My dog killed one of my girls!!!

[LittleHouseDreams]

Thank you all for your sympathy and advice. It is all very much appreciated. More ideas/advice will be very welcomed

 

[buck-wild-chick]

sorry about your hen :aww

 

[Attack Chicken]

If my dog does anything to my pullets, She would have one peed off roo on her but.

 

[junebug7334]

and I am sorry for your loss as well.

 

[freemotion]

How sad, and the dog was just being a dog....but some can be trained not to kill. I don't know if it is too late for your dog, since it already killed one, but let me tell you about my experience.

We have one hen that got injured quite young, and lives in our yard in the good weather and in our living room in the winter (we call her our "rare combed Dutch brown parrot" to prepare people for the shock.....what is the difference between a parrot and a house chicken? About three grand.....)

Lola lived in a separate pen outside the main pen for her own safety from the flock, who lived nicely with her for about two months then decide quite suddenly that she needed to die. Fortunately, a visiting friend saw this and came and got me so I could rescue her. Now she lives in our backyard with a mini-coop under a tree, and full access to the large fenced yard.

My 30 lb dog, Gunnar, has been encouraged to hunt and kill rats and squirrels (a huge nuisance here,) and figured Lola looked like a big chipmunk. I saw an excerpt from an episode of The Dog Whisperer online that showed Cesar training a large dog not to kill chickens, and tried the technique. I had Gunnar permanently trained to leave Lola alone within ten minutes. He is already quite well trained, so maybe it was so quick for that reason.

See if you can find the clip I am referring to, as a description will not do it justice. I sat on the ground with Lola held between my legs, and just waited for Gunnar to do what dogs do and make a run at her. When he did, I quietly shot my hand out and gave him a very sharp poke with my fingertips where his neck meets his shoulder. He sat his furry tuckus down and looked at me, startled. I said, quietly, "MY chicken!" and pleasantly enjoyed the day. As I suspected he would, he wandered around me.....dum-de-dum-de-dum, pretending not to notice the chicken in my lap, and made another run at her from the other side. Maybe the rules are different on the left side! So he got another silent lightening poke on the other side. This time he went into a down-stay and locked onto my eyes for a long, long time. Then he decided it would be a good day for some quiet time on the other side of the yard. He never attempted to snack on Lola again.

When I let him out, he often makes a quick run around the yard and chases any rabbits or squirrels out, and sometimes he comes up on Lola quickly. He always screeches to a halt and goes the other way. I watch this from the window, so I know it is not because I am standing over him, threatening. It has been over a year now.

He is also a poodle-in-cognito (terrier clip) so is extra smart, and handsome, too!

Hope this helps, but I must say, I would be reluctant to let Gunnar near my chickens again if he ever actually killed one.....We do walk through the flock twice a day on our way to our walk, and he leaves the hens alone. I have to watch him with George, the rooster, as George starts it sometimes. I try to stay between them, with a stick in hand. So far, so good!

 

[whitecra]

When the chickens are out here I put a sign on the door saying don't let the dogs out. Chickens are loose. I tape it to the door knob so if someone isn't looking for it they will feel it when they try to open the door. So far it has worked.
Chris

 

[LittleHouseDreams]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions, more advice/experiences are very welcome.

 

[wilds of pa]

Sorry to here of the loss...

You could try a muzzle, of course there's always the possibility of trampling them to. But at least the dog cant grab them easily..

Shock collars work as a training aid and they do work using verbal command and a long training lead to start as well...But it does take work to break them once they've had a taste of blood, my labs learned, however our female still eye balls chickens, so when out she is watched like a hawk by us of course they basically still need commands at times to re enforce there training..


Charlie

 

[LittleHouseDreams]

Freemotion,

I found the video clip you mentioned it was good. Any idea if this dog had killed a chicken? The clip didn't say or I missed it. My dog is also a poodle. A standard poodle about 50lbs. She was adopted from poodle rescue when she was 5 months old. She/we have some issues and clearly training needs to be more diligent than it has in the past. I don't want another mishap like this again. The chicken had her neck broken but she was not bloody anywhere does that give more hope for the rehabilitation of my dog?

 

[freemotion]

Not sure, but I think he did kill one, that is why they called Cesar in to help. When I tried the technique, it was so obvious that Gunnar understood because I was speaking his language, and quite clearly. It was a lightbulb moment for me.....and Gunnar!

Poodles are SO smart, and I find that I have to keep my curly-dog's training up periodically, or he gets "selective hearing!" But he always remembers his training session with Lola.

I hope you get this figured out. I did use an electronic collar with Gunnar early on, as he would go completely deaf to "come" and we live on a busy road with lots of squirrels. I had a trainer who is very experienced with these training tools help me, and I am so glad I did. You can destroy your dog's confidence with these tools, as they don't know what it means and where it is coming from. It really takes two people if you are not experienced with the collar. Even so, Gunnar's personality was very subdued for a while after introducing it. But he is fine now, and not squished on the road, and will come when called. It has been 2-3 years since I've used the collar. I probably would not have needed it in the first place if I hadn't made so many mistakes, as this was my first puppy. Live and learn!