Dog Warning Reminder

[seminolewind]

I see lots of posts about dogs and chickens with people having various tips about how to get the chickens and dogs happy together. From introducing the dogs to the chicks early on and lots of supervised exposure and the like. Well yesterday evening my 10 year old beagle, whom has been around my three chickens, from 6 days old, and for the past two months killed my favorite hen.

I have built a really good coop and run, and that is where the chickens live most of the time. This coop/run combo is very robust, and they are very safe inside of it. But I also have a nice little garden with a smaller fenced area to keep my dog out. Since the hens are now about 2 months old, and much bigger, I figured they would be a bit safer out of the run and into the garden. They really love the garden since it is full of bugs, weeds, plants and the like. Much more natural then the run which is just dirt.

Well yesterday I had the three ladies out in the evening as normal. I heard a loud chicken commotion and ran outside to see my dog chasing one of them down the side of the house, and another running across the yard. I quickly grabbed these two up and put them back into the safety of the run. I went looking for the third, hoping she was hiding in the tomatoes or something.

Sadly, she was in the garden with what appeared to be a broken neck. It was very sad. My dog had pushed her way under a 4 foot length of pressure treated 4x4 that had the chicken wire attached to it. From the first sounds of commotion to when I got to the garden was about 30 seconds.

So just as a warning, please be very careful of your dog(s). My dog showed nothing but simple curiosity about the chickens. She always seemed more interested in what I was feeding them then the chickens themselves. She is an old, fat, half blind beagle that looks about as harmless as any dog can. In just a few seconds though, she was able to kill a chicken. If I had taken another 60 seconds I am sure I would have no chickens left. I was really mad at the dog at first, but I know it is not her fault. Dogs kill chickens. I thought I was lucky and just had one of those dogs that I read about her that "protect" the chickens. Nope...

Take care and enjoy your chickens! Just be very aware of the many threats that exist for these poor stupid birds we enjoy so much.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. Just goes to show how the most careful people can have something happen. Even my daughter would let her canary out while her Staffordshire Terrier was present. "Oh, he won't hurt the canary". I used to cringe and leave the room.

It never hurts to reiterate the risks involved with introducing a dog to tasty chickens.

Or vice-versa. I had a roo that was constantly flying over a fence to "kill" the dog. That didn't end too well despite our being present whenever the dogs were out.

 

[leadwolf1]

Thanks, Seminolewind. We did get off track and what is important is the reminder that steveholtham originally wrote about. Thank you for this post. It brings to light what can happen when we least expect it.

 

[Shayna]

I think this thread serves as an important warning about introducing or trusting animals together. I don't mix my dogs and chickens, but I had a dog I raised from a pup with another dog for 3 years, turn on her sister one day and attack. The injuries were significant and it still bothers me to think about this day. Animals are animals. Sometimes people aren't even predicable, we can't always understand our pets either, as much as we love them. It's always sad when we learn the hard way.

 

[catsbully]

just my own 2 cents worth here...first so sorry about the loss of your hen!
My old dog barely wakes up anymore so not much sense in worrying over him with the birds (I am new to chicken keeping as well) but once the old misery guts passes (12 yr old bulldog!) I will probably get another dog...start with a pup for sure! but for the second time in a week my poor girls have been terrorized by a stray huskie...she seems fairly well behaved ... until she sees the birds then all hell breaks out! phoned animal control in this area and was told to call back when she returns!? **** I still dont know if I am missing any birds! cant catch her and tie her up and then call animal control as they have a 'policy' here in Ontario Canada that once you have caught a stray its yours to take care of!!!!!! stupid bleeding hearts !!! but who compensates me for lost birds and revenue and entertainment of the birds? its one thing if your own dog has developed a bad habit but crap what about other dogs?
I do hope you get the furry family member to learn more of a polite attitude! Good luck to you at having happy well behaved animals...

 

[centrarchid]

Do you have any idea how this was accomplished? Trust me, if you tried to train dogs, the way they did, today, you'd find your little butt in jail. A little pat on the head or a treat handed out didn't get those results. An open mind? Yes I agree and I really think you should have practised that yourself. After reading through the posts it appears to me you just wanted a platform to spew. That's great but it still hasn't solved the original problem or answered the question as well as Leadwolf has done.

I train using a range of techniques, including discipline but it is not the most important tool. My dogs are most recently bred as hunting dogs that respond well to positive reinforcement and are very flexible in their behavior. A great deal of conditioning goes into making so dog is not overly excited by sight, sound or smell of chickens. Conditioning involves more contact time, not less, between dog and poultry so they get effectively board with chickens. Keeping myself calm, even when dog is acting innappropriately, also helps with control issue. With some parties, it is often easier to start with a pup and imprint on birds as done with typical livestock guarding dogs (i.e. Great Pyrenees), but even adult dogs with a history of killing birds can be brought around although process is slower. Dogs past imprinting stage but not full adults are most challenging but they can be trained as well.


My butt is pretty big, thankyou.

 

[Judy]

Thanks for your participation.