I am sick of my dogs killing chickens

[Ellie_NY_chick]

If you make it over with chicken wire it is like wondering why intruders keep coming in your house if you have a door made out of plastic bags.

That's a good one!​

 

[Mom 2em All]

Quote:
Doxies have been bred for many many years to kill small prey. I'd rather train a rott or a pit (own a great one of them, actually) any day than a wienie dog who cares first about killing and pleasing her owner second.

As far as contaminating the gene pool- um, I'd think I would suggest spaying and neutering before destroying, but to each their own.

One person posted about their doxie that can run with her chickens. Congratulations- and I think that is fabulous. Better trainer than I am, because I have given up on training mine to leave them alone.

 

[dixiechick]

My mama always said, "You can't stop a chicken-eating dog..."

 

[michaelvcrowder]

mom 2 em all,

personally i have never owned a dachshund but my parents do. oscar the weenie dog pays no interest to my cats or my chicken when he has ever come for a visit. but of course my dad has spent a lot of time training him. i am still a firm believer that almost any dog can be taught given the owner is willing to put forth the effort. my statement about destroying a dog that can't learn is for for extreme circumstances only. when a dog is a risk to the community because of its disposition it is time to destroy it.

years ago i got a call from my brother. his boss at the time had a doberman that had killed something like a dozen dogs in its neighborhood. he never went hunting but anytime another dog came near his yard he would kill them. animal control was on its way to pick up the dog to have it destroyed and its owners were upset. i had my brother kidnap the dog and bring it to the house.

when we dropped the tailgate on the truck and he saw my other dogs he immediately jumped on the first one he could get to. i took a big stick, beat him off my dog and then gave him a beating that required a visit to the vet to make sure he wasn't damaged. when we got him back the next day and i let him out of the truck he tried to jump one of my dogs again. he got a second beating that was not as severe as the first but still an attention getter. later that day he noticed one of my cats and decided to give chase and suffered his third major beating. after that he never attacked anothr dog or chased another cat in his life. he became one of the best dogs i ever owned. i could put him outside with little kids as a baby sitter and he was the most calm, patient beast anyone could ask for.

had the same situation with bear the chow that i took ownership of. also with buster the rotweiler/pit bull mix and so forth. i have personally never taken possession of a dog that i could not teach how to act. i do have a friend that is a breeder of dobies and pits. once in a while he has a dog that is genetically flawed and can not be controlled. in these cases destroying them for the public good is the right thing to do.

if i had a weenie dog that wanted to kill chickens i would whup him or shock collar him till he learned. failing that he would get his chance to attack one of my friends full on game chickens. i bet when he got back from the veterinarian trip from that one he would have had his fill of chickens. i have seen game chickens whup up on real dogs, a weenie dog would not stand a chance.

i have owned over 50 dogs in my lifetime. i have NEVER had one that i could not break of any bad habit. i am a firm believer that someone who claims they can't teach their dog how to act just does not have the willpower to do it. it is a human failing and not that of the animals.
michael

 

[ameracauna-momma]

I agree with the chain link kennel idea for the chickens. I have a pointer mix who would just love to sink her teeth into the hens, but they are in a dog kennel with rocks along the edges to make digging under difficult.

 

[nnbreeder]

You know you could have gotten the same results with a long lead and a constriction collar, a beating is never acceptable.

 

[chickfillhay]

Take the dogs. Hog tie their legs. Put on a muzzle. Roll in honey.
Sprinkle with scratch. Drop in chicken coop. Done.
The real answer is obvious. Your coop stinks.

Look, I got caught with my pants down to when I got my first flock only to find just 2 days later they were ALL masacred by my yellow lab and her mutt son. And then the very next day to get a call from my neighbor and an $800.00 bill for her dead chickens and ruined coop. Needless to say the county became the owner of THOSE two dogs!
I just can't have chicken eatin dogs in my home. But since then I have become more educated and swore to NEVER let that happen again.
TAKE THE ALPHA ROLE! I have done this and have no more problems. I have a Great Dane (Precious) and recently FINALLY a Basset Hound (Sally). Precious was around when the other dogs killed my chickens. But she is a good dog now. And Sally gets curious and sometimes will give chase. But stops as soon as I call her. Now I have a brooder in the house and on at least three occasions Sally has pushed the box to the ground to get the the chick. One night as I called her to come to bed she didn't come. I got worried and jumped out of bed to find her sitting calmly on the floor. Staring at the chick between her two paws. Horrified and glad at the same time she didn't eat the chick, I stayed calm and praised her for not killing the chick. BUT I did place the chick back down in front of her being careful to not let her eat it but at the same time reinforcing the idea that the chick is part of the pack.
Hitting the animal doesn't work! It just shows a bad side of you the animal will learn not to like! Reinforce good behavior with reward and attention. One way to stop her is to get the chick or chicken and place them in front of the dog. MAKE THE DOG LIE ON ITS BACK! That teaches the dog submission in front of the chicken. The chicken could care less, but the dog sees the ALPHA making her submit to a chicken. That places the dog one step below the chicken and she will soon learn to respect that.
GOOD LUCK!​

 

[ruth]

I've been reading all the posts and while everyone can debate whether or not a dog can be trained and how to do it - the issue at hand - and of urgency - is building a coop that dogs, especially weenie dogs, can't get into. That shouldn't be too hard to do. While, yes, doxies were bred to be ferocious little varmit killers, they are still tiny little dogs that weigh nothing. Build a secure coop. Not with chicken wire. Use hardware cloth, small holes - sink it in ground or build boards around the bottom that your little dogs can't dig under.

I'm not sure if you are a minor but I'm guessing you are. Get your parents or someone to help you. Your original post said that the dogs have broken in and killed chickens on several occasions. That is unacceptable. Build a decent coop for their protection. Then you can decide how and if you want to train your dogs but training would take time and in the meantime your chickens are left unprotected.

And note to all - please don't get carried away on yet another thread as to whether or not it's o.k. to "whup" a dog or use a shock collar or any of the other heated debates that always get these threads locked.

 

[kstaven]

Just to clarify Ruths last line. It isn't "debate" that gets threads shut down in this section. It is the insults and name calling that happen periodically. There are many examples of respectful debate in this section and on other sections of the forum.

 

[rooster0209]

Doxies do not respond well to beatings. Doxie's see them selves as equals to the pack leader. They can be trained to leave your chickens alone. The first major issue is consistency. Never allow your doxie to do what you do not want him/her to do.

Build a secure coop with more than chicken wire. Sit out there with your doxie's and teach them, over and over and over again, the word NO. If they go toward the fence and do not respond to NO, go get them and move them back to where you are, repeat NO. When they do respond, praise and offer treats. Doxies are suckers for food and love praise.

This can be done. I have two doxies and my family has had doxies all of their lives. They are smart, comical, stubborn and strong willed (all of my fav traits). Yes they were bred to hunt and kill badgers and they can think on their own. That does not make them untrainable. It makes them smart.

My doxies dont bother my chickens. One likes to make the guinea's fly but once they fly or move she struts off like she is the queen huntress.