assert your dominance is revealing, as well.

This dog has an extremely high prey drive, and has killed and eaten chickens before (we had "ferals" at the last place we lived), and would LOVE to do so again, and as often as possible.

I take her with me when I tend to the birds, and when I sit and watch them in the early evenings. She's pretty much with me all the time when I'm outside. What you see is how she behaves when I am present. I don't "smack her upside the head," but she does get a verbal "leave it" or an "AHHNT!" if she so much as takes one step toward a bird...which she pretty much doesn't, in my presence. BUT, if I were to go inside, and leave her out, with the birds? You can bet it wouldn't be too long before some too-slow chicken would be lunch. Ditto the smaller dogs. It's my responsibility to see that that doesn't happen.

With some anomalous exceptions, predators and prey animals do not belong together. That is a lesson that Vamp is learning the hard way. Kicking her while she's down by claiming facts not in evidence about how she handles her dog, or how she's lacking as a trainer, is not helpful. Even if she "smacked him upside the head," the prey drive would remain. You can't beat instinct out of an animal. For everyone's sake, the two species should merely be kept apart. The only part of your post I agree with is the admonition to "...lock one or thee[sic] other up...".

 

[snewman]

Very well-said, Ninjapoodles, I couldn't agree more. Every time the issue of dog vs chickens comes up, so does the undeniable fact that dogs are, indeed, predators. ALL dogs are born with a desire to chase small moving things. That's how we get them to play ball, herd sheep, or lure course, among many other sports we enjoy with our dogs. Some breeds and some individuals have been more modified than others, but all retain some impulse to chase things. Some are more determined about following through with a kill, some have larger potential targets (goats, sheep, etc), some are more easily shaped, or trained. It is only common sense to keep predators and prey separate, but accidents happen and either prey or predator may end up where they shouldn't be. The consequence of that is well-documented in lots of threads. There is no "cruelty" in it on the part of the dog, it is ingrained into EVERY predator (furred, feathered, scaled) to chase prey. That's in the definition of the word. I'm sorry for her loss, but I wouldn't dump the dog, as I'm sure she's attached to him/her as well. It does suck losing animals to predators, especially our own beloved pets, but it happens. We feel bad for ourselves and our animals, and for each other, that is one of the beautiful things about being human; empathy.

 

[chikenlady]

Vamp,

What do the gnats do that kills the chickens? Just wondering so I can be on the lookout. Are gnats especially bad in your area?

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Exactly! That's why blanket statements about training methods get under my skin a little. Heck, in my experience, no two *littermates* develop and learn in exactly the same way, so expecting every dog to is just silly.

There is one "universal" training issue that I feel strongly about, and that is the need for a strong recall, and proofing that recall with a variety of distractions. It doesn't have to be fancy, or formal, but a solid recall can save your dog's (and in the context being discussed here, your livestock's) life. It's worth the investment in initial training and periodic reinforcement. I have my regular "call" that I use casually, and then I have an "urgent" command--in our case, the word "HERE!" which means, "Stop in your tracks, whatever you're doing, and come to me NOW." A command for "stop in your tracks and FREEZE" is also useful.

 

[MrsChickendad]

Years ago we had the brooder in the house, covered with wire 2x4 fencing. I came in from the barn to find my springer spaniel sitting on top of the wire pulling baby chickies through the holes. We lost about 6 of them, all fancy ones. The dog was just doing what came natcherly (BIRD DOG!), but I kept her away from chickies after that. Once they grew up, she never bothered with them, but I never trusted her.