Feeling Very Guilty...Need Advice

[Maisie1]

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...

One of our dogs attacked two of my javascript:void(0);parate occasions. The first one survived

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...

One of my dogs attacked two of my hens, killing one. It was horrible. You cannot "train away" the prey drive. My husband had to make the run fence taller since the one who died flew over it when the dog was in the yard. So this dog is not allowed in the backyard unsupervised, period ( she's killed other things, too).

Can you make your fenced-in run bigger? If not, you may have to return the dog. I'm sorry, but the alternative is never letting your hens out to free range. Right now everyone sounds miserable and it's an untenable situation. Most shelters will accept a returned pet that isn't a good fit. Just let them know why, so they can advise other potential adopters. Don't feel guilty. It's not your fault. You can find a dog who's uninterested in hunting to adopt. That's probably the simplest solution.

I feel for you. Good luck!

 

[Marie2020]

Way back I got a crate for my dog as he was completely chaotic, then put a breathable sheet over the top. Eventually I would let him free when I left the house and found he would choose to be in his crate, it was his quiet space. He liked to chase but luckily he's never been the hunting sort of guy but always chased cats that ventured into my garden. Then a tiny abandoned kitty turned up, he was being attacked by magpies and a nasty cat that thought he owned everywhere he roamed. Eventually I started leaving plates of food for little kitty, over the course of a year , my dog would chase off the bad cat and the kitten noticed he wasn't in danger. One night I fell asleep without closing my door then in the morning I noticed evidence of this kitty on my sofa, he'd slept alongside my dog. Your dog is only three hopefully in time he'll learn these chickens are part of his pack, mine has and my now cat thinks he's a sheep dog and assists me at times with my girls. Everything takes time I really hope you can work it all out or as you have already said find him another home . You are so kind taking him in

 

[free range possum]

Thanks for your reply. The dog has some separation anxiety issues so if I leave him in the house to go free range the chickens (and supervise them), he whines and is starting to become destructive. The dog pound didn’t know he had these issues. We’ve been trying to crate train him but it has been extremely slow going. I’m on Night # 6 of getting only 2 hours of sleep because of the night time whining/barking while in the crate next to me in bed (husband has been sleeping in our guest room). I don’t know what to do. I feel so bad for my chickens, this is causing me so much anxiety.

Okay, you committed to the chickens and accept you are going to find a way to make this good for everybody. You have to remember this dog is judging you by how he survived before..and it was survival. He will be even more insecure since he is picking up on your stress. I've worked and trained police dogs many years. Take this in considerhe does not process or Reason like you do and he has a very negative base to make decisions from. now the first thing I recommend and it'll give you confidence that you're getting control of the situation and it will give him an idea of where he is in the order of thinGs so he knows what's expected talk to him by saying his name first before any cue,order or teaching lesson. 2) You have to let him know he no longer has to make decisions to survive and he is to look to you for your decision. To do this, no matter if you know it or not..speak his name them tell him what you want him to do, and use a soft voice so he has to listen. I start by alway making dog set at door , speak.his name, tell him to set, then ask.if he need s to go out. I make.him sit until he act I ally looks up at me. Then I.let him out. Then I step.out first. I repeat same process EVERY time going out or coming in. When he successful auto sits when you get to door, he should be looking at you and waiting for you to step out without you having to remind him. It may take a week. But always, always speak his name first, tell him what you expect and you always always step out first or go thru door first then when he looks at you and is setting, let him follow you in. He will get with gentle repetition that he follows your lead and he is to look to you for decisions and it will give him his place in your world and your both will relax. Feel free anytime I cam help you! Shepherds are very high prey drive. That means they are geared for chain of command. I actually have a 87%wolf pup that's 6 months old and she respects my birds and watches me,not them

 

[Jessie_james]

