Dog and Duck question

I think your questions touch on some very complicated animal behaviors that may be hard to completely figure out.

I'll make some guesses, though. Dogs have their own ways of deciding who belongs and who does not. For some reason, the new one doesn't belong, so it's food.

Something similar is probably going on with the duck. Even if it was well treated before, you are new, you are scary. Oh, and your dog tries to eat it. That doesn't put you on it's "like" list!

Some breeds of dog can be taught that a new animal is a member of the family. But I think that varies from dog to dog, also. I hope some dog experts can come in to this topic and give you some help.

Meanwhile, keep the dog away from that duck!

And welcome to the forum. I hope you find much good information here.

 

Ducks are prey animals, and dogs are predators. Most dogs are really intense with prey drive which makes them chase and sometimes kill whatever moves fast.

KEEP THE DOG AWAY.

 

Your existing ducks are known to the dog as being members of your family pack. The new ducks are strangers and thus do not have pack status. The same way that dogs will leave the family cat alone, but chase other cats.

If your dog wants to kill strange ducks, I suggest that you do not trust the dog with your existing ducks. Your dog has strong prey drive and ducks are dinner.

 

Quote:I agree with this! My dog goes absolutely bonkers when he sees my ducklings running around the yard, but my chickens? He couldn't care any less if they were standing on his head However, I would never leave them together, no matter how much he seems to not mind them. He's got that 'big baby' syndrome - and 85lbs of crazy playful puppy is wayyy too much for a chicken, even if the dog has no ill intentions.

 

It's so funny how the dogs can tell each duck apart!

My dog Pepper (a jackrussle dachshund) Practically raised my ducklings. She was so protective. There is a pair of wild mallards who have been hanging out by our pond, my imprints are terrified of them! The moment any of my ducks let out a warning quack Pepper is in the pond (and this is a dog who HATES water) and chasing after the wild ducks barking like a madwoman.

It's the same way with the ducks too. Pepper can walk right into their pen and they don't even notice. Infact Frances (my most friendly runner girl) will jump right ontop of her, or curl up next to her and preen her face. Anytime any of my other dogs goes near the pen the ducks go into a panic!

Emily

 

I have a golden retriever who is an excellent dog and will not mess with any of the farm animals. my wifes golden retriever is a female and she thinks that all the ducks and chickens are play toys, needless to say 110lb retriever playing with a 10lb duck doesnt work well. Then my dad has a puggle, worse dog we have ever owned. this dog outright wants to try and kill any animal it can get its mouth on. It has already killed 4 chickens and 5 ducks. it is even fast enough to chase down a flying muscovy and catch it in the air. this og just doesn't learn no matter which instructional method you use. so he has to spend every minute of his life on a leash, even in the house he has to be on a leash. if not he will try to run through your feet when you open the door. I would never ever recommend a designer dog to anyone.

 

BE VERY CAREFUL WITH YOUR DOG AND DUCKS. You can search this forum and see many posts on problems with dogs and ducks. I know some dogs are okay with them, but really, dogs are dogs and you cannot change that. It only takes a second for them to grab a duck and shake it enough to kill it. If you don't take responsibility for separating them, you will be the one to blame, not the dog. In a perfect world, you could leave them alone and all would be good, but it just isn't a perfect world.
Whether he likes the existing ducks is immaterial, it only take a second for things to change and then it is too late.

 

Quote:Agreed