My dog just killed my chicken :(

[redheadrenae]

Thank you everyone for all your replies (still don't know how to mark as read but read them all!)
It is really cool to find such a supportive group.

I am still sick about my hen. But have more understanding about my doxie. I heard my daughter tell him...."Your not a bad dog. You just did a VERY bad thing" LOL.
So yes absolutely on keeping him inside and the hens are in a very secure coop that sits on mortor and bricks so no digging.
But we are in the process of making a run so the idea of 18 inches of chicken wire really really helps.

THANK YOU.

PS - Any one in the SF Bay area know of 4 month old hens available. I really want to add (replace - sniff) to my flock. Would love another Maron, Orpington or Americauna.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

MMJ training tips PMed

Jim

 

[silverback]

Dogs do what they have to. My neighbor's dog killed my favorite hen (she had escaped and the dog was a "bird dog" - an English Pointer).The thing I have learned is if you have dogs and chickens - keep the chickens fenced and if you have a dog, have a herding dog since they are unlikely to kill what they chase. Don't have retrievers and especially don't have bird dogs! They can't help themselves.
S.

 

[Nathan Sampson]

I was born and raise in the country where men and women will kill a dog for chasing and or killing there livestock. I have never liked that and as I aged and started to think over some reasons for this behavior I came upon the idea of the dogs diet. I know from experience that most all commercially available feeds are made from chicken meal. I believe that may be a factor in why dogs like chickens I may be wrong though but i feel that there breeding and food is the culprit you can't blame a dog for being a dog it can not be a cat.

 

[goldfinches]

So sorry to hear this happened. After all that time spent healing her to lose her so suddenly. Get that run build and keep that pup away! My husband is headed out your way tomorrow, wish I knew how to send a chick with him. Hope you find one, check Craigslist.

 

[leadwolf1]

Dogs have been killing chickens since way before it was normal for dog food to be made from chicken. As a matter of fact, mine eat lamb and rice. Yet, I am certain that they would love to have some chicken on the side. Breeding you can mold but, you cannot change hundreds of years of inbred instincts. Some dogs will be able to control it while many others, cannot. It is a dog just being a dog...but, it doesn't hurt any less.

I was born and raise in the country where men and women will kill a dog for chasing and or killing there livestock. I have never liked that and as I aged and started to think over some reasons for this behavior I came upon the idea of the dogs diet. I know from experience that most all commercially available feeds are made from chicken meal. I believe that may be a factor in why dogs like chickens I may be wrong though but i feel that there breeding and food is the culprit you can blame a dog for being a dog it can not be a cat.

 

[Nathan Sampson]

I am sorry I typed this in a hurry and on a second reading it may sound bad I didn't express myself well enough. I apologize if i seemed in favor with the dog I am not it was. I feel bad for the loss of the chicken. I apologize if this came out wrong.

I can see a typo I made that is now corrected again I apologize for your loss.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I am very sorry for your loss.

I have posted this on other threads, so sorry if this is repeat but I really believe that any breed of dog can be trained to be around your animals safely if you work on training them well in overall impulse control. Here is the method I use to train my dogs:

I have a pit-bull mix and three pugs. The pit and two of the pugs are rescues from urban shelters with mixed histories of abuse. All four dogs are out in the yard with my 5 chickens everyday without any problems. In fact I once had a chicken attack a dog but never the opposite. Everyone guaranteed me that the pit would kill my chickens but she has never been a problem. I live in a duplex and my former tenets had a dachshund that we also trained to be around the chickens. She took the most time out of the bunch but did very well in the end.

Here is what I personally recommend: The most important thing to focus on overall is improving your dogs impulse control. No matter what your dog has a natural prey drive but more than that they are pack animals that want to please their master. Good basic training makes teaching them anything else so much easier. Make sure that you can snap your dogs attention back to you even when they see something they want. (I can't snap so I use an "aht." noise - this means sit and pay attention to me) One of the best ways to work on this without a live animal present is during feeding. Do you free feed your dogs or do they eat at regular times? I would recommend taking them off of free feeding if you are doing that. Focus on training your dogs so they they will not eat anything unless you give a specific command. I set down all four bowls of food and make the dogs wait. They do not eat until they hear their own name and see a hand gesture. Also work on them stopping eating at a command and willing stepping away from their food. I say "Name, wait." and they stop and sit until told to continue. These skills help with impulse control in many areas of training. It may seem unrelated but to a dog, the one who controls the food is the ruler of them all.

