..look what happend.. UPDATES

[FourPawz]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I have chickens, guineas and a couple of German Shepherds. I've been a dog trainer/instructor for more than a couple of decades and I've got a number of titles on my dogs. As many on this thread have said, dogs, and in particular, shepherds, have prey drive to chase and to catch smaller creatures. Therefore, it's up to their owners to keep the dogs from making such horrible mistakes in the first place.

I would be very angry at whoever put the dog out, especially after you had told the person not to. If a dog has a lot of prey drive and has shown interest in poultry, you can't ever assume the dog will not go after the birds if you are not directly present to stop the animal from doing so.

If you want to train the dog to leave the birds alone, you may want to get the help of a professional dog trainer. Do not go to a big box pet supply store for their over-priced, shoddy "obedience school". You are not looking at a quick resolution to this problem, and you will never, throughout the dog's life, be finished with its training. Dogs, to be well-trained, need ongoing refreshers, just like a human musician must practice throughout his career. Here is the URL of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. It will list good trainers in your area:
http://www.apdt.com/

If all else fails, you may need to find another home, in the city perhaps, where this particular dog will not be exposed to the temptation that small animals are to him and where the new owner will give him a "job". That job can be participating in the sport of agility, or in obedience, or tracking perhaps. Dogs with a lot of prey drive need to have that drive channeled into positive activity, or they will get into trouble.

Once again, my condolences on your loss,
Mary

 

[chickenlady08]

I am sorry to hear of all your losses. I would also be sick as you are. In 2008 we had just started raising chickens in October. In December we had one get attached and found feathers all outside the pen and inside the run. The chicken was still alive thankfully, but until Christmas day we never discovered what it was that had attacked our girls. Well we soon discovered it was our Dachsund. She got into the pen and was flipping them up in the air like a frisbee. My husband almost killed her right there on the spot. It would not have bothered me the least. That dog had to go right then. Well being Xmas day noone was open (animal control etc.) (my best friend works there so I knew she wouldn't be put down, she would find her a place to live or send to a rescue). Well she came back home because the kids and husband felt bad. I still hated her. After a week or two she had to permantly leave. She just wouldn't leave them alone. So hubby found her a home. If it was up to me I would have killed her there on the spot, only reason why husband didn't was because son was crying.

I would either find Shephard a new home or put it down, cause it will always do this and this was far worse than what I have experienced. And I am so sorry that you have to go through this.

 

[peepinator]

Well...I can relate to worthless dogs...mine are all just my pets...not for any other purpose...except for to love and love me back. I don't have one of those that are for a specific purpose, like for herding cows or as a guard dog or as a seeing-eye dog or anything...just your basic pet. They just greet us everytime they see us, want to be fed, love to go camping and speak to us when they want a bone...in fact if we spell out B-O-N-E-S....they know what that means too...they're not well trained, but they're smart.

I know you had a rough, horrible morning...but I hope your day gets better.

I am new here on the forum, just built my first incubator and am excited to start my first hatch next week. I have 2 big....big.... dogs that don't get along with any other dogs (they're chow and akita mixed) that have to be kept in a large fenced area...they cannot be trusted outside their yard without being on a leash as they will hurt any other animals. They get along with my cats but they've been around them their whole lives. Needless to say, before my chicks arrive, we will be building a very secure yard and coop for them and it will be right next to where the dogs are. I am going to introduce them to the babies...let them sniff them and see them and they'll be able to see them once they're big enough to be outside but I would not trust either of my dogs to be in with the chickens as far as I could spit! I've got 5 cats and some strays that I feed as well, to contend with...along with foxes, raccoons, and every other predator around the woods of Idaho. We'll have to build a coop and yard for them like fort knox to keep them safe. Anyhow...I'm thrilled to be on the forum and excited to start my first hatch.

