DOG

[pampa]

i would like to mention a couple of things.

this is a land co-op, there are no fences and everyone involved would like to keep it that way. my neighbors also have a dog and the SSS option is not one they would take. these are animal lovers... all animals. this is something that happens. before i ever got onto this chicken form and posted anything i obviously was in contact with my neighbors, we've already reached an understanding. i am replacing the chickens they lost as well as fixing up their fence (the chickens).
i understand dog behavior more than most people who own dogs. i am a responsible owner. as i said before this is a land co-op and my dog and my neighbors dog were running around together freely.... as all the dogs here do. that was a mistake on my part and i should have kept him beside me where i can control him. thanks for the advise, but this is not so much a dispute between neighbors, we've already reached a conclusion and we are still on good terms. this is more about the future and the dogs behavior.
i am sorry if this is upsetting to anyone in this form. but honestly i don't see how any of you could or should be more upset than me and my neighbors.
i was just trying every avenue. i figured there should be people around who have both dogs and chickens and might have had to deal with similar situations. this is not a Dog Vs. Chicken situation. we are just trying to all live happily together. this is not a killing dog in the sense that he attacked and tore these chickens apart, he didn't.
dogs have various motor patterns that they have or have not maintained through their evolutionary past. he is a herder so he has the chase, he even has the heal nip that so many herders have. he doesn't have the bite. this was a very shocking event because so many as he was growing up i've seen him chase an animal and get right on top of it just to step back and let it go so as to chase it again. obviously i would not want him even chasing the chickens.

thank you for your help and also for some of you sticking up for me. we are all animal lovers and i hope to have my own chickens some day as well.

 

[pampa]

also does anyone know any where where i could get some barred plymouth rock chicken in the VT/NH area to replace my neighbors chickens?

that would be Very helpful.
thanks for everyones understanding and help.

 

[saddina]

Since the land is co op and "fence free" may I suggest a dog pen? That way if the chickens are out, and the dog is not under your direct supervision, he can be put in a dog run? It sounds like both the dogs & chickens are free range, if so this will happen again.

 

[speckledhen]

i would like to mention a couple of things.

It would have been very helpful if you had said all that in your first post. I have no real idea what a land co-op is (commune? Dont know) and why no one wants a fence and dogs run free-that is a foreign concept to me, as I never want someone else's dogs on my property, even if I did not have a flock. Since you apparently live in a highly unusual arrangement, it was critical information to know in order to help answer your question.
My only suggestion is that if that is how you all wish to live, then the owners of the chickens will have to fence the birds with very strong fencing and leave them in it, rather than free range. Hanging a dead bird around a dog's neck may or may not work. Some have just eaten the bird when it got "ripe", so that may actually make things worse when the dog realizes that those chickens taste good.

For the record, I'm not sure why you needed "sticking up for", as you put it. No one attacked you here. They answered you with none of the pertinent information available to give you an informed answer.​

 

[Suellyn]

You have an unusual set of circumstances in that you live in a co-op where dogs are allowed to run free, and fences are undesirable.

I didn't know you had already been in contact with your neighbors, I am glad that you are both working together amicably to resolve the situation.

You mentioned a fenced area, for the chickens, I assume... Other than to reinforce the chicken area & make it completely dog/predator-proof, and/or to leash/tether your dog, I can't think of any other feasible solutions for your situation.

Training would be very, very difficult in your situation... so many variables, combined with the potential for "pack mentality" and prey drive issues, with a variety of dogs, not just your own. (Professional Animal Trainer/Zookeeper here for 18+ yrs.).

Check out the "Buy/sell/trade" sections for the breed of chicken you are interested in... LOTS of stuff for sale!!!

Good luck!!!!!

PS: Like Speckledhen mentioned, there was a lot of information that is pretty unusual that none of us could have known in your first post!!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Herding instinct bred into herding dogs is only a modification of the prey drive instinct. Many herding breeds also use 'gripping', which is essentially biting and is an accepted practice in some venues.

Heel nipping can easily turn into biting. I have seen this happen in border collies repeatedly. Most national competition level border collies will actually kill a sheep every one or two years and sometimes have to be retired because the 'herding' breaks through into 'prey'.

I try to keep my dogs from terrorizing other animals by chasing, even if you think they do not mean to kill. Chasing is prey drive and it is only a matter of time before they grab something if given free reign.

Keep that chicken fence sturdy!

Obedience, tracking, agility, flyball trainer of 22 years.

 

[Brindlebtch]

So far I have the only American Staffordshire Terrier in my area that has passed a herding test with sheep AND is trained for junior hunter.

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Quote:
I just wanted to welcome you to BYC and let you know I hope you can find a way to re-train your pup. Good luck.

I know of one BYC person who re-train her German Shepard to leave the birds alone. Her BYC name is ruth and I read about it on the thread she has going, I believe it is called, a Journey of a different way. You may be able to find it in a search it is long but would really be a good read for you. Would be interested in hearing about your community living, might be nice if ya started a thread on that.

Again good luck and welcome.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

I have a 3 month old lab and she hasn't killed a chicken, but she loves to flush and chase them, she has actually caught a couple of them, one she plucked the tail feathers from her and the other she seemed to be licking, well I caught her in action and in return I chased her and caught her and let her know who was boss and I was serious about not harming the chickens, so whenever I say no now she sits down. I built a dog run along the side of our house since at this point I can't totally trust her, she has a table she lays on outside the bedroom window so she can hear us in the house, all her toys, towel, rope, balls, rawhide chews are there, she is getting accustom to it. When I am in the yard I let her loose and I go though the obidience training, along with fetching, and every other day she goes to the river for a run and swim, I try to keep her from getting bored. I hope it works she is very intelligent pup, when she eats the chickens will go for her food and don't seem to fear her and she doesn't bother them, sometimes they over react when she is in the yard, well only time will tell I will just keep working with her.

 

[cmjust0]

If things are as you say they are in the co-op, then I'd have to say that what happened here was kinda nobody's fault, and kinda everybody's fault. Dead chickens are something that happens when you've got dogs -- almost any dogs -- running loose around weak chicken pens.

Given that you and your neighbor already have it all worked out without getting angry or wagging fingers at one another, I'm certainly not telling you anything you didn't already know.

My only suggestion here would be this....don't just help your neighbor repair his chicken fence -- help him BULLETPROOF his chicken fence! Make his chickens' safety personal to you, so that if something like this happens again, your neighbor can at least feel like you both had some skin in the game and did your level best to prevent it.

Plus, once the chicken run is predator proof, there's a good chance that the dog will -- over time -- decide the chickens aren't that interesting anyway..