Feeling Very Guilty...Need Advice

[lbgreenfield]

Hello all. This is slightly embarrassing for me and a long read. We have a current flock of 11 chickens (Five 2.5-year old hens and six 12-week old chicks). I am the primary caretaker of all of them, and I am very, very attached to my chickens and they are attached to me. My husband jokes that he thinks I love the chickens more than I love him sometimes.

We’ve been debating rescuing a shelter dog for almost 5 years now and we finally adopted a 3-year old border collie/pit bull mix who comes from an abusive home. We have had him for about 5 days now. The dog pound didn’t know much about his background. He’s a surprisingly good dog despite his upbringing (friendly towards people, is semi-house trained) but as we’ve come to find out over the past few days, he has a very strong prey drive when it comes to any animal (rabbits especially). We’ve done a very controlled (fully leashed) distanced introduction with the dog/chickens and the dog has lunged and pulled to get closer.

We are keeping the chickens in their run/coop for the time being and I am feeling INCREDIBLY guilty about it. The chickens are used to free ranging during the evenings and have been vocally complaining, making crying sounds, moping around the pen/coop. I feel so horrible and have been trying to spend as much time in the pen as possible but it has been difficult with the new dog (husband works a lot and I’m the primary care taker of the dog while working from home FT). It is making me so emotional and sad and almost resentful towards the dog. Am I being crazy? Over analyzing every move the dog makes? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to my chickens because of the dog. Just looking for some advice from others on this...

 

[TwoShepherds]

Is it possible to keep the dog in the house or a kennel in the evening while the flock free ranges?

 

[rosemarythyme]

The rule in my house is if chickens are out, dogs stay inside the house (or the kennel, wherever you have him). If dogs are out, chickens are inside the run. If your family can stick to that there shouldn't be an issue, even with prey aggressive dogs.

 

[CoopedUpFamily]

I can understand this. We have young chickens and 3 older dogs. We have just learned to give them time in the yard separately. I know this can be difficult for sure.

 

[Pghelp]

Hello all. This is slightly embarrassing for me and a long read. We have a current flock of 11 chickens (Five 2.5-year old hens and six 12-week old chicks). I am the primary caretaker of all of them, and I am very, very attached to my chickens and they are attached to me. My husband jokes that he thinks I love the chickens more than I love him sometimes.

We’ve been debating rescuing a shelter dog for almost 5 years now and we finally adopted a 3-year old border collie/pit bull mix who comes from an abusive home. We have had him for about 5 days now. The dog pound didn’t know much about his background. He’s a surprisingly good dog despite his upbringing (friendly towards people, is semi-house trained) but as we’ve come to find out over the past few days, he has a very strong prey drive when it comes to any animal (rabbits especially). We’ve done a very controlled (fully leashed) distanced introduction with the dog/chickens and the dog has lunged and pulled to get closer.

We are keeping the chickens in their run/coop for the time being and I am feeling INCREDIBLY guilty about it. The chickens are used to free ranging during the evenings and have been vocally complaining, making crying sounds, moping around the pen/coop. I feel so horrible and have been trying to spend as much time in the pen as possible but it has been difficult with the new dog (husband works a lot and I’m the primary care taker of the dog while working from home FT). It is making me so emotional and sad and almost resentful towards the dog. Am I being crazy? Over analyzing every move the dog makes? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to my chickens because of the dog. Just looking for some advice from others on this...

Don't give up too soon! As a rescue I'm sure the dog is having quite a bit of anxiety. Could you consider a compromise of fencing off a section for the chickens that they could free range within? That was our compromise. The ladies have about 1/4 of the yard. It's not a predator secure fence since I shut them in the coop at night, but it means they can roam around and we didn't have to worry about my son's dogs. Here's a success story. Both dogs are rescues and came with their own quirks. The retriever/shepherd/collie potluck went crazy for birds. She would leap and bark at anything flying. She is so mellow now and lays beside the fence watching chicken tv. I wouldn't have trusted her or the terrier mix alone with the chickens, but recently our 6 week old chicks have flown over and we've discovered dogs and lone chick co-existing peaceably together. If you can figure out a way for the dog to have time to get used to the chix without endangering them, you might find it can work out. Best of luck!