Take care of yourself today, you're in my thoughts.....Carol

 

[lorriemaxx]

I am a dog trainer as well, like FourPawz. I have five dogs, two of which are the top-ranked agility dogs in the country. As well-trained as they are, I would *never* trust them alone with the chickens - their prey drive is too strong. You can't be mad at them for doing something that they were bred to do. If the anger belongs anywhere, it is with the person who let them out, or yourself for not fortifying your setup. My coop (still under construction) will be as much of a Ft. Knox as I can make it, because I KNOW that at least one of my dogs would see the chickens as playthings and kill them, whether intentionally or by accident while playing. I also have roaming dogs (from neighbors) that I'm sure would get them if they could. Those will be dealt with using a paintball gun first, before looking at other options. The sting is to send a message to the dog, the paint (with a little extra "scent" injected into it) is to send one to the owner. I am not beyond dispatching a predator of any type, but my first line of defense should be to make the coop as predator-proof as possible.

When you got the dog, you made (or should have made) a committment to it to care for it for it's entire life. If you can't put the time in to train it, and honestly cannot keep it, please get it into a rescue so it can be rehomed. Putting a bullet in its head would be unneccessary and cruel. So would abandoning it at a shelter when they already have so many unwanted pets to deal with and not enough money to do it.

Also, dogs don't have a long enough "memory" to understand why there is a rotting bird around their neck. Another disgusting wives tale. The lesson about leaving the birds alone was probably learned when the owner got angry enough to catch the dog and tie the chicken to it, not during the time it spent rotting. If you do this you are exposing your dog to all of the diseases that the flies that are attracted to it have, infection from bites, illness from bacteria in the carcass, etc. Not a good idea unless you want more vet bills.

Sorry if this sounds preachy, but killing another animal for doing what is natural only accomplishes one thing - adding to the death toll.

 

[zDoc]

patnjess wrote:

well there is awarning now and in pedator pest section. plenty have posted pics of dead birds. Truth is if you don't want to see pics like this and it bothers you, it does to me, then don't click on the post that says WARNING VERY GRAPHIC in a predator and pest section, because there are probably dead birds, or something dead. IMO





I have not ever been in the predator pest thread as I have not had a problem in that area so far, thank goodness, this was on BYC's home page. It was just a little more graphic than I think it needed to be (IMO). I just need to be more careful on what links I click on.

 

[lizareny]

I'm sorry for you. You're a devastated to a degree. It is time to rehome the dog. I had to rehome one of mine for the exact same reason. I was in love with that dog, but felt like a burden of stress had been taken from me when she left. I was much happier.

 

[harley]

Decision time for someone.. Either keep the chickens or get rid of the dog. I wouldnt say kill the dog for the reason, its a dog and some dogs do those things. Could be he was just playing with the chicks and got carried away but the fact remains he killed something you love very much. It a matter of which do you love the most, but i have an idea there are others in the family that may no feel about the chickens as you do.
Good luck and i feel sure you will make the right decision.

 

[ranchhand]

Just to clarify the situation, for those who are not reading every post.

This thread was not originally in The Pests & Predators section, nor did it have a title warning of VERY GRAPHIC PIX. It is and does now, thanks to our moderating team.

I think the OP already feels bad enough today. Yes, the answer is to separate dog and chickens permanently, as has been said many times now. It is now up to the OP to decide the best way to do that, she has had many helpful suggestions. And right now, probably feels pretty lousy about the whole thing. Hopefully time will help heal the loss and lead to the appropriate solution.

 

[mastiffsj]

Quote:
thank you thank you thank you...i feel sorry for the original poster, we had a similar situation last year...our new rescue dog chewed through a chain link kennel (yes, I am serious) and through the bottom of one coop, chewed the door off the other, killing five out of our six birds...we were devastated, but didn't blame the dog- dogs are dogs- yes, they are domesticated animals BUT they are still animals...we were the ones at fault, we NEVER imagined that would happen, we thought we had everyone safe. it was a very hard, heart breaking lesson to learn...and we've done everything we know to do to prevent that from ever happening again.

your dog was just being a dog, but if you are going to be that resentful towards him, it definitely sounds like it's in his best interest to be rehomed....again, i am truly sorry for your loss.

 

[redhen]

Folks..the OP is a CHILD... let up a bit..
Its not HER decision to keep the dog or not.... its her parents decision.