Amanda,
What a harrowing story, I feel your pain hun. You loved her as no other can and it is difficult when they pass on, no matter how it happened. Instead of thinking of anything new you get as a replacement for her, try thinking about it as a new companion that she would have liked and enjoyed too. I know from past experience, that there truly is no such thing as replacing some living creature that you cared about, only a hope that what you do in the future would have made them happy too.
I'd also like to ask you to try very hard not to place blame. Any difficulty encounterd is a culmination of unfortunate events. It is unlikely that your father let the dog out with the intent of causing your chickens harm. As a previous poster here mentioned, dogs are powerful preditors by nature, and I would add, they should not be blamed for their actions when inadvertantly given the opportunity to hunt an easy prey.
We have just recently begun to let our 14 week old flock free range. They absolutely love their new found freedom and are very well behaved around the range. We also have a 6 year old black lab mix that has always been very curious about the flock. We have made a point of having the dog with us whenever we interact with the flock and she has, at times, shown some agression toward the birds, like a quick pounce when one would scramble about nearby, but as time went along, she sort of adopted them as her own and has become very friendly with them. As I walked around the range area yesterday I took the dog with me as the chickens free ranged. I could see that while she was quite interested in them, as they were in her, there was no indication that she would harm any of them, either with or without one of her masters around to supervise. So today, I let her out by herself while the chickens were out foraging. She checked them out while they checked her out and all was good with the world. She ran around out there for hours unsupervised without causing one single problem with the flock. She is a very well behaved girl and we are fortunate to have such a wonderful dog. Just don't ever try to come in our house without us around though, you will likely lose a limb as she is well aware of her responsibilities as a watch dog.
I only tell you this to make you aware that it is always wise to work with and love all of your animals, especially those that might pose a danger to others if given the opportunity. If this cannot be done, protect those in the greatest danger from those that can cause them harm. I am sure that you have already taken from this experience an unfortunate, but valuable lesson. The best thing you can do now is take what you've learned and make it a lasting legecy to Ginger.
Take care Amanda,
Mike
What a harrowing story, I feel your pain hun. You loved her as no other can and it is difficult when they pass on, no matter how it happened. Instead of thinking of anything new you get as a replacement for her, try thinking about it as a new companion that she would have liked and enjoyed too. I know from past experience, that there truly is no such thing as replacing some living creature that you cared about, only a hope that what you do in the future would have made them happy too.
I'd also like to ask you to try very hard not to place blame. Any difficulty encounterd is a culmination of unfortunate events. It is unlikely that your father let the dog out with the intent of causing your chickens harm. As a previous poster here mentioned, dogs are powerful preditors by nature, and I would add, they should not be blamed for their actions when inadvertantly given the opportunity to hunt an easy prey.
We have just recently begun to let our 14 week old flock free range. They absolutely love their new found freedom and are very well behaved around the range. We also have a 6 year old black lab mix that has always been very curious about the flock. We have made a point of having the dog with us whenever we interact with the flock and she has, at times, shown some agression toward the birds, like a quick pounce when one would scramble about nearby, but as time went along, she sort of adopted them as her own and has become very friendly with them. As I walked around the range area yesterday I took the dog with me as the chickens free ranged. I could see that while she was quite interested in them, as they were in her, there was no indication that she would harm any of them, either with or without one of her masters around to supervise. So today, I let her out by herself while the chickens were out foraging. She checked them out while they checked her out and all was good with the world. She ran around out there for hours unsupervised without causing one single problem with the flock. She is a very well behaved girl and we are fortunate to have such a wonderful dog. Just don't ever try to come in our house without us around though, you will likely lose a limb as she is well aware of her responsibilities as a watch dog.
I only tell you this to make you aware that it is always wise to work with and love all of your animals, especially those that might pose a danger to others if given the opportunity. If this cannot be done, protect those in the greatest danger from those that can cause them harm. I am sure that you have already taken from this experience an unfortunate, but valuable lesson. The best thing you can do now is take what you've learned and make it a lasting legecy to Ginger.
Take care Amanda,
Mike
