- Thread starter
- #21
- Apr 14, 2011
- 690
- 4
- 131
Aww, thanks you guys! You are all being so generous with me. Honest, I'm not that nice of a person. I tick off people all the time. All it takes is me trying to be nice and folks hate me.
Anyway, this man gets respect from me. He is more important than the birds. That's just the way it is.
I've had bird losses to dogs from four people I know, four that I can recall off the top of my head. People visit, bring a dog (without permission) don't manage it, don't believe it is or will be a problem, and I've lost birds. (Don't lecture me, please. These losses have occurred over a period of years and there are "circumstances" that aren't the point of this discussion.)
One of these losses was at the mouth of another elderly gentelman's dog. Okay, this guy wasn't a gentleman. He was (is) old and is not aging well. He has lucid moments and not-so-lucid moments. He would show up, unexpectedly, at all hours of the day. I would see him sitting in my yard at six in the morning feeding the birds and watching the peacocks. (His wife had also died and he had no caring/responsible children around.) Sometimes he would let himself in the kitchen and make coffee or an egg and toast before I was awake!
This man became a nuisance, but there was (is) inherent value in the man. If watching and feeding the birds brought a bit of joy to his life as his sunset draws nigh, then that makes me happy. His dog, was his companion. The dog wasn't a problem, as long as the man remembered he brought the dog. The dog did indeed mind the man. But, a couple of times the man forgot the dog. The dog killed some birds, including one of my sebastopol geese.
Of course I was upset. The man, as much of a pain as he was, was and is still more important than the birds. Eventually, I did have to ask him to stop coming over. I did try to reason with him by asking him to either work out a "routine" or wait for an invitation, but his mind wasn't clear enough to do that. So, in asking him to not come over, I did eventually require the assistance of the police to explain it to him and whomever it was that was living with him. It broke my heart to do that, btw. Really broke my heart. How much nicer it would have been, and what a nice story to tell if he could have simply been a regular visitor feeding the birds and enjoying the garden until he passed.
The point of mentioning others whose dogs have killed my birds was this: the man today, was the ONLY one that ever accepted responsibility, didn't deny the obvious, and offered to pay for the birds. That meant a lot to me -- just the offer. The integrity. On top of that, my daughter witnessed his integrity. She also felt bad for him as he was shaking. (She later gave him a big soup bone to give to his mutts when they got out of "the dog house".)
Alright guys, my last "rant" so to speak --
There are dogs (and other animals) whose instinct it is to kill. I do not believe in setting up a dog to fail and then punishing the dog such as hitting it or putting the dog down. We are the humans with the mind of reasoning. Let's work together to set the dogs (and the birds) up for success and not be angry when they "fail" due to their God-given instincts and our lack of foresight. Aggressive roosters fall in this category as well. They are "aggressive" because they are doing their God-given job protecting the flock. If we want to keep them (meaning keep an animal in "our" environment, not theirs) let's figure out how to do it right. We all make mistakes, but we can reason through them on our own behalf -- but it is also our responsibility to reason through the mistakes on behalf of the animal.
(BTW, the man offered to help me make some repairs to my chicken yard -- a place where they can be fenced when I'm not their to watch them.)
Anyway, this man gets respect from me. He is more important than the birds. That's just the way it is.
I've had bird losses to dogs from four people I know, four that I can recall off the top of my head. People visit, bring a dog (without permission) don't manage it, don't believe it is or will be a problem, and I've lost birds. (Don't lecture me, please. These losses have occurred over a period of years and there are "circumstances" that aren't the point of this discussion.)
One of these losses was at the mouth of another elderly gentelman's dog. Okay, this guy wasn't a gentleman. He was (is) old and is not aging well. He has lucid moments and not-so-lucid moments. He would show up, unexpectedly, at all hours of the day. I would see him sitting in my yard at six in the morning feeding the birds and watching the peacocks. (His wife had also died and he had no caring/responsible children around.) Sometimes he would let himself in the kitchen and make coffee or an egg and toast before I was awake!
This man became a nuisance, but there was (is) inherent value in the man. If watching and feeding the birds brought a bit of joy to his life as his sunset draws nigh, then that makes me happy. His dog, was his companion. The dog wasn't a problem, as long as the man remembered he brought the dog. The dog did indeed mind the man. But, a couple of times the man forgot the dog. The dog killed some birds, including one of my sebastopol geese.
Of course I was upset. The man, as much of a pain as he was, was and is still more important than the birds. Eventually, I did have to ask him to stop coming over. I did try to reason with him by asking him to either work out a "routine" or wait for an invitation, but his mind wasn't clear enough to do that. So, in asking him to not come over, I did eventually require the assistance of the police to explain it to him and whomever it was that was living with him. It broke my heart to do that, btw. Really broke my heart. How much nicer it would have been, and what a nice story to tell if he could have simply been a regular visitor feeding the birds and enjoying the garden until he passed.
The point of mentioning others whose dogs have killed my birds was this: the man today, was the ONLY one that ever accepted responsibility, didn't deny the obvious, and offered to pay for the birds. That meant a lot to me -- just the offer. The integrity. On top of that, my daughter witnessed his integrity. She also felt bad for him as he was shaking. (She later gave him a big soup bone to give to his mutts when they got out of "the dog house".)
Alright guys, my last "rant" so to speak --
There are dogs (and other animals) whose instinct it is to kill. I do not believe in setting up a dog to fail and then punishing the dog such as hitting it or putting the dog down. We are the humans with the mind of reasoning. Let's work together to set the dogs (and the birds) up for success and not be angry when they "fail" due to their God-given instincts and our lack of foresight. Aggressive roosters fall in this category as well. They are "aggressive" because they are doing their God-given job protecting the flock. If we want to keep them (meaning keep an animal in "our" environment, not theirs) let's figure out how to do it right. We all make mistakes, but we can reason through them on our own behalf -- but it is also our responsibility to reason through the mistakes on behalf of the animal.
(BTW, the man offered to help me make some repairs to my chicken yard -- a place where they can be fenced when I'm not their to watch them.)
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