My dachshund just proved she can never be trusted around the girls

[srfjeld]

We have a ten year old doxie who has been going nuts with the brooder in the house and now the girls are outside in their run where she can see them. The first day we put them out we sprayed her with the hose pretty good and she stayed behind us and looked to us for approval to even got near the run. Most days she's pretty OCD about them when we're in the yard doing other things. This morning was the first morning after their first night in the coop. We decided to let them free range a bit to get a little wing and leg exercise. I thought I had closed the door to the house with her in it but the next thing you know there's a ruckus and I see tail fluff flying. Luckily my boyfriend was there and grabbed her by the scruff of the next and put her back in the house. The girls seem okay... no injuries, no blood, just a little more alert than before. It really sucks that they can't co-mingle. I'm guessing we'll just need to put her in her kennel in the house when we decide to free range so that accidents like that don't happen again. She's pretty sneaky but we were lucky this time!

 

[MandyH]

There was a precious little doxie at the animal shelter the other day and I asked why she was there and they told me she kills cats That dog is smaller than the cats she's been killing.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Dogs and chickens don't mix! My sister raises golden retrievers. Her male lays around and let's them peck him. One of her females is so horrid! She's always chased the chickens. So my sis keeps her kenneled all the time unless she's on a leash, well she got out last week and she came home to 11 dead chickens and like 3 of them where torn up all over the place! Ewwww I don't ever want to mix dogs and birds!

 

[liebe]

I believe it! Mini dachshunds were bred for their strong instincts. I have 2 I breed, the female I have trained to herd the chickens if they get out of their fencing, however my male is trained to dig moles out of the ground and chase off foxes. I have to watch him like a hawk around my chickies. He has proven his killing instincts time and time again, as he brings me his prizes each time.
Our female just likes to sit on her catch, ever see a 6 lb dog sitting on an escapee rooster, rooster so nervouse he is playing dead.
You could try and train your dachshund to keep your birds safe, but never fully trust them.

 

[srfjeld]

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That would be my biggest fear! What a horrible scene to come home to. And even though you know it's not really the dog's fault at it's in their nature, you still can't help being ticked off at them.

 

[srfjeld]

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I would love to see a photo of your 6 lb dog sittin' on the roo! How funny!!! Sandy is just over 6 lbs and I know she wouldn't "eat" them or tear them up... to her they are just big moving squeak toys. I have witnessed her kill a mouse in the house (which I was completely fine with) and a rat out in the yard. I suspect we won't have much of a rat problem with these chickens with her around. She's pretty quick on the draw. I just wish I could trust her with the girls. Didn't even occur to me when making the decision to get chicks. Too late now.

 

[wowmanacat]

I have two dogs and all my chickens free range. Most of the time the dogs are in the house but some time I let them go out and they leave the chickens along. They do not get to go out alone, we go with them. This morning Harry, Harriet or Henrietta was out and I did not know it when I let the dogs out for there morning run. Well they left the little one alone. For the most part my dogs leave the chickens along and I have a black lap mutt too. My Pomerania mix thinks the baby chicks are her babies and will look after them with me. She even let me know when one had hatched one time.

I do keep a very close eye on my dogs when they are out and the chickens are out too.
Even my cats sit out and watch the chickens with out messing with them.

 

[gryeyes]

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My elderly dachshund surprised the heck out of me, too, when I got chickens. He'd never a chicken in his life (eleven years at that time), I kept him out of the bathroom/nursery during brooder times. The scurrying pullets in the chicken run were too much for his prey instinct, though. He killed one by chasing it into a corner, grabbing it and shaking it. Boy was I upset - how stupid of me to think the chickens would be a non-issue with Zorro! He was really OCD about them, barking, whining, digging at the run fence... which allowed me to find the weak spots in their protection, by the way. If Zorro found a gap, he'd work on it to get into the run. He managed to kill two more through my lack of vigilance.

It took a couple of months of really dedicated training to break him of killing chickens. I even had to chain him to the porch when I was in the yard. But, eventually, he learned chickens are NOT for chasing or harassing. It helped that the pullets grew up and got big, and one turned into a rooster which eventually kicked Zorro's butt one day. A drake reinforced the "leave the poultry alone" rule by nipping at him whenever he passed by.

Now he avoids the chickens and ducks. He only wants to eat their feed, if he can, or their poop. Ewwwww.

The flock ranges freely nowadays; I don't have a run any more. Zorro is fine, now. And the younger dachshund, Dooley, watched Zorro's training well enough to be actually afraid of chickens, ducks and geese. He won't even come out the front door if there are chickens milling about, near the doorway.

I do keep a very close eye on Zorro when there are broody-raised chicks in the yard. However, hens with baby chicks are really, really fierce. Zorro avoids them like the plague.

 

[pjknust]

I have 2 male dogs, one neutered (65lb mix) the other intact (30 lb mix). They were both grown when I got my chickens. They are cat killers if the cat does not belong to me. They would have killed my hens when they were chicks, but I kept them up til they were grown. They do not bother my chickens. when I first let the chickens out in the yard the dogs were afraid of the chickens, either that or they knew what I would do to them if they touched the chickens! The dogs keep varmits out of my yard. Dogs marking the yard is good to scare away unwanted animals. I can let my dogs and chickens out together and everybody is fine. I guess Im just lucky. Now my poodles are a different story. They have their own yard at the back door, they would attack my chickens in a heart beat, may not eat them, but would probably kill it.

pam in TX

 

[cochinfan]

I have two huge Cochin roosters that live in my back yard. I couldn't bare to get rid of them and I already have a rooster in with my hens and four others that live in my barn. My dogs, a Rattie, a Corgi, and a Belgian Tervuren stay in the yard with them during the day while we are gone. I know that I'm gambling with this situation but don't like the alternatives. The rattie is a very soft and wimpy dog (I know that seems like an odd description for a terrier!) and so I doubt he would want to take on the situation. The Belgian is probably the most trustworthy and he has the weakest "grab instinct" of the three. The corgi is the biggest worry but she is lazy and as long as she isn't stimulated in some way she probably won't bother.

An aquaintance of mine has done a video on how to teach dogs not to kill chickens. He seems to have a lot of luck with his method. My Belgian is one of the dogs he demonstrates the early teaching with. If anyone is interested you could probably google the topic and possibly find how to purchase the video. Having spent years training dogs for AKC obediance, I will say that his dog sense and his approach is reasonably credible.