I would introduce the dog to the chickens on a leash and just sit and be calm. As soon as she starts to fixate on the chickens in any way other than simple curiosity or barks or is excited (even happy excited) I would scold her with the same word every time (you only need to say it once, firmly) and immediately take her inside. It is important to take her in even with happy excitement. You are training her to ignore the chickens not to like the chickens and there is a big difference. With my dogs I brought them back when they were calm and started all over again. and again and again. lol. I allowed them to glance at them or sniff them but anything else was a no. It took a bit of patience but within a few days all of the dogs ignored the chickens and now find very little interest in them at all other than a sniff here or there. I never yelled or hit them or used a choke or a shock. I just said no and took them away immediately at any sign of fixation or barking. Patience is the key and consistency. It sucks because sometimes you are busy and don't want to deal with it but starting and stopping will just make it worse. I leave them all together unsupervised regularly.

Putting a fence between your dog and the animal without training them how to behave around that animal is only going to make them want to get it.

Here is my pit, Lou, with a silkie chick who fell in love with her.

 

[Folly's place]

Thanks for the post! Mary

 

[Melabella]

chickenRDinos,,

Good post! Unfortunetly, Folly's dog has allready tasted the thrill of the pursuit, the chase, and the kill. I do think she should start what you suggest as it will only reinforce for the future. I have two dogs, one LGD, and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Again with the spaniel, who was designed to be a small dual purpose ladies lap/bird flushing dog, we are fighting years and years of insticual breeding. When I purchased her as an 8 week old pup, we were renting next door to a small Dr. Doolittle farm, who had free range chickens, and a large standard poodle who used to terrorize the chickens on a daily basis by chasing them, and pinning them, and barking furiously when they took cover under a dumpster. It's all she did every waking hour of the day.. Of course, when my little girl would escape over there, she quickly learned the behaviour given her instincts anyway. Thankfully we moved from there and now have our own place. I was worried as I knew one day I wanted chickens for our little small farmstead. My small flock is now 7 weeks old, and I did exactly as ChickensRDino's suggests. All meetings were between chicken and spaniel where when she was leashed. I watched her behaviour very closly as so that when I saw her become "fixated", that intenst change from relaxed, to "I'm going to catch and eat you" mode, I was there to intervene with a snatch of her collar or the Ceasar Millan neck craw touch. Leading up to the this point, when I handled the chicks, I always praised both dogs for relaxed behavior when I was handling them, making it well clear that that these chicks were MINE, and they were to respect that. It is a slow process and I still work on it daily. The good news is, the spaniel can be off lead now, and does not chase them. Even when one of the chickens gets spooked, and the sky begins to fall, and they all run back into their temporary pen at break neck speed, (My run is being built this week, Praise the LORD!).

I can't say enough about the LGD. He is young, and still learning and maturing, yet just his calming precense circling them, and checking in on them when they are foraging gives me peace of mind. I have also observed that even though the spaniel is older and more dominant in certain ways in the house, outside, he is taking over as boss, and doesn't like it either if she gets too animated around them or the rabbits. Can't teach tthat, again, gentetics at work. It is a marvelous thing.

Folly, your daughter is spot on. Your dog is just acting on what she was bred to do. Childrens instincts are the most wonderful thing in the world. You have learned from this, and sometimes we all have to learn the hard way. Sorry for your pain, and your chicken was a lucky girl to have such a caring mother. Such is the nature of life and these things, you have learned a lesson, and please go easy on yourself. Life is full of too many other stresses to worry about. Good luck to your other hens, and bless you and your family, human and otherwise!

Ciao,
MB