Dog Warning Reminder

[Haunted55]

The thousands of years of breeding has involved dogs that are multipurpose. The business of bred for single purpose use is recent as in last couple hundred years or so. A few notable exceptions like sight hounds and the larger LGD breeds used for herding ruminants have been around longer but none can approach the longevity of the village dog. I STATE AGAIN NONE. Most of our extant domestic breeds can trace at least part of their ancestry to those village dogs that looked a bit like the Australian dingo. They are not derived directly from a wolf. Those animals guarded the village / homestead from strangers and predators. Livestock of all sorts where kept by many such human populations. Chickens, free-ranging I stress, were also present. Look on internet for pictures of village dogs and chickens or goats. You will often see dogs out with the other species. Or take yourself out to some third world country that approximates how dogs where kept for many thousands of years. The dogs in many instances would in our society be called strays or do not report to a specific owner yet all members in that community at some point or another invested in training those dogs not to molest the other species of interest to the people. In some instances those same dogs also aided with hunting but would come back and leave livestock alone. If a village can do it with dogs lacking a pedigree, then anyone can if they have an open mind.

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.

 

[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.