Is this relationship worth saving???

[Carolyn]

I live in a woods with lots of predator problem, particularly foxes. I can keep my chickens safe at night but have never been able to keep them safe when they free range without a dog. I had been without one for awhile and was terrorized by foxes all winter. After waiting to recover from a medical procedure I bought an Australian shepherd female 1 month ago. She is a beautiful dog, very laid back and non aggressive and can be very sweet. She is 1 yr old. I bought her from someone I know who raises them and decided to sell her after she came in her first heat and had a prolapsed uterus which meant she could not be bred. She has never been a house dog.
This dog cleared the electric fence that keeps out the foxes and deer. She opened her kennel and managed to reclose it. She managed to unfasten a chain.
I spend as much time as I am able with her but she is not allowed in the house because of allergies and my husband is reluctant to have one dog and does not want another.
After4 or 5 days with her being very loving and coming when called I let her off the lease while I was in the yard. She started running all over the yard and woods and would not come when I called her.....long story but she hid and came immediately when her former owner drove up 5 hours later.
I kept her on a lease as advised. Played with her, took her on walks and even to a lake swimming. She knows commands like sit, stay, heel but only responds to come when she wants too, Back to the long lease, lots of socializing, no problems with her and the chickens. I have only heard her bark once. Good manners. Coming when called on lease pretty well. I set her free, brought her and her house to the porch because it was raining. Next morning she is hid under the porch and only coming out for food.
Borrowed a kennel from former owner, worked more on socializing her, only hand feeding her, sweet lovely behavior but problems with recall until I discovered a weakness for cheese and vienne sausage the only treats she would take.
Let her loose again back under the house. Hasn't eaten in 2 days. Gets up and drinks when I am not around. Won't come for treats.

This afternoon a fox caught a chicken right in front of the porch. The dog never even barked! I am at my wits end. This is a bright dog but she is depressed, was not people and situation socialized enough as a pup. She can be sweet and loving but she is more manipulative than the worst of people and today she was as usless as tits on a bull.
All suggestions welcomed except for bring her in the house or get another dog.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm really no expert in training or breeds, but I do know that Aussies are very intelligent, high energy herding dogs and are happiest when they have a specific job to do. For an Australian Shepherd, that job usually involves herding something. I know there are those who have Aussies that are great flock protectors, but they are generally bred for herding.

I think you need to give some serious consideration to how attached you are to this animal and how much time you're willing and able to invest in her.

 

[MichCathy]

I'd give it a little try. We used to have an aussie and loved her. She did like exercise and 'herding' our horses.

Good luck!

edited by staff

 

[Bill Matthews]

Your dog sounds like a real pal to me....Is what it is...You are in love for sure; and that's good....Now do the right thing and tell her you'll keep her for life regardless, but get an additional dog that will be better as a watch dog....Explain to her that you are not replacing her but getting one to buddy with...Maybe she will learn from the new dog and things will be happy...When you said that all suggestions welcome except getting rid of her and getting another dog I assumed that you meant getting another dog to replace her, not to include getting an additional dog......BUT DO NOT GET RID OF THE DOG UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!

 

[donrae]

My mom works at her local shelter and has fostered dogs that weren't properly socialized. It's quite a challenge, and even in an ideal situation the dogs often never become emotionally healthy. She currently has a little guy she's had over a year (I think) who still prefers to sleep under a chair, does not like to be touched, etc.

I'd say this dog is not what you need for your situation. I'd look into finding her a more appropriate home, maybe the breeder can help with that. Then, look for a better dog for you. There are tons of dogs who would be happy in your set-up!

 

[what did I do]

As I sit here with my older adopted herding dog I understand what you are going through and question it too. My dog is a border collie so high energy. We often find him in his kennel in the basement not wanting to do his job. He is good at it but would rather not do it. I would rather have a puppy out of him although I will not get rid of him. I think there is something to be said for raising your own dog from a puppy.

This is my second older dog that I adopted and neither one bonded with me in a normal way. They are both great dogs in their own way but not like a puppy would be. I would just feed your dog under the deck and and see with becomes of him in a week or two.

 

[aart]

Could take months for her to acclimate, bond and be trained........Aussies can be tough cause they're smart. Best of luck to you.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have never had a dog, but can understand loving your dog, as I grew up with cats. My DH tells me that dogs are very much different from cats and are much more loving and part of the family. So take this with a grain of salt.

If you really want to keep the dog, I'd just go ahead and put up some electric fencing to hopefully keep the foxes out, and just keep trying to work with the dog- no emergency or rush about it- just keep trying to train the dog over a period of years and not really expect her to defend the chickens. Maybe you will succeed, and maybe not. But see this is equivalent to not having a dog to defend your chickens. This would be keeping her just as a pet.

But if you can't keep the dog unless she will do her job, then well, she doesn't sound like she wants the job. She doesn't naturally sound the alert. You can train her to go after foxes, but can you train her to bark at danger if this isn't naturally within her? I don't know, since I have not had dogs.

Hopefully this helps...there are a few threads on electric fencing and some people really depend on it to keep their chickens safe.

There is nothing wrong with rehoming, either, and admitting it wasn't a good fit.

You will find the right solution, I am sure!!

 

[Carolyn]

Thank you for your understanding and suggestions, especially from those of you who have dealt with this breed and adopted older dogs. For clarification: I am not able to have an indoor dog or have 2 dogs. I think if she had one of her sister dogs here she would be much happier; I think just any other dog might be risky unless it was a puppy. My husband does not want one dog let alone two and after getting sick in the midst of raising a border collie puppy a couple of years ago, I know my heart cannot take raising a puppy either physically or emotionally.
This dog was not bred nor trained to herd in spite of her breed and she does not exhibit herding instincts. I realized border collies are going to herd something regardless, you, children, and certainly chickens but they much prefer horses, cows, etc. I found a home on a farm with cows and horses for my border collie simply because he was happiest herding and needed more to do. I do not sense this dog has any high herding instinct. She basically ignores the chickens. She was very happy and content to lay down by me and watch the sheep we visited but she should have been trained young to be valuable as a herding dog and she was not.
I don't expect her to go after foxes or to protect the chickens but a normal dog will bark at a varmit in the yard at least.

I can return her to the owner; I can certainly sell her, I can rehome her to someone with other dogs, etc. However I would like to keep her. She can be so sweet and loving but then she goes on these long rejection episodes. They have followed times when I have had to be gone for most of the day but they have also followed the times when she has had my full attention and we have seemingly had the best of times.

I was told to crate her or have her on a lease at all times and hand feed her after basically starving her out from under the porch. I can try that again though I have to pull her out of the crate or on the lease. I have rewarded her for coming with treats after I found something she liked. We can go back to that and I can just be patient until she hopefully comes around. I will spend as much time as I can with her and take her places to socialize her which she seems a bit stressed by sometimes but basically seems to enjoy. Walking a mile or so most days is not much of a problem. I can get her former owner to do some obedience training with us on recall.

Are there any other suggestions?

 

[aart]

It sounds like you have the know how to train this dog and there is some bond there to build upon...it's just going to take time, probably a long time.
Maybe I didn't read closely enough, so I will ask.....How long have you had her?

I got a 6 month old neglected and sick pup and it took almost a full year before he'd look me in the eye with any kind of real connection, he was trained to be obedient, just wasn't connected......took even longer for him to enjoy petting....and even longer to come ask for pets. After 7 years he's still not a cuddle bug but is strongly bonded to me.