I thought of more to tell you. It’s so long, I’m sorry ... our dog was neutered at 5mo. We have been feeding him pure-vita turkey expensive dog food because our other dog had food allergies that made him itch intensely with anything else. I think Moses had less noticeable reactions to other foods as well. He seemed to “act worse” on beef dog foods but not sure. He seemed to be more aggressive when he had access to bones. So really now all we give him is a large beef bone when he is in the crate and I don’t let him have it any other time. I use turkey hot dog pieces to give him Benadryl.
Our chickens have their own coop and run area in our backyard and he basically ignores them now! In fact, we’ve had a couple situations where they escaped and roamed our yard. I have had other situations where I was free ranging The chickens before my garden got going and had our dog door closed but hubby came home for a few days and wasn’t accustomed to keeping the dogs inside so he accidentally let them out. By the grace of God, I caught it quick enough every time! At least once, the dogs have gotten out or were already outside and didn’t even notice the chickens. Another time, they were outside and even saw the chickens and were not too interested. They followed my directions to go inside the house and did not bother them at all! Training paid off!!! Are used to wonder if we would ever get to this point. I don’t free range anymore because of the garden, and I don’t want to test my dogs anymore than necessary lol.
We also used a stake and cable with a harness in my back yard, after one of our chicken killings... They would free range and I would stay out there to make sure the chickens weren’t dumb enough to come to close to his perimeter. If he looked at the chickens or got curious, we would shake or shoot the BB gun. It was really hard at first because even when the chickens were not free range we had them in Their run and Moses was free rein, he would be so curious. We had to be ultra firm. If he even looked at the chickens - the BB gun shook and it was really hard because I spent a lot of time in the garden and didn’t feel like it was going to work because there were a lot of times that I could not discipline him but somehow we got through it and it did work. my husband started the BB gun Discipline. He was totally on board. When he could, he would sit there in the shade while I worked in my garden and when Moses thought everything was cool and he could get away with it my husband would catch him and shoot. Soon If moses even heard somebody picking up the gun he would stop what he was doing. We would have to sneak picking up the gun so that it didn’t shake so that we could really catch him. Otherwise, he just learned to avoid the BB gun by not doing anything when we were there and watching. If you want it to work you just have to keep pressing on. There’s been a lot of times of crying, a lot of anxiety, and it’s really hard to go through. But when I chose our dog I knew it was the right thing to do. I had this feeling that we were meant to choose him (that’s another short story ). I never want to go back down that road because it’s been a very rough time. But just like we don’t give away our children when it gets rough, we have stuck with this dog and in many ways he’s amazing. My husband couldn’t even pet him properly because he was always so hyper when somebody went to pet him. A week or two ago, he was laying on his lap letting him pet him, and I think that’s when my husband truly realized that our anxiety and suffering was not in vein. This dog would take a bullet for us. My dog trainer told me too. I think he’s actually more protective against the chickens as well. We had a raccoon come to our house about 4wks ago and that’s another short story But he acted completely professional like he’s part protector part hunting dog. He did a good job and didn’t go crazy like he normally would over small pray.
Oh and I am largely a stay at home mom and my husband is a fireman… Luckily now he has been home a bit more because sometimes he is able to respond from home on certain days. We also have Rentals and fix them. Before, I couldn’t even take him with me on a stake/cable because he was so whiny and didn’t want me focused on anything else but him and didn’t feel comfortable being other places I guess. I haven’t done any intense work like that lately, but I will be soon and I think with the Benadryl, crate, and stake/cable that we will manage so much better. Sometimes we would just keep Moses on a leash in the house and make him follow us and practice sittingand staying and being “good”... He was such a punk that if I went to the bathroom, he knew and would cause trouble in the house. Anyway, I hope this helps. It’s a long process togo through with a dog but he has made our lives richer.He has taught my husband and I more about what it means to stick it through with our dog and marriage. We haven’t always been on the same page as far as moses is concerned, that’s for sure but we are stronger and more resilient because of our struggles.

 

[penelopebianchi]

Hi there! I have had a flock of beloved chickens for 34 years! Even before Martha Stewart! in Pasadena......California.....fairly urban. And roosters. Anway, we have had terriers. All rescue. I would show the dog the chickens on a leash. And explain confidently (confidence and stern language. Not mean, not loud. Confident. Stern. Then I would sit with the dog on the leash when the chickens wandered. Never a problem.
If dogs are new to you, get a trainer for a few sessions. Totally worth it. They know just what to do.
Great solution to separate the yard if possible.

Please don't return the dog. As much as you love your chickens, your dog will be way more loving and giving than you can imagine once this works out. Don't give up!

 

[Lynn Woehrle]

Your dog may be reacting like a Border Collie who wants to herd everything. We've had two Border Collies and they just want to herd and protect what they are herding--chickens, cats, donkeys, ponies and even people. But since he is a cross of another breed (pitbulls can also be protective) it's hard to know if he will attack. We have five dogs who are always out in the yards with our chickens--it helps to keep the hawks away. We have always brought the chicks home and put them in a covered playpen in our family room. All the dogs watch them grow and soon lose interest in watching them--except our Border Collie. He tried to herd them in the playpen all day and night. Our female Border Collie would climb in the kiddie pool and let them walk all over her. She was protective and guarded them. She saved a lot of critters.

Since your chickens are full grown, it is harder to know what your dog would do or for that matter how the chickens will react. Your dog is new to everything and a lot of dogs would kill chickens, so if it is possible after your dog has been there for a while and calms down, you could hold each chicken and carefully let him sniff them. And love them up in front of him so he knows they are part of the family.

Not sure this would work but don't give up. Hopefully your dog will be ok and even protective with your chickens.

Good luck---it will take a lot of patience

 

[Nikiliz]

I have an older ex racing greyhound and i got given 4 hens
They were always kept seperate for about a year. the girls have half an acre to free range but thought it would
be nice to let the girls
come into the house yard .
So i put a soft muzzle
on the dog and put the lead on her and got her to sit on the outside lounge with my adult son
When ever she showed excitement i told
her firmly to “Leave it”
did this for about a week and took the muzzle off and eventually the lead and she laid on lounge while the girl for raged around the garden.
This only happened when My partner and myself were out the back and only for no lo her than half and hour in later afternoon.
Apparently the girls got into the house yard on their own one day while we were at work
Got a distressing call from son saying the girls were with the dog
She loves the girls and has never shown aggression

 

[Nikiliz]

Maybe try the same thing with your dog
be positive with praise and firm when he does the wrong thing
Dogs are smarter than we think
You could try some Rescue remedy for your dog to take the edge of the anxiety

 

[Nikiliz]

this is Maddy sharing a bone with 2 of the girls

 

[chuckmama]

Caesar Millan, the dog whisper, says that your dog is feeding off your anxiety. Watch a few of his videos especially related to interactions with other species. He is amazing and can help with gaining confidence to be a good pack leader.