do you have dogs? what to do with our dog that kills?

[Folly's place]

My current dogs, both terriers, love chicken too. I have invested in VERY GOOD fencing to keep them apart. Some people can manage to train the dog to respect them, and not bolt out the door. Other people, for whatever the reason, can't do it. The dog knows! Physical separation, training, and fencing, are the answers here. Many, but not all, dogs will respect Invisible Fencing, if properly trained to it. Others won't respect it if the reward (killing the chickens) is good enough. I've had good success training my retriever or pointer puppies to ignore the chickens, but the adult terriers that I adopted were MUCH more difficult, and so now I have the fencing instead. Mary

 

[TalkALittle]

Training helps fill the gaps in management and management helps fill the gaps in training. Train the dog to wait at doorways until given a release and install an additional gate so if training fails the dog has an additional barrier that prevents it from reaching the yard.

I have 3 dogs, one of which is a feist. He regularly dispatches rodents and snatches songbirds out of the air. I wouldn't trust him around the hens alone. I have a sign I hang on the back door whenever the hens are free ranging in the yard and I close the bottom half of a Dutch door that leads to the room with the back door. Everyone has learned that the back door doesn't get opened until the Dutch door is shut. This creates an "airlock" so the dogs don't slip past anyone. You can do the same with baby gates.

If you can't or don't want to train the dog then invest in good fencing and devise a sound management plan.

 

[Sirius452]

Can you fit a small dog pen or baby gate around the inside or outside of the door so that your parents can get in and out with injury to animal or person (they could fall trying to prevent the dog from getting out)? If the dog gets past the first barrier they can more easily put her back inside.

An obedience class would be a great way to get started training your dog. Mention your problems and they should be able to give you some tips. Sorry about your chicken.

 

[fishwithaface]

.... so this particular dog has no training whatsoever before the incident..?

This dog has had extensive training! We started out with training her to leave cats/kittens alone, and she refused. When we thought we would get some where with training. She'd outlash. She also was introduced to our chickens when they were a few days old. And every dog, we would let sniff/lick/socialize with the chicks at a young age, she was used to them. We have five dogs as well: 1 Jack russel, 1 Schnauzer, 1 Lahso Apso, a Pomeranian, and Pitbull husky.

The jack russel was trained to be off leash, and return upon recalling. But if she sees a bird, a plane, a cat, a fly than she attacks. None of my other dogs are a worry. And my pitbull actually gets let out alone with the chickens when free ranging to fight off bird predators to keep the chickens safe.

I have tried to train this dog over and over. And she doesn't grasp that she isn't allowed to hurt things. My biggest problem is, is yes the dog came first. But if i was out in the country and she started to attack other neighbors chickens or livestock, she would be shot at.

 

[fishwithaface]

My current dogs, both terriers, love chicken too. I have invested in VERY GOOD fencing to keep them apart. Some people can manage to train the dog to respect them, and not bolt out the door. Other people, for whatever the reason, can't do it. The dog knows! Physical separation, training, and fencing, are the answers here. Many, but not all, dogs will respect Invisible Fencing, if properly trained to it. Others won't respect it if the reward (killing the chickens) is good enough. I've had good success training my retriever or pointer puppies to ignore the chickens, but the adult terriers that I adopted were MUCH more difficult, and so now I have the fencing instead. Mary

My jack russel was 4 when I rescued her. And i've tried to retrain her on several occasions. Unfortunately, she is stubborn. And i've had her for several years, and she has not done well with anything other than another dog.
She walks all over my 1 yr old. She has killed cats, chickens, rodents, etc. She doesn't get it. ;\

 

[BlessedCountry6]

I have a German shepherd with a strong prey drive. I also have a deaf Aussie. We went the route of the training collar. It has worked very well. We have one that beeps, vibrates and shocks. With the deaf dog a vibration is all she needs to be corrected with. (She is afraid of the chickens so I didn't have to train her with them). My German shepherd want to eat anything that runs from him (animal wise). I beep him then vibrate him and then shock him if he doesn't respond to the other two warnings. It's the only thing that works for him. I can trust him with my chickens but not the babies. They kick in his prey drive so I correct him when he walks to close. I don't give him the change to be close enough to bite them.
This also works for areas I don't want him in like our garage. It is training so it's through repetition he learns he needs to respect the animals and us and give them space to be respectful.
Sorry about your Chubbs!

 

[BrandyMcCoy]

I have two dogs. A cane corso who loves the chicks and a mini schnauzer who would kill them if he were allowed near them. Our cane corso keeps the mini schnauzer away from them.

 

[fishwithaface]

I have two dogs. A cane corso who loves the chicks and a mini schnauzer who would kill them if he were allowed near them. Our cane corso keeps the mini schnauzer away from them.

Our Pit is the same way with the chickens and ducks, but unfortunately he was not outside with them when this happened. :[

 

[BrandyMcCoy]

Yes. We worked hard on leave it with him. Luckily my corso watches like a hawk. I'm so sorry

 

[BrendaJ]

JRT are terriers. Terriers have a high prey drive - its their breeding. They are workers/hunters. He can be trained but its going to take time & dedication. Cross fencing will help keep them safe as you work on the issues. Start out by leashing him - walk him outside with you and get him familiar with the chickens. You have to be in control at all times.If he is never exposed to them he wont learn. He should never be left unattended with them though. Best of luck