dog problem..need help..Warning:somewhat graphic content and questions

[bobbi-j]

If you decide to trap the dog, a live-trap would be better in case you catch something else. You can just open the door and let it out, no harm done. If you catch a cat, your own dog, or a friendly neighbor's dog in a leg-hold, you will have (in a lot of cases permanently) injured an animal that you didn't want to. I would either let DH just shoot it, or get comfortable with the gun yourself. I've never had to shoot a dog, but I wouldn't have a problem doing so if my child's safety were at risk. If you're not comfortable with shooting at all, call the sheriff when the dog is on your property, show pictures of it attacking your birds, and by all means tell them about the one that growled at you on your own property.

 

[phaethona]

tranquilize it, paint a red bull's eye on it, if it comes back... target practice!

 

[BekahBear]

Quote:
I should have been more clear…i didn’t mean that I’m not comfortable/confident with shooting a gun. i’m actually a pretty good shot. I even have a concealed weapons license. What I meant is that I’m not fully comfortable shooting a dog. As much as I despise these particular ones and fear for my and my families safety around them, I was raised where dogs are a part of the family so it goes against the grain to think about shooting one or otherwise killing one

Quote:
I wanted to clear this up a bit too(I was too upset and busy ranting in my OP to make sure I listed all the details and to make things clear)
I talked to my immediate neighbor because I actually somewhat know him so was comfortable walking up to him when i had a question.(long story short about how we met..a couple high school kids down the way decided it would be funny to unlatch the gates to my horses stalls and the gates on his goats as well as other animals in the area. We worked together to round up our animals and others. The parents of the kids felt horrible, grounded them, and made them work for my neighbor for a few months cleaning goat and chicken pens as a punishment. They never caused a problem since) I knew he had livestock after that ordeal so when I saw him after having the dog problems I figured I would talk to him real quick and see if he had any suggestions on what I should do. As soon as I mentioned the loss of some of my chickens he asked if I had seen the chow that wanders around “cause its probably him” then told me his story.

And I actually have talked to the owner of these dogs about them before. It just wasn’t related to the death of my chickens at the time. It was before I even knew where they lived and before they started hanging out around my property. I was with my DH going for a walk with one of our dogs down the dirt road (on a leash) 2 of his dogs were with him and running loose (the chow mix and the golden retriever). They ran over and started barking at us and wouldn't let us pass. Their owner was “taking them for a walk through the neighborhood” according to him. They had no leashes and he was letting them do whatever they wanted. He was close by when the dogs started bothering us so my DH asked him if he would call his dogs away or hold onto them for a minute so we could continue on our way down the road. He told us that “they are dogs. That’s what dogs do. I’m not going to tell them to do something they don’t want to” then he sat back against a fence, watched, and looked amused while we tried to get past his dogs. well, we finally made it down the road and away from them…and look the long way around to get home that day. from that experience, i learned that this guy is not the most neighborly of people.

I guess I could try talking to this guy specifically about his dogs going after my chickens but I have a very strong feeling it won’t get me anywhere at all. My other worry about talking to him about this specifically, is that then he will know that its me that is having the issues with his dogs. Im worried that if I talk to him about this (and if he does nothing like I suspect he would) and I end up having to SSS in the end that he will know I had something to do with the disappearance of his dogs. I would really rather not deal with the drama that could ensue from that.

I also don’t want to deal with taking him to court. The $ amount that I would get for my 4 girls is minimal. It would cost me way more in gas money to drive into town to file the paperwork.(we live way outside the city limits..its a long drive) If I thought that it would make him lock up his dogs I might do it but I doubt he will change..even if its court ordered. Not to mention, court would be a long and drawn out process. I just want this to be over with already before someone gets hurt.

Quote:
they tend to come over most often when I’m at work so trapping them would probably work best. You nailed my worry on the head when my husband mentioned a leg-hold trap. I don’t want to catch the wrong animal in something like that (I would never forgive myself If something innocent got hurt.) plus I don’t want the dog to be in pain from the trap when I do catch it. Its not the dogs fault that the owner is an idiot. I want it to have a quick end. it shouldn’t have to suffer. I’ll do what some of the others have said and see if I can borrow a live trap from animal control. If I catch the old golden retriever I’ll just let it go..it has never done any harm. But if I catch either of the other 2 they won't go free. i know for a fact that the chow mix has been killing my chickens and the shepard mix has growled and acted aggressive towards me in my own yard. I’ll just let my husband finish them. I would rather not have to personally do it.

edited for some spelling errors(im sure there are more i missed though)

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
they tend to come over most often when I’m at work so trapping them would probably work best. You nailed my worry on the head when my husband mentioned a leg-hold trap. I don’t want to catch the wrong animal in something like that (I would never forgive myself If something innocent got hurt.) plus I don’t want the dog to be in pain from the trap when I do catch it. Its not the dogs fault that the owner is an idiot. I want it to have a quick end. it shouldn’t have to suffer. I’ll do what some of the others have said and see if I can borrow a live trap from animal control. If I catch the old golden retriever I’ll just let it go..it has never done any harm. But if I catch either of the other 2 they won't go free. i know for a fact that the chow mix has been killing my chickens and the shepard mix has growled and acted aggressive towards me in my own yard. I’ll just let my husband finish them. I would rather not have to personally do it.

edited for some spelling errors(im sure there are more i missed though)

Completely and totally untrue. I abhor this BS about traps. Leghold traps do not permanently do damage to an animal that it's targeted for. This is a P.E.TA myth. Think about it, would trappers want to ruin the furs that they're trapping to SELL and make money? No. VERY often trapped animals are found asleep.

