killer dog

[elliemay0305]

i dont think it can be done but does anyone have any tips on how i can stop my dog from killing my chickens? i have been trying to find him a home but it dont ever work. he has killed at least 5 chickens i can think of and the bad part is i try to pin him up but he always gets out! i told my husband whats next after all of our chickens are gone? the sheep!?!?!

 

[jlmann]

What kind of dog? Some people will say it's cruel, but have you considered buying a training collar? Get one and spend a weekend shocking him everytime he goes near the coop or sniffs feathers etc. Some dogs respond well to shock collar therapy, others just ignore it so it might be better if you knew a hunter you could borrow one from. Just a thought - I am so hoping I don't stir up a hornet's nest with this post, but it might be a solution so you could keep your dog and birds...

 

[Cara]

He's a dog, it's instinct. Dogs have their space, chickens have theirs. If he's an escape artist he is most likely lacking exercise and stimulation.

 

[WalkingWolf]

It depends on the dog, I have retrained 2 of my dogs to stop killing chickens. Now they just walk with them and pay them no mind.

In fact it started my adventure into chickens. My dogs killed several of my neighbors chickens when they jumped the fence and came into our yard. We are good friends and I felt awful but the dogs were in there own yard.

What I knew was that my dogs would not harm or pay any attention to our 3 parrots as they are part of the family. I made sure the dogs saw us holding one or more chickens to establish that they were part of the family.

It worked with 2 but one just could not stop. Bubba would try to leave them alone but sooner or later he could not resist. He is now a daytime house dog and a night time guard dog to keep predators away. We release him of a night after the chickens are all in.

It is interesting to see a full grown gray wolf walking among a chicken flock just like they another dog. When I find what my DW did with the camera I wll try to get a pic to post.

 

[Debby10]

I'm going to jump in here because I have had a lot of dog training experience. I feel the training collar is not cruel. What is cruel is if the dog can not avoid the correction. Such as if you keep shocking him once he is being good.

Shock collars can back fire. If the trainer isn't consistant enough, or if the shock stimulus is not strong enough or too strong. But they are fairly simple to apply in a situation where you want to create an pure aversion and don't need to teach complicated behavior patterns. Be sure of a few things.

1. That the dummy collar stays on the dog for a week or more before training begins. You want the dog associating the shock with the chicken not that new fangled collar thingy around his neck.

2. Never shock the dog with the remote when you can't see him. How will you know when to shock or when to stop shocking?

3. Be consistant! Make SURE the dog doesn't have an opportunity to get at the chickens in between training sessions, when you aren't there to correct him.

4. Get a good trainer. One who is familiar with using these remote control collars.

I know many people will not agree, but I don't believe the corrections are the cruel thing, rather an inappropriate correction that doesn't stop consistantly when the dog quits misbehaving is the cruel thing. If you can't control your dog, who knows what terrible, tragic thing might happen.

Good luck.

Debby

 

[chiknwhisperer]

Quote:
As far as I'm concerned that is the route I would take. I have training collars for both of our dogs. But here the chickens have their space and the dogs have theirs because our dogs are gun dogs. Especially my young one. All he thinks of is birds lol. He has killed one rooster and tried to get a hen but I caught him and I think it will be a while before he tries that again.

 

[elliemay0305]

ok where can i find one of these training collars? i will try anything. its either i break him or if i cant find him a home he will have to be put down. now i know that will probably make a lot of people mad but im trying to do what ever i can to keep that from happening. i got him b/c i wanted a guard dog but i cant have one who kills all of my other pets. we have all of our birds free range. they go up in the shed or barn at night and come out during the day. he is lab mix. he seems to have gotten worse. i think the first one he got gave him a taste for chicken and now he just goes after them. if it dont run he dont seem to bother it yet! he got loose the other day when i tried to move him from the small pin after we got the bigger one fixed. and as soon as i open the door he took off after a chicken. he ran right past my turkeys but when my only duck tried to run out of the way he took off after it. i was yelling and he still kept going. the night before he got out and had got a chicken but i got out there before he killed it. i had to hold him for my husband to pick up the chicken and even then he tried to get away from and lung towards the chickne in his hand. all of this after he had just been feed to so i know its not b/c he is hungry. i know one time before he got ahold of one of my cats as well and thats when i first started to pin him. i was afriad he would do it again and i have two small girls i didnt want to maybe end up in the middle of it. thanks to all the advice. ill try the collar. i had thought of it before but i just didnt know if it would work or not.

 

[jjthink]

I know this is troubling you and that is to be commended. I agree this situation is not fair to the chickens so unless you can be certain there will be no further attacks on them (e.g. an absolutely predator proof run and house for your birds) I would either rehome the chickens to somewhere where they can be safe or rehome the dog.
JJ

 

[nzpouter]

You can re-train the dog... need consistency, time and common sense.. most people only have 2 out of 3.

First you must keep your chicken area dog proof until he is well trained.
Second (and this is the part where all 3 are required) never let him loose out of sight, walk him with you on lead into the chicken area when you're doing your chores... quick correction when he shows any interest.
Third, most people forget there're 2 species involved, your chickens have to be taught not to squawk and run whenever they see him.


if you think you won't be able to do all that, get rid of the dog or the chickens.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
Couldn't have said it any better. My German Shepherd killed at least one of my ducks and she is prime suspect in 2 others. But with time and letting her know the chickens are MINE!! she barely looks at them anymore. And I'm pretty sure she's been in one fight protecting them from the neighbors dog.
BTW........she won.