Feeling Very Guilty...Need Advice

[Dawn Bowes]

I have a malamute and he had an incredibly strong prey drive. I got a dog trainer and now he has become a livestock guarding dog. Invest a little money in a trainer and you can have harmony among your animals. A pit bull is just like any other dog except stronger and with greater bite strength.

Yes, one of my 5 rescues is a pit bull & she is the sweetest dog but also she is the leader of the pack even tho she is the youngest & most recent. They are dominate dogs. I also used to own a huge pit bull that was taller than a standard poodle. I picked him up one day from a lady who said he was a stray but he wouldn’t let her get close enough to him to even feed him. So I sat down on the ground on his level & put food out in front of me and he came right over and started eating and let me pet him & collar him right then & there. I brought him in the house & he ran into the dining room where my elderly mother was sitting at the table and he jumped into another chair and sat up all pretty like he was there for dinner. No lie, funniest thing I’d ever experienced but he was also one of the best dogs ever. He got along with all my dogs which was 6 back then making him #7 + 3 cats. My point is, all rescues are different no matter what their breed. It all has to do with how they were raised or treated/mistreated previously and you sometimes just can’t know without observing them and making sure they understand that you are the Alpha in the relationship. I’ve had way over 20 rescues dogs & cats over the years and right now I have 5 dogs & 3 cats who all live inside harmoniously. They know what is acceptable behavior & what is unacceptable. They all rotate sleepomg on the bed with us side by side cat, dog, cat, dog. I mentioned in previous comments that they all get dog/cat door trained, even the cats! So, take the time to train him daily & keep him on a schedule so he knows what to expect. They love to make you happy My dogs know what time 5 o clock is for dinner & that at 10pm they get a treat & not they let us know it if we’re late! They can tell time, I swear.

 

[Fishychix]

Yes, one of my 5 rescues is a pit bull & she is the sweetest dog but also she is the leader of the pack even tho she is the youngest & most recent. They are dominate dogs. I also used to own a huge pit bull that was taller than a standard poodle. I picked him up one day from a lady who said he was a stray but he wouldn’t let her get close enough to him to even feed him. So I sat down on the ground on his level & put food out in front of me and he came right over and started eating and let me pet him & collar him right then & there. I brought him in the house & he ran into the dining room where my elderly mother was sitting at the table and he jumped into another chair and sat up all pretty like he was there for dinner. No lie, funniest thing I’d ever experienced but he was also one of the best dogs ever. He got along with all my dogs which was 6 back then making him #7 + 3 cats. My point is, all rescues are different no matter what their breed. It all has to do with how they were raised or treated/mistreated previously and you sometimes just can’t know without observing them and making sure they understand that you are the Alpha in the relationship. I’ve had way over 20 rescues dogs & cats over the years and right now I have 5 dogs & 3 cats who all live inside harmoniously. They know what is acceptable behavior & what is unacceptable. They all rotate sleepomg on the bed with us side by side cat, dog, cat, dog. I mentioned in previous comments that they all get dog/cat door trained, even the cats! So, take the time to train him daily & keep him on a schedule so he knows what to expect. They love to make you happy My dogs know what time 5 o clock is for dinner & that at 10pm they get a treat & not they let us know it if we’re late! They can tell time, I swear.

Excellent point/reminder! Pitbulls used to be called nanny dogs because they were (still can be) excellent with children.

 

[Chickychicky123]

We had pretty much the same experience when introducing our rescue dog, a 4 year old black lab who was a failed duck hunter with a prey drive. She would pull VERY hard on the leash to lunge and snap at them and even managed to get a mouth full of tail feathers yanked out when we introduced her the first few times. We managed to train her with the “leave it” command using increasingly more and more tempting items (lots of advice for that on the internet) taking turns with dog on leash/chickens in yard and the chickens and dog now happily free range together in the yard. It took about 2 months of dedicated training for everyone to be free in the yard and me to feel 100% comfortable. However, I am a stay at home mom so I had a lot of time to work on training with her. She still has a prey drive and regularly catches squirrels in the yard but other than the initial excitement when training began she has never hurt a chicken. Not saying what you should do either way as every situation is unique but thought I would share a success story.

 

[lovesfarms]

I don't know your dog so it's harder to answer, but I agree with chickens45. If you think you can hold him on a leash or tie him up and free range the chickens at the same time it would be great. If he just tries to tear away, I wouldn't do it. You can't leave him unattended though. I grew up on a farm and the dogs we had learned to protect our chicks but would tear up a ground hog. Again, it depends on the dogs nature, but the way to teach the dog not to hurt the animals was too take them with us but smack or scold him off he tries any thing funny. It must be done time and again till they are trained. Again, I don't know your dog and with his problems he may never be safe around the chickens. But it would be wonderful to find out that he enjoys laying down and watching the chickens.

 

[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

 

[aart]

I’ll leave you with a photo that sums up Meatball’s progress

CONGRATULATIONS!!
Nothing better than a well trained dog(and keeper)
It's a lot of work, Kudos!
It makes life with dog so much better!

 

[jolenesdad]

Omg!!! First of all... it hasn’t EVEN been 6 months yet. This is one of the most feel good posts in a while for me I’m so proud of you all!!!

 

[lbgreenfield]

@aart @jolenesdad
THANK YOU!! I can’t even believe that photo is real and this is the same dog that I was writing about a few months ago. It’s like I’m in an episode of the Twilight Zone!!!!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Outstanding!!! Thank you for hanging in there with this dog, for your hard work and determination, and very much for coming back and posting this update! I'm putting on my Cootie Catcher (mask), moving in close and giving you a great big, un-socially distant virtual SQUOOOOSH!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

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

That’s great! Congratulations to you for all your hard work and persistence, looks like it is paying off!