The only time traps do damage is if they are the wrong size for the species. If you are looking to catch a dog, then you get a fox/coyote leghold and almost any size dog from 25-60 lbs or so. Trap the dog and hit them where it hurts most, in their pocketbook.

 

[Shaun]

I agree with all those who've said call the sheriff, animal control, or the troopers. You have the dog on tape, on your property, in clear violation of the law. There are fines in most communities, and they are often progressive - getting more costly each event. It should not cost you to take them to court if they kill one of your animals. That what the prosecutor is for. That's his or her job. If he or she won't do it, it's time to take those videos to the area TV station with your situation. Just stick to the facts and it's amazing what will happen.

Each and every time you see the dog on your property, call the law. Take photos, a pic is worth a thousand words and a video is even better. It took several of our neighbors awhile to get the idea, but when the tickets starting getting up into the hundreds of dollars and they were going to be charged with a misdemeanor, they finally got the idea!

When we had a pair of wandering dogs decimate our flock some years back, the law came out and took nice graphic photos for the judge. We were reimbursed for the cost of the birds, the cost of the future lost eggs, everything. Didn't cost us a dime.

It's always best to not only be within the law ( yes, I know you can shoot a dog that is harrassing livestock), but to be as kind as possible. If the neighbor complains about the fines, just mention you felt it was a better legal solution than shooting their pet.

When we had a persistant problem with the son of a neighbor who would come to visit and let his dog loose (and he LOVED to chase chickens), and we caught him for the 4th or 5th time at our house (which was going to be a BIG fine) the father came down and asked if we could come to some kind of a compromise. We agreed that if they put in an invisible fence and showed the receipt and such to animal control we would not press charges this time. When animal control showed up, he asked me" Do these people know how nice you are being to them?" The point was, I would rather they spend the $$ on the fence, not on a fine. That was over a year ago, and we haven't seen the dog since.

I know how frustrated you must be, but keep at it. Good luck

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Show the films to your local sheriff. See what advice they give you. Be sure and mention you have a four year old and that these dogs are also aggressive to people.

This next year I'm going to have to talk to my Nevada neighbor's adult son about his dog. Butch is a nice dog and very playful; unfortunately one of these days I'm going to wind up hitting him with the car because he chases cars and sticks his head in front of the tires while running along. We'll probably keep him off our property with a jack ass. Unfortunately, a jack ass might keep us off the property, too. I'm really thinking about raising mules.

 

[WillieBoy]

Its one thing to have a dog come on your land and kill your chickens, that bad enough.
To have a dog come on your land growling in your face, and be a very real threat to your child and family is a very diffrent thing.
I would shoot the dog dead next time it comes around, then call the cops and show the pictures you have of the offending dog.As a parent you are responsible to protect your child from threats such as this.
A dog like that could cause great harm to your child, even death...Shoot It Dead...

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
they tend to come over most often when I’m at work so trapping them would probably work best. You nailed my worry on the head when my husband mentioned a leg-hold trap. I don’t want to catch the wrong animal in something like that (I would never forgive myself If something innocent got hurt.) plus I don’t want the dog to be in pain from the trap when I do catch it. Its not the dogs fault that the owner is an idiot. I want it to have a quick end. it shouldn’t have to suffer. I’ll do what some of the others have said and see if I can borrow a live trap from animal control. If I catch the old golden retriever I’ll just let it go..it has never done any harm. But if I catch either of the other 2 they won't go free. i know for a fact that the chow mix has been killing my chickens and the shepard mix has growled and acted aggressive towards me in my own yard. I’ll just let my husband finish them. I would rather not have to personally do it.

edited for some spelling errors(im sure there are more i missed though)

Completely and totally untrue. I abhor this BS about traps. Leghold traps do not permanently do damage to an animal that it's targeted for. This is a P.E.TA myth. Think about it, would trappers want to ruin the furs that they're trapping to SELL and make money? No. VERY often trapped animals are found asleep.

The only time traps do damage is if they are the wrong size for the species. If you are looking to catch a dog, then you get a fox/coyote leghold and almost any size dog from 25-60 lbs or so. Trap the dog and hit them where it hurts most, in their pocketbook.

Exactly. If you have a fox/coyote trap, and catch a cat or smaller dog, the animal could lose its leg. I know this one - DH trapped for years, and has had it happen. My SIL had a 3-legged dog because of a leghold trap. That doesn't meant that EVERY animal would be maimed. Why take chances? A live trap is just less traumatic for the unintended target, IMO.

 

[cassie]

You might consider investing in some electrified poultry fencing. It will kepp the dogs out and hopefully the chickens in.

 

[SunnysideupstateNY]

I agree with calling animal control. Or maybe even a state environmental officer. If you have animal control and the dog has no license and you "don't know' who the own is the dog should be taken to the humane society. Maybe then It will get some new owners who actually care about it or it will be put down and you don't have to waste a bullet. Another option, if you've ever seen the dog chasing deer that is also illegal. We had that happen a few times with some strange dogs. The DEC took care of it right away. Hasn't happened since.