How to keep neighbors dog out of my chicken pen

[Donnigan]

Would chasing the dog of my property with a shovel be cruel?

 

[azjustin]

Call the non-emergency line for your local/county police/sheriff department.

Everywhere we've lived, anyone who answers the phone is a law enforcement agent and can answer any question you ask without the usual "I can't offer legal advice" BS.

Explain your situation, ask questions, and find out what you can and CAN'T do. Don't be afraid to ask the questions you don't want to: it's innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. If the conversation goes further than you want, tell them it's an anonymous call and politely hang up. All of this is well within your rights and as long as you are friendly and non-confrontational, there will not be a law enforcement officer at your door the next day (or the neighbors), nor is it allowed.

Digressing:

Dogs that have killed, will kill again. Period. No fences, electric wire, barbed wire, razor wire, wire with pictures of dead dogs, dog heads on pikes, etc., will fix the problem.

Not all states consider poultry as livestock, but most states that have livestock laws will allow you to kill any animal threatening livestock. Make sure you ask this question (see above). Shooting to maim is shooting for vet bills from an angry neighbor. SSS is about the only way to do it. If you can't "shoot", get a good air rifle. I'm in city limits so powdered discharge is not allowed. My .22 cal at 1,300 fps does more than a good job at 50', EVERY time.

I've never met a neighbor who is opposed to offing an animal if they attack other people's animals, just know the laws before you pull the trigger. I hate killing dogs, but will do if they are threatening my livelihood.

As for goats on my property, they might just disappear into a BBQ

 

[bigoledude]

I don't know of one state that doesn't consider chickens as livestock. I also don't know of a state where you are not allowed to kill a marauding dog, regardless of who owns it. If it is on your property, harassing your animals you have the legal right to kill it.

I have asked neighbors to stop their dogs from coming onto my property. Nearly all of them got highly offended or cursed me lower than a welldiggers boots. In one case the dog was hit in the road and killed. That neighbor blamed me for years and did so till he got sick and passed away. His wife and son still will not talk to me.

This has happened all over our area. Many people move from the suburbs to the country and think it's fine to allow their dogs to roam free. A dog on my property is considered a predator in my eyes and in the EYES OF THE LAW. I treat them with the same severity. I promise you will most likely create more trouble by confronting your neighbor than if you just killed the dog and kept quiet. Mark my words, if you confront this neighbor and the dog comes up missing or dead, you will be suspect #1.

Walmart sells pellet rifles that shoot a pellet over 1000 feet per second. Buy the break barrel .22 caliber pellet rifle. They will cost around $150.00. I prefer the Beeman, Gamo or Ruger. Be sure to get one that shoots at least 1000 fps. They will humanely and cleanly dispatch a dog-sized predator with a well-placed shot.

Before I get a bunch of replies claiming it's the owner's fault or that the dog is only following his instincts. If the owner is responsible for his killer dog's actions, the dog will have to suffer for the owner's negligence. As far as the "instincts" argument. It is precisely because of their natural killer "instinct" that I kill them! Nothing short of killing a predator dog will dissuade it from returning to your property to kill again! Now, if the owner can keep him on his own property, fine.

We own a hunting Jack Roussel and a hunting Patterdale. If either of these dogs got within sniffing range of a flock of chickens, they'd kill every one IN SECONDS!! It is our responsibility to make sure our dogs are not allowed to trespass on anyone's property. They don't and haven't.

If you think you can do something to discourage or stop these dogs, you will pay the price. Or, your stock will.

 

[Birdydeb]

You are being too nice and nice folks get walked all over. When I still lived in the city we had a neighbor who allowed his GSD mix and cattle dog to just run the neighborhood, which was against the leash laws. The cattle dog was the main nusciance. Being inside city limits, shooting the dogs was not an option. Multiple calls to animal control from almost everyone except me and still nothing was done. Like bigoledude I always got blamed and I NEVER called. LOL Our only option since shooting was not an option was to make our yard secure....yes we had to build a fence which we needed anyway to make sure our own dogs could NOT roam. Wish I could say I came up with a solution but the only solution was keeping their dogs off my property....and we finally moved away out into the country. I think chasing dogs with shovels, brooms, whatever is probably only going to make your problem worse.

When we moved here two years ago, low and behold....I realized I still have a neighbor who thinks his dogs should run loose. In this case it is a little mixed something, probably Jack Russell and beagle from what I have seen of the dog. I don't think this dog has killed anything but it is one big pain in the you know what. It started coming down to my house and agitating my Great Pyrenees at the fence. I was livid. Every. Single. Day. My dogs can't get out but this idiot dog was trying his best to dig his way in. It might sound hard hearted but I quit intervening with the thought that IF it finally got in I just wouldn't watch when my two ripped it apart...was gonna save me from shooting it. But.....my neighbor behind me turned his electric fence back on for some reason( don't think it had anything to do with the dog) and this very stupid little dog got on the fence one day. I heard it scream and watched it tear off back up the hill. Problem solved. That dog has NOT been back down here since. Electric fences work. LOL

If you are going to be nice and not shoot the dogs or for whatever reason you can't then your main option is to keep them OFF your property. An electric fence is gonna be your solution. Trust me, I understand how annoying this is but cutting your neighbor some slack because they gave you eggs and milk at one time is not going to fix the problem.

