Can I just vent? Dead chicks.

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
Of course she was proud of herself, thats what a Terrier does, thats what they were bred to do . . .

 

[sommrluv]

haha, she probably would have happily finished them off if she could reach anymore.

She's been doing a good job elsewhere....we've had a steady stream of mice being deposited by the solarium doors.

 

[kla37]

I have a soft coated irish wheaten terrier. She's a good dog, but I was a little apprehensive about her and chickens. She comes from a truly Irish line, and as a result is quieter, smaller, and more of a working dog than the american lines. These dogs were bred to be cheap farm dogs a couple hundred years ago when the english imposed a high tax on any dog that cost more than 5 lbs. The irish wanted a small, cheap farm dog that could work and keep vermin down. The birding instinct has been pretty much bred out of them, since any farm dogs that killed the families chickens were most likely culled fairly quickly. She can herd as well, if they are small animals. She does it to small kids anyway! She still goes after vermin, and catches and kills them, but they are very small, like mice, voles, ground squirrells, and such. She is interested in our chicks, but I don't let her around them in the open, just through the pen fence. She's been out to farms with me before I got chicks to see how she would react to chickens, and she was pretty intimidated by them. She sniffed one too close once, and the pecks she got were enough of a lesson! She does circle the coop and starts barking and rushing the fence around our yard when other dogs come by, so she might even be "protecting" them. It's been a relief! I don't think I'll be getting any birding dogs though.

 

[sommrluv]

I know this thread is forever ago, but I wanted to update....the training collar worked wonders. It's been nearly a year and no more chicken incidents and she rarely bothers them at all. Sometimes she sits and watches them but does not go too close.

While I would never trust her with them alone while they free range, like I can my mastador, it's been very good.

On the second bright side, she's seem to dispatched with all the OTHER small animals that ate my apple trees this winter. One rabbit and three squirrels this week alone! So the training collar hasn't affected her "other" hunting skills.

So if anyone is thinking about re homing their dog, think about the behaviour modification with the training collar. I'm so glad I did. She's really a great dog and I think I would have regretted giving her away.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Thanks for the update...Glad you got to keep her.

 

[Roslyn]

I'd rehome the dog.
It's not it's fault, since terriers are bred for hunting, but that doesn't mean that you have to keep it around if it's a danger to your animals.