Dog up the road and the loss of a JG

[centrarchid]

They have come looking now while we are trying to get him back up the road and animal control would be 30 minutes till then It’s not the dogs fault... he’s being a dog. We can let them free range when the goats are outing fenced area but that’s not as often. The goats hate dogs and at 140 lbs a piece they don’t mess around.
After the first incident my husband had a long talk but ... no different. Working on the fence. Since the dog walks down the dirt rd the whole thing needs to be done. It will take a LOOONG time. Want to do it but just want things back like they were. These people don’t even live on our dirt rd!

It is also the dog's fault. I have "disappeared" a couple dogs, but ultimately informed owners I did it and why. My dogs have also bumped of a couple and seriously mauled more visiting dogs. Another dog I broke down and trained to leave chickens alone. She now helps my dogs keep other dogs and Coyotes away. In some situations, I like to consider myself as part of the greater neighborhood and do my part training kids / dogs of others in the village. I also use fencing. Dogs in immediate vicinity well known, but the newbies coming from more than 1/2 mile away could cause considerable damage if fence, my dogs, or me do not stop the visitors.

Over the long run, the fencing has been the most cost-effective proactive measure for protecting my chickens in a semi-rural setting.

 

[123RedBeard]

I agree a fence is the best measure, even if it is smaller for now ... without knowing your terrain it is hard to recommend a particular style of fence, as eventually you maybe wanting the fence to do more than just keep this one dog out ... however ... a good zap from an electric fence is a good reminder for a critter that it has somewhere else to go!

By "reporting it" there is the beginning of a paper trail ...

SSS = Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up.

If your against killing it ... and you can get close enough to it (and not worried that it will attack you) a water gun with amonia in it could discourage it, so could a paint ball gun, or an air soft gun ... providing you had one already, or could borrow from a friend, money better invested in a fence, than buying a less-lethal gun ...

While getting rid of this dog, and they may replace it with another one, no guarantee that the replacement will come over, or if it does, it will chase and kill chickens ... but, I'm fairly sure that this one will try again, and again ... until stopped.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Similar to above.
I'm out in the boonies. When growing up the movement of chaining and caging dogs was getting pushed away from. Some of you remember the old days when people chained dogs out to a tree. Well of course that's not good so the movement of letting them loose and letting them have some freedom and room to run was born.
So even now out here its the norm to let farm dogs run at large. Of course its best to train them to stay at home and not cause problems but most don't. All my life it has also been common that if a dog is disturbing or harming livestock you shoot it.
I was like the OP just our "yard" area around the house is 3 1/2 acres. A lot of fence to pay for and install.
I'd occasionally have a dog issue and after letting it slide a couple times it got worse. I lost birds then goats. That was it I starting shooting them. I too told owners except few no one could be found that claimed them. I don't like the SSS idea.
Like I've said before in a couple years with the dogs that had killed birds and the rate it was going I was going to end up stacking dead dogs like cord wood at the end of the drive.
About that time our closest neighbor took in a pit bull that ended up killing both his labs he already had.
I had one dog at the time and kids. Decided I had to fence my yard in because of that dog. It took a few full days and enough $$$ that I could of bought a used truck and I didn't have money just laying around.
One thing though when I got it done it was bad @SS. Cool to see all that fenced in. We cut losses down drastically. Most losses were to raptors and a few foxes and coyotes. We added couple more dogs and they keep the wildlife out for the most part.
The fence was worth every penny. Have yet to have another dog get into the yard plus our dogs can't wonder and the kids are safer.
I still have pasture and issues with dogs there but not like before when they could walk right into the birds. I'll still shoot dogs if need be but its not a lot of joy in doing so especially when you take the dead dog back to its home.
Fencing is by far the best option in the long run and it has other benefits. Quick fix shoot the dog if you can and can live with it. If not turn it into a shelter.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Wanted to add at the time and in my area the cheapest best option for me was wooden corner posts and few along the way and T posts. Used 48" goat fence.
If I could do it all over I'd try to go with 60" horse fence. Horse fence is 2" x 4". Goat fence is 4" x 4" and some birds go right through it.
Coyotes and foxes can hop a 4' fence as well as a couple of our dogs if they wanted plus some birds will fly over. 5' would of made more of a difference then I was thinking at the time.

 

[Tortoise]

It is also the dog's fault. I have "disappeared" a couple dogs, but ultimately informed owners I did it and why. My dogs have also bumped of a couple and seriously mauled more visiting dogs. Another dog I broke down and trained to leave chickens alone. She now helps my dogs keep other dogs and Coyotes away. In some situations, I like to consider myself as part of the greater neighborhood and do my part training kids / dogs of others in the village. I also use fencing. Dogs in immediate vicinity well known, but the newbies coming from more than 1/2 mile away could cause considerable damage if fence, my dogs, or me do not stop the visitors.

Over the long run, the fencing has been the most cost-effective proactive measure for protecting my chickens in a semi-rural setting.

Disagree! It's not the dogs fault. It's the owners strictly. Our dogs are our responsibility 100% and that includes training them to stay home or fencing them in. Any animal one brings into their lives and homes is 100% the humans responsibility to be sure it's not only cared for but that it's also not a nuisance to others!

 

[Shadrach]

That's terrible Rachel.
A fence will certainly help if you can afford it.

 

[centrarchid]

Disagree! It's not the dogs fault. It's the owners strictly. Our dogs are our responsibility 100% and that includes training them to stay home or fencing them in. Any animal one brings into their lives and homes is 100% the humans responsibility to be sure it's not only cared for but that it's also not a nuisance to others!

Dogs, like Coyotes and Foxes, can learn. It need not be a function of only the owner. As a result behaviors can be modified despite quality of the owner.

 

[Tortoise]

Dogs, like Coyotes and Foxes, can learn. It need not be a function of only the owner. As a result behaviors can be modified despite quality of the owner.

Yes, their behavior can be changed but by human, owner or another human. Still not the fault of the dog.
If this OP never did anything about the dog and still let the chickens free roam and chickens kept getting killed, it's still not the dogs fault. It's now the fault of both the dogs owner and the chicken owner.

 

[50-45-1]

Send a bill for the bird you already lost.
Notify animal control of the problem and let them know it persists.
Keep working on your fence but if you have a gun keep it handy.
Just fireing the gun when you see the dog may disuade him from coming over, and also alert the owner that you are serious about it.
Our neighbors jack russell thought it was fun to chase our guineas back home ONCE!
a carefully placed shot 30.06 about 4 feet behind his tail, made him swap ends quick. That was about 7 years ago and have not seen that neighbors dog except in his own yard since.
A friend of ours once came to our house and promptly let his 2 black labs out of the cab.
My husband casually said " you know Bill, i hope your dogs dont kill our 500.00 chicken"
Bill replied "you have a chicken worth 500.00?
To which my husband said " no Bill you dont understand, Any bird your dogs kill will be my 500.00 chicken"
Bill called his dogs back and put them in the cab.

Good luck with your neighbors.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Yes, their behavior can be changed but by human, owner or another human. Still not the fault of the dog.
If this OP never did anything about the dog and still let the chickens free roam and chickens kept getting killed, it's still not the dogs fault. It's now the fault of both the dogs owner and the chicken owner.

No. If a person is having chickens killed on their property fence or not by a loose dog its soley the dog owners fault. The chicken owner should not have to alter anything to prevent someone else’s dog from trespassing and killing birds.