Feeling Very Guilty...Need Advice

[lbgreenfield]

Yeah, pit bulls are hit and miss, but that border collie in him is where he is getting his chase drive from. Can you roller skate with him or put him on a treadmill?

Well, we don't have a treadmill and I could roller-blade with him but I'm not comfortable with taking him to the rail-trail near our house (he hasn't been fully vaccinated yet and our vet appointment in mid-July). I might try and take him to the boat launch (with a life jacket on him) and see if he likes the water, I could take him to a lake on the gamelands near my parents' house. I think the dog training facility near us has treadmills, but I can't take him there yet until after the vet appointment.

 

[lbgreenfield]

The bike ride would be perfect if you can get him to do it. We take ours out with the pickup, let them out and drive while they run behind us.

I'm going to try it after work today, would be nice to be able to go biking on the rail-trails near my house with him once he's (hopefully) trained a bit more.

 

[jessivogel]

He's a pit bull/border collie mix. I'm coming to the realization that my chickens/dog most likely will never be allowed to be outside free-ranging and off-leash together. I'm exercising him as much as I can during the work day (three long walks) and am considering doing a test run around my yard with me on my bicycle to see if he would run while I bike (since I'm not a runner) to tire him out more. Still a work in progress, but trying! I will consider putting his kennel near the coop/run once he is kennel-trained (still trying really hard to work on this every day), I think that might help!

I'm going to try it after work today, would be nice to be able to go biking on the rail-trails near my house with him once he's (hopefully) trained a bit more.

Hope it goes well!!!

 

[aart]

We need a pic of this guy

 

[lbgreenfield]

I was putting off posting a few pictures, but he is a cute dog, so here you go!
Also...his name is Meatball
Don't be fooled by the big puppy dog eyes!! Haha.

 

[Folly's place]

Handsome! Well named too...
Mary

 

[FathertoFeathers]

This is my experience. I got a dog from the shelter too. She had been abused and neglected and I wanted to help her. I brought her in and worked hard to be there for her. Then we got chickens. Then my parents decided to get chicks. She was not a fan. We lost the whole flock of 6 when we put them outside. So I thought I could train her to stay away. Nope. She was so determined to get them that she literally would charge full speed at the coop and slam into it trying to break through until she would bleed. So after trying for months to get her used to them and losing more chickens I decided to get a shock collar. That didn't stop her either. So I tried the beep setting. Nothing. Tried the vibrate setting. Nothing. I knew it was working because when you would shock her she'd yelp back up a bit but then start ramming the coop again. My ladies couldn't free range and I felt terrible. I kid you not I tried everything with that dog. I tried the see but don't touch method. I tried to slowly introduce her. I would give her treats when she wouldn't chase them. I would lock her in her kennel whenever she killed one. I felt so bad because she was such a sweet dog. She had been abused and I wanted to help her. It was clear she was trying so hard but she couldn't resist. So I had to give her away. I still feel bad about it. But I feel better knowing she's with another lovely family.
Im not telling you to give your dog away. Im just telling you that its not going to be easy and you'll probably have losses. I wish something worked for me so I could help you out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Our Sammy (Sheltie) is high energy but instead of trying to tire him out w exercise I did the opposite and it worked well. We have a "bachelor pen" of chain link fencing, 4' high, next to the chicken run and I'd put him there for an hour or two every afternoon. This accomplished two things: conditioned him to be near the chickens and not bother them (because he couldn't) and lay down and be bored, bc there was nothing else to do. He thus learned to ignore the birds. If the chickens might fly over, trimming the feathers of one wing should take care of that. I used a properly fitted prong collar on him the day I turned the chickens out to free range and he did fine. This may or may not work for you, but I can now trust Sammy to run as free as the birds. They are nothing but lawn furniture to him.

ETA there were no chickens in the bachelor pen when I put Sammy in there.

 

[lbgreenfield]

This is my experience. I got a dog from the shelter too. She had been abused and neglected and I wanted to help her. I brought her in and worked hard to be there for her. Then we got chickens. Then my parents decided to get chicks. She was not a fan. We lost the whole flock of 6 when we put them outside. So I thought I could train her to stay away. Nope. She was so determined to get them that she literally would charge full speed at the coop and slam into it trying to break through until she would bleed. So after trying for months to get her used to them and losing more chickens I decided to get a shock collar. That didn't stop her either. So I tried the beep setting. Nothing. Tried the vibrate setting. Nothing. I knew it was working because when you would shock her she'd yelp back up a bit but then start ramming the coop again. My ladies couldn't free range and I felt terrible. I kid you not I tried everything with that dog. I tried the see but don't touch method. I tried to slowly introduce her. I would give her treats when she wouldn't chase them. I would lock her in her kennel whenever she killed one. I felt so bad because she was such a sweet dog. She had been abused and I wanted to help her. It was clear she was trying so hard but she couldn't resist. So I had to give her away. I still feel bad about it. But I feel better knowing she's with another lovely family.
Im not telling you to give your dog away. Im just telling you that its not going to be easy and you'll probably have losses. I wish something worked for me so I could help you out.

I'm sorry to hear that. It would be so tough to put in the time, energy, and love into both the chickens and dog, only to have to give her away. I am going to try my best to train the dog, but I realize that he may never be allowed to be outside with the chickens at the same time. I'm prepared to rotate them so if the dog it out, the chickens are in, and vice versa. Not ideal, but I couldn't live with myself if the dog killed one of my girls.

 

[lbgreenfield]

Our Sammy (Sheltie) is high energy but instead of trying to tire him out w exercise I did the opposite and it worked well. We have a "bachelor pen" of chain link fencing, 4' high, next to the chicken run and I'd put him there for an hour or two every afternoon. This accomplished two things: conditioned him to be near the chickens and not bother them (because he couldn't) and lay down and be bored, bc there was nothing else to do. He thus learned to ignore the birds. If the chickens might fly over, trimming the feathers of one wing should take care of that. I used a properly fitted prong collar on him the day I turned the chickens out to free range and he did fine. This may or may not work for you, but I can now trust Sammy to run as free as the birds. They are nothing but lawn furniture to him.

ETA there were no chickens in the bachelor pen when I put Sammy in there.

Bachelor kennel is a good idea, I'm going to wait to get him more acquainted with us before letting him go near the girls again. All of this is going to take time!