 

[333113]

Thanks for your reply. This is so difficult for me. I’m seriously considering taking the dog back, but would feel guilty about that too. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

If you were enjoying your chickens before the dog, I don't think you have the right home for this dog.

It's okay, you gave it a good try. But you need a dog that can get along with small animals. And that should be item one on your criteria list, the way it would be if the small animals were your children or your existing pet dog or cat. Some dogs will learn to get along (at least, while you are watching), and some won't. There are lots of wonderful shelter dogs who need a home and would be happy to coexist peacefully with your flock. I know because I have three of them, a lab/border collie mix, a purebred Chinese crested, and a corgi/lab mix.

When you adopt, consider a home visit first, which some shelters will let you do. Or, ask one of your chickens to accompany you to the shelter for an initial meet-and-greet. A minute of interaction should tell you all you need to know about the basics of how the dog regards chickens.

Good luck!

 

[rosemarythyme]

As for the dog, you may want to consult a trainer and/or your vet for the separation anxiety, if it's severe. 2 of my dogs have separation anxiety, and we handle each one a little differently. I know it's tough at the start when you're having to try a lot of different things to figure out what the triggers are for this dog, and what he responds well to, and I admit with our last 3 dogs I gave serious thought to taking each one back, but after you get through that rough initial period, they all turned out to be very sweet (albeit imperfect) dogs.

 

[lbgreenfield]

UPDATE: 24 November 2020

Hi everyone. I wanted to provide a ~6 month update for Meatball (dog), the chickens, and how everyone is doing. And my oh my, what a difference time and effective training make!

Shortly after I wrote my original post, I invested in a SportDog e-collar and it has been a true lifesaver. Meatball responded so well to e-collar training with me and knows about 8 commands now (sit, stay, come, heel, lay down, place, shake, and emergency recall). It took about 4 weeks of multiple, short (less than 10min) daily training sessions with and without the e-collar for him to be able to learn all these things. He doesn’t need the e-collar on to respond to these commands too! I actually did all the training on my own after watching the videos that came with the collar and a few YouTube videos. He’s been socialized with a few family and friend’s dogs and he is great with other dogs, loves to play and be around everyone.

As for the chickens and Meatball, he has learned that the ladies are 100% off limits. He will never be a poultry guard dog but he is so much more well behaved now than before. We just recently got to the point where we can let him off leash (but still wearing the e-collar) and let him be outside the fence when the chickens are out free-ranging. He actually is more interested in chasing squirrels than the chickens! When I was doing his “intense” training, I would make him sit and stay right by the run/coop with the chickens inside while I would go collect eggs and clean the coop. I think doing that every day got him used to seeing/smelling the chickens. I would inch him closer to the run fencing every few days until he’s to the point now where he’s laying right up against the run fencing. I don’t think we will ever get to the point of letting him off leash with no e-collar with everyone free ranging but I’ll take what I have now!

Anyways, thanks for everyone’s encouragement! I’ll leave you with a photo that sums up Meatball’s progress

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ah ok just saw the update about separation anxiety (I have 2 of those). Is there a place outside where the dog can safely be chained or housed for the time being while the chickens get their time outside?

 

[aart]

Have you had a dog before?
They take a lot of time and energy to train...especially an adult shelter dog who may have problems. Border collies are very high strung and strong willed, takes a tenacious keeper to keep them under control and happy. It can take months of constant and consistent work to get things settled.
Professional dog training is more about training the people than the dog.
I learned a lot from taking a class with a shelter dog, it taught me how my behaviors and emotions had a huge impact on the dogs demeanor.