My dogs

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Give dogs another chance. I lost a couple birds for each of my best dogs. In end they became chicken safe for many years after.

I'd like to but I can't risk another hen. We love ours too much! If it were just the smart one, I'd give him another chance. But I don't trust him not to get carried away when the other one acts up.

 

[dainerra]

In my experience and opinion, when a dog kills a bird it is NEVER the dog's fault. It is our job to 1) provide the necessary training for our dogs and 2) provide them with a secure place that they won't be tempted into trouble.

It is very easy to at least MANAGE your dogs even if you don't have the time or skill to train them perfectly around the birds.

 

[MamaBear46]

I don't blame my dogs for being dogs

They are naturally a predator....but I have so many people telling me that once they killed chickens that they won't ever stop.....I don't want to get rid of my dogs....and this makes three days of not chasing birds.... and since being introduced(overloaded) in birds I have fallen in love with them as well.....so I guess my thing is play it day by day and see how things roll

 

[centrarchid]

I don't blame my dogs for being dogs

They are naturally a predator....but I have so many people telling me that once they killed chickens that they won't ever stop.....I don't want to get rid of my dogs....and this makes three days of not chasing birds.... and since being introduced(overloaded) in birds I have fallen in love with them as well.....so I guess my thing is play it day by day and see how things roll

Much of what has been related to you reguarding dogs and livestock appears innaccurate. As I indicated in first post, killing habit is reversible. People saying otherwise have either limited experience or simply were not successful in breaking habit.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

I think it really depends on the dog. Our Formosan was so terrified of people when we got him, when I first saw him at the adoption event I thought he didn't have a tail because it was tucked all the way up under his belly all the time. The first night we took him home, he was so scared he ran away and got hit by a car. Once we nursed him back to health, it took months before he would let us pet him. He was never aggressive in the slightest, but he is extremely fast and a VERY athletic little sucker and it was not easy to care for him at first. After two years in our care, he still won't let new people touch him, but he is so bonded to us that we have to be careful how we scold him the rare times he does break the rules because he gets depressed over it (literally he'll hide himself for hours at a time and won't eat if he thinks we're upset with him). So him I'm not really worried about. He knows the chickens are off-limits and I'd be surprised if he ever did more than just chase them a little. But although the dumb one is very sweet, she just doesn't care enough about pleasing us to follow a rule as difficult for a dog to adhere to as "Don't chase chickens." She knows she's not supposed to do it but she does it anyway. And she's not really smart enough to train. It's also very difficult to scold her because she runs away when we do it because she's afraid we're going to hit her (which we would never do but apparently someone in her past did).

 

[dainerra]

there is no such thing as a dog that isn't smart enough to train. Some of them are very difficult to find the right method but there are ways to do it if you are persistent. Others just need you to drill the task into them with repetition.

It's pretty easy to manage an untrained dog around chickens. If the birds are out, she is inside or on a leash. If she is out, the birds are safely in the coop/run. If there is even a chance that she could get into the run, then she is outside only under your supervision. It's as simple as don't let her get the chance to bother the birds.

ETA: also, scolding isn't TEACHING a dog. yes, you need to correct a dog but only AFTER you have taught them the correct thing to do. Start by teaching them to "leave it"

 

[nzpouter]

and a 4yo female pitbull/corgi mix (dumb but sweet), both indoor/outdoor dogs, and both predate our chickens.

I realy need to see a pic of this dog.....

 

[nzpouter]

By the way... we just adopted a year old pit bull, and we are in the middle of full on training mode.

 

[cpwhip]

in my case the best solution is keeping them separate, my dogs have a fenced acre on one side of the house and my girls
have thier run/coop and free range area on the other side. getting rid of my girls or my Rotts will never happen but I know if given the
chance the Rotts would go after them they have a very high prey drive. I think training would work but like someone else said it really
depends on the dog..

 

[javamilk99]

Out of my 3 dogs, the hound mix is the best with the birds. He will "be nice" when we take him out to the run, just watch them until he gets bored...unless the chicken decides to tease him.

The pit bull stays on her chain because she likes to play tag down a busy road. Her introduction to the birds has not been the smoothest. The terrier mix likes to stalk and startle. It's hilarious watching him slink around the yard the round-a-bout way, get himself geared up for a sprint...then get called back. Poor puppy, he gets all excited and then disappointed.