Dogs (and I'm at my wits end sleep-deprived)

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

I'm so sorry Lisa - it just isn't right. Sounds like everyone else has good ideas. i love animals, respect animals, would never hurt an animal if i did not have to. But unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not take responsibiliity for their animals. i have had discussions with neighbors regarding their cats coming in my yard to kill the songbirds i feed. They always have some kind of excuse. i have cats myself, but they are never anyone else's problem - i keep them in as we are in a suburban neighborhood. So my experience has been that talking to animal owners generally does not solve the problem.

i say trap the dogs, take them to animal control (in another county) and be done with it. Or follow the advice of others on this thread and get them out of your life.

So sorry again. You need some peace, as do your poor chickens.

 

[Katy]

I think SSS would be in order after four nights! It's probably only a matter of time before they figure out a way to get by the electric fence. We use electric fence for a our cattle and it doesn't take our dogs long to figure out how to get under or over it.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Well, Darby and I stayed on the couch all night with the gun and they didn't come back.
Night before last, they came twice. The first time they were after a pen of Button Quail and the second time was when they drug the pen with the MG roo to the woods.
The night before that, they were ON TOP of the Campine pen trying to get in.
I had the big live trap baited and set. If I can get them trapped, it will be much easier to dispose of them. The way the chicken yard is, it's tough to get a good shot without worrying about hitting a coop.
If they have collars, I'll call amimal control. If not there's no point in getting them involved.
I'll take a nap this afternoon and wait for them again tonight.
Oh and this is a different pair of dogs from the Lab pair that dug under the fence and killed a bunch of hens a few weeks ago (the yellow one didn't make it out of the pen and the black one hasn't been back).
These 2 look like Dane mixes, tall scrawny-looking mutts.
It was an 'oh sh1t!' moment when I went out to run them off the first night. Lol, they ran one way and I ran the other.
Thanks again for listening, I just get so frustrated.

Lisa

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

The dogs came back again last night, but ran off as soon as I opened the door.
Good luck, Deb!
My friend Deb, has her court date Mon to try to collect from the owner of a goat-killing dog (an irresponsible neighbor).
Wish her luck!
And wish me luck with the danged dogs.

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[speckledhen]

Good luck, Lisa. This has to end soon or you'll be completely bleary eyed from lack of sleep. Hope you get 'em soon.

 

[Davaroo]

I'm sorry to hear about your canine woes, Lisa. Dogs are some of the worst preds going. I'll assume you don't know who the owners are, since you didn't mention it. Chances are they wouldn't do anything about anyway. Neither will our illustrious county people, at least not before it's too late. Sounds like you're on your own. But be careful . . . up there where youre at Lisa, you need to be mindful of where a shot would go if it missed in the night. Heck, it might hit my house!
(For those who dont know, Lisa lives just a few miles from me.)

A shotgun is the trick, with O-2 sized buckshot, but you gottta be smarter than your prey. I saw a dispatch trap once that might work for you, made from a single shot shotgun. It was just the gun mounted on a piece of wood with a trip wire to the trigger - and the wire run to some bait, like chicken. The catch? The bait was placed at the muzzle of the shotgun. There was a funnel-like fence of wood on either side that forced the dog to go only to the bait and when it pulls on it ...well you get the point.
That way you dont have to sit up or risk scaring them off when opening the door. You'll know when it has done its work and can roll back over until morning light.

I like this method since live trapping doesn't always work with rampant dogs. They aren't starving, just hell-bent and smarter than you might think. A dog-sized "humane" trap is going to be big and pricy and leg traps are a distasteful business. Besides once trapped, they have to be dealt with no matter what trap you use. I'd prefer to just dispatch them right off.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Oh, I'm out of whack in the best of times. Things just get wronger and wronger. A neighbor brought her grandkid over to feed the chickens and I asked if she'd seen a huge black dog w/ white feet anywhere around.
Yes, she said, that sounds like my brother-in-laws new dog (they live a mile or so away and it has run from her house to theirs and back).
She asked that I not 'do anything mean to it' til she has a chance to talk with them.
I told her (in front of the child) that the only reason it was still alive was because I hadn't been able to get a shot at the dog without possibly hitting my birds. The kid was matter-of-fact and said "Unkies dogs would kill all the shickens? Baaad Unkie. Bad dogs"
Wow, a child that gets it...

Lisa

 

[Davaroo]

Well, now you know who owns the mutt. Time to have a talk.

 

[bjcoop]

Neighbors dogs.......

Yesterday our neighbors dog caught one of my late hatch chicks (7/7 hatch). argh.

un

The unfortunate chick wandered into THEIR yard and they said it was my fault this happened.

(wait til this dog is alone in OUR yard...my broom is on the porch--ready for him)

 

[HobbyChickener]

Give the dog owner 1 chance, this will make a second chance for the dog. 3rd shots a charm. Good Luck