Dogs on my property

[Silkies and succulents]

Earlier today I saw something running around at first I thought it was coyote. I wouldn‘t say my dog is dumb, but he is deffintly not smart enough to not pick a fight with a coyote. So I ran outside to scare it off, and realised it was a German Shepard. I’ve seen this dog around before running through my yard before the chickens were there. And today he stoped to take a look at them, but when my dog came running around and started barking he ran off. I am not letting my chickens free range at the moment due to the fact that I am redoing our current freerange arangemnt, and they can’t be out of the run without supervision. If this dog were to come back and hurt my dog of my chikens while they were out ( my dog and chickens are never out at the same time.)I don’t know what I would do. I have no Idea who owns the dog where they live, or how to contact them. The first time we saw it I decided to go bike around to see if it was still out and I could ask the owners. I found a couple walking with their other dog and I asked if the German Shephard was theirs, because he was running around our property. They looked at eachother and said that he belongs to the ladies sister who lived out of state and was on vaccation. I don’t even know if they were telling the truth or not. If the dog does comeback again by the time I let the chickens free range again and got one of them, or if my dog is outside and if their dog hurt my dog or vise versa, what would you sugest doing?

 

[hayley3]

I would call the police and ask them that exact question. When that happened to me, they told me to shoot it if it came back on my property. But then they also went to the neighbor and warned him and he kept his dogs up for a long time but in your case they are not home, so maybe the police would call someone to come catch it. Being that it's a big dog I would be afraid to catch it myself. It's really not the dog's fault that it is running free, but the owner's.

 

[Kirkwooder]

What ever you do, don't shoot anybody's dog.

If I were in your position I would see if the dog would come to me or be somehow caught. Then I would tie it out in the front yard and wait to see who comes looking for it. Then calmly explain why they need to keep their dog away from your place.

 

[theoldchick]

Trap it and take it to the animal shelter. Let the shelter manager know the dog was a nuisance and creating a problem with your livestock.

 

[Silkies and succulents]

I would never shoot somebody elses dog. Or let anybody else shoot it either. I can’t catch it, I tried to see if it had a collar the first time ( it did) and if its adress was near. It ran off before I could get close enough, and I decided to bike in the general direction, and I found it walking with its owners dowwn our street. Our town doesn’t have a shelter and I don’t know were the nearest one is. I think the police department might have a Spot in their office, because thats who came when our old dog got out 3 years ago. If the dog does comeback I’ll talk to the police, and try to find the owners again to see if they could do anything to keephim away. Thanks for the answers!

 

[Pet Educate]

I would report to the local authorities or knock on a few doors locally to find the owners. It may well be the dog is escaping unbeknown to the owners and it's likely very local.

 

[cmom]

Electric fences/wires can be your good friend. My birds are confined to nice large pens. I have electric wires around my coops and pens. Nothing has gotten past the electric wires. I used to free range but my land is mostly open pasture and the birds were easy for a coyote or fox primarily to pick off. I have seen bobcats too. I don't close my pop doors on my coops at night but I don't worry because as I said, nothing has gotten past the electric wires. I think the predators teach their young that a chicken isn't worth getting zapped for. Good luck...
http://www.plamondon.com/wp/faq-simple-electric-fences-chickens/
Some coyotes. I have previously posted this video.

 

[kgallego]

Earlier today I saw something running around at first I thought it was coyote. I wouldn‘t say my dog is dumb, but he is deffintly not smart enough to not pick a fight with a coyote. So I ran outside to scare it off, and realised it was a German Shepard. I’ve seen this dog around before running through my yard before the chickens were there. And today he stoped to take a look at them, but when my dog came running around and started barking he ran off. I am not letting my chickens free range at the moment due to the fact that I am redoing our current freerange arangemnt, and they can’t be out of the run without supervision. If this dog were to come back and hurt my dog of my chikens while they were out ( my dog and chickens are never out at the same time.)I don’t know what I would do. I have no Idea who owns the dog where they live, or how to contact them. The first time we saw it I decided to go bike around to see if it was still out and I could ask the owners. I found a couple walking with their other dog and I asked if the German Shephard was theirs, because he was running around our property. They looked at eachother and said that he belongs to the ladies sister who lived out of state and was on vaccation. I don’t even know if they were telling the truth or not. If the dog does comeback again by the time I let the chickens free range again and got one of them, or if my dog is outside and if their dog hurt my dog or vise versa, what would you sugest doing?

Call me cruel, but my policy with neighbors dogs is very simple. Strike 1 - the neighbor gets a courtesy warning that if their dog is killing chickens again, it will be shot. Strike 2 - shoot, shovel, and STFU.

 

[svh]

Some foolish advise has been given .... Almost any dog can deliver a nasty bite, or worse, a German Shepard especially, and trying to capture a potentially dangerous animal should be left either to the owners, or a professional.

My opinion goes along with a couple of others in this thread, and personally, if my chickens or dogs were out, and the animal in question were even remotely interested in either, I would shoot it on sight.

 

[aart]

It ran off before I could get close enough, and I decided to bike in the general direction, and I found it walking with its owners dowwn our street.

So did you speak with them @Silkies and succulents ?