 

[Folly's place]

Chasing the dog may make you feel better, but won't fix the problem. That dog will just be more careful to avoid you in the future. Mary

 

[Donnigan]

Every time i tell them the dog has been on my property she either has nothing to say and changes the conversation or says bring him back to me should i have to leash up the dog walk it over to them risking getting attcked by the other dog and bring it right to their door steps? The beagle is the one that gets out most the time alone and it didnt bother me bad for the first couple years but when he got into my chicken lot that was it my main concern with him coming onto my property is that the german shepherd will see him and jump the fence on to my property and attack me or my chihauhua or that he will bring the cattle dog with him. The only thing that gets him to leave is when i let my cat out to attack him. If i called the shelter to come get him would my neighbors know it was me who called? Like i said we are friends with our neighbors and dont want to stir up trouble although i fell like i have a good reason too!

 

[Birdydeb]

Trust me, I get it. Infuriating your neighbors can be a very bad thing. I try hard not to do it also because I don't want to have to keep an eye on my dogs 24/7 IN THEIR OWN YARD because retaliation can be deadly. Usually....not sure for your area....animal control won't reveal who calls on dogs. But in the past for me since I was usually the most vocal about having a problem, I always got the blame. I try hard to not have to resort to drastic measures but it doesn't mean I won't. A dog on my property killing my animals is going to be a victim of SSS pretty quickly. The only thing that has kept this from happening so far is other dogs CANNOT get in to my backyard where my animals are. The day one digs under the fence they are going to be met by two Great Pyrenees....bad day for them. And I won't be sorry. Most of the dogs running free around here give my backyard a wide berth because of the two Great Pyrenees. A feral cat one night foolishly thought it would climb the fence. Bad day for that cat. IF it gets inside my fence I have no apologies and I make that plain to my neighbors. I hear your frustration...I have been there. But you are either going to have to make your fences secure, get an electric fence or SSS. You more than likely will be the first suspect if anything happens to the dogs. That stinks. Especially when the whole situation is due to someone else's lazy irresponsible ways. Maybe you need a dog bigger and badder than their dogs? I pretty much never sweat it about anything getting into my backyard because it is fenced securely and I have two GP's on patrol. Maybe this something you should think about.....

 

[duluthralphie]

Every time i tell them the dog has been on my property she either has nothing to say and changes the conversation or says bring him back to me should i have to leash up the dog walk it over to them risking getting attcked by the other dog and bring it right to their door steps? The beagle is the one that gets out most the time alone and it didnt bother me bad for the first couple years but when he got into my chicken lot that was it my main concern with him coming onto my property is that the german shepherd will see him and jump the fence on to my property and attack me or my chihauhua or that he will bring the cattle dog with him. The only thing that gets him to leave is when i let my cat out to attack him. If i called the shelter to come get him would my neighbors know it was me who called? Like i said we are friends with our neighbors and dont want to stir up trouble although i fell like i have a good reason too!

Friends don't let their dogs chase/injure/kill other friend's chicks.... Friends keep their dogs home.

 

[Donnigan]

Trust me, I get it. Infuriating your neighbors can be a very bad thing. I try hard not to do it also because I don't want to have to keep an eye on my dogs 24/7 IN THEIR OWN YARD because retaliation can be deadly. Usually....not sure for your area....animal control won't reveal who calls on dogs. But in the past for me since I was usually the most vocal about having a problem, I always got the blame. I try hard to not have to resort to drastic measures but it doesn't mean I won't. A dog on my property killing my animals is going to be a victim of SSS pretty quickly. The only thing that has kept this from happening so far is other dogs CANNOT get in to my backyard where my animals are. The day one digs under the fence they are going to be met by two Great Pyrenees....bad day for them. And I won't be sorry. Most of the dogs running free around here give my backyard a wide berth because of the two Great Pyrenees. A feral cat one night foolishly thought it would climb the fence. Bad day for that cat. IF it gets inside my fence I have no apologies and I make that plain to my neighbors. I hear your frustration...I have been there. But you are either going to have to make your fences secure, get an electric fence or SSS. You more than likely will be the first suspect if anything happens to the dogs. That stinks. Especially when the whole situation is due to someone else's lazy irresponsible ways. Maybe you need a dog bigger and badder than their dogs? I pretty much never sweat it about anything getting into my backyard because it is fenced securely and I have two GP's on patrol. Maybe this something you should think about.....

I would LOVE to get a dog but can't because my mother doesn't think any dogs can be trained to not kill chickens i believe thats because when i was about 5 we got a german shepherd beagle mix from the shelter it was a big young dog and i could not control it so we gave her away. then a older stray beagle came around so they let me keep her you know how hounds are around any thing that moves! She would get after the chickens and couldn't seem to hear us calling. I had wanted a pembroke welsh corgi and asked for one. I ended up with a 5 year old Chihuahua Italian greyhound mix the dog i have now because of the greyhound in her i cannot let her near my chickens. How do you train a dog to not kill chickens?

 

[dekel18042]

I would LOVE to get a dog but can't because my mother doesn't think any dogs can be trained to not kill chickens i believe thats because when i was about 5 we got a german shepherd beagle mix from the shelter it was a big young dog and i could not control it so we gave her away. then a older stray beagle came around so they let me keep her you know how hounds are around any thing that moves! She would get after the chickens and couldn't seem to hear us calling. I had wanted a pembroke welsh corgi and asked for one. I ended up with a 5 year old Chihuahua Italian greyhound mix the dog i have now because of the greyhound in her i cannot let her near my chickens. How do you train a dog to not kill chickens?

I have had dogs all my life and chickens/poultry most of my life and never had a dog injure or kill any poultry. Correction: The Siberian Husky but we solved that pretty fast by rehoming her when training didn't work. I have four dogs now and the youngest, just turned one, is in here with me watching the incubator. Chicks are hatching now and peeping away.
IMHO a large part of the solution is figuring out which dog breeds to get and which to stay away from The Siberian was the only problem. Even the terrier let chickens alone.