My Husky is killing my chickens and ducks, I need help!

[Malamute1]

I am very sorry for your loss but may I ask why you had a parrot camping!? I am not judging or anything, just curious because I had never heard of that before but find it very interesting! Although I am sorry you lost your bird.

I had the same thoughts.

 

[writerskramp]

It would take a lot more than a dead bird tied around its neck to get a Husky to leave the chickens alone. Besides, many dogs, including mine, seem to LOVE the smell of dead things.

Don't know if I have replied to this post before.. but and and a big butt. This works! So an old farmer told me so.. I did it! A Bird Dog as in Weimaraner Pointer type dog. I knew if I did this with a bird dog there would be no hunting.. A Great Pointer he was.. Pointed out Rabbits in great form.. AWESOME! Husky's would be nothing in comparison.. and a dead thing aficionado.. 30 days in the hole will make anyone go insane.. Michigan Department of Corrections Officer Graduate.. 1985.. Snowflake. MUSH! Good Luck!

 

[oldhen2345]

My uncle was a cowboy in South Texas. He says what they used to do was take a dog ( preferably a puppy) out with them to the chickens on a leash. Keep some of those small round hot peppers(I can't remember the name) in your pocket. Catch a chicken and put the dogs nose right up against it and slip a pepper in the dogs mouth. Do that for a few days and the dog will not want to go near the chickens. Sounds cruel though. But that is what he did. Broke all of his hunting dogs from bothering the chickens.

 

[cassie]

My uncle was a cowboy in South Texas. He says what they used to do was take a dog ( preferably a puppy) out with them to the chickens on a leash. Keep some of those small round hot peppers(I can't remember the name) in your pocket. Catch a chicken and put the dogs nose right up against it and slip a pepper in the dogs mouth. Do that for a few days and the dog will not want to go near the chickens. Sounds cruel though. But that is what he did. Broke all of his hunting dogs from bothering the chickens.

For a while I would sprinkle cayenne pepper on the bathroom garbage to keep the dogs out of it. Worked fine until they developed a taste for cayenne....

Just curious, are you talking about ghost peppers?

 

[TOR]

It would take a lot more than a dead bird tied around its neck to get a Husky to leave the chickens alone. Besides, many dogs, including mine, seem to LOVE the smell of dead things.

The dogs I had never bothered the chickens. Then once they found killing them was fun it was not going to stop. Was not sure what to do to stop the killing. I had punished them, but the killing continued.
I thought tying a dead chicken around a dogs neck was old tale. It worked when I did it many years ago . The 2 dogs I had wore the dead chickens around their neck for about 4 or 5 days, nasty, stink, flies, awful, summer heat, humidity.
I took the dead chickens off the dogs washed the dogs up. Never bothered a chicken again.
In fact they would not even real get close to a chicken, always stayed a distance away.
1 dog was a irish setter and the other australian shepard.
True story
both dogs born about the same time grew up together lived together, died about a month apart at 14 years old. I buried them next to each other.

 

[cassie]

The dogs I had never bothered the chickens. Then once they found killing them was fun it was not going to stop. Was not sure what to do to stop the killing. I had punished them, but the killing continued.
I thought tying a dead chicken around a dogs neck was old tale. It worked when I did it many years ago . The 2 dogs I had wore the dead chickens around their neck for about 4 or 5 days, nasty, stink, flies, awful, summer heat, humidity.
I took the dead chickens off the dogs washed the dogs up. Never bothered a chicken again.
In fact they would not even real get close to a chicken, always stayed a distance away.
1 dog was a irish setter and the other australian shepard.
True story
both dogs born about the same time grew up together lived together, died about a month apart at 14 years old. I buried them next to each other.

Neither Australian Shepherds nor Irish Setters have anywhere near the prey drive that Malamutes and Huskies do. That said, it might be worth a try. After all, what can you lose? It might even work, but I sure wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Waddlestheduck]

I have that problem too except not as bad. My dog Rudder is a sweetheart, but sometimes he snaps or growls at our duck Waddles. He is a retriever so he has a soft mouth. He has not hurt her, but I fear he might.

 

[writerskramp]

I have that problem too except not as bad. My dog Rudder is a sweetheart, but sometimes he snaps or growls at our duck Waddles. He is a retriever so he has a soft mouth. He has not hurt her, but I fear he might.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks 'quote'.. Soft mouth as in toothless..? This case you could try a training collar.. Old school choke chain to electronic shock collar. Have had better luck with choke chain on runners.. They get to the end of the the rope and jerk.. Takes time and attention.. though fairly quick learning.. Electronic you can use as it occurs if you are ready. Just remember to turn it on or it won't work.. been there. Rudder doesn't sound like a killer and Waddles slow to learn.. You could just live with it. I have had dogs who couldn't care less to those who snap so quick there's nothing to do.. Too one two steps behind killed 5 in one run.. dead chicken trick did it. Had one who would herd them back into their pen at closing time, never harmed one. Yet if you were a varmint, it was lights out quick to battle of the century. You could make the duck less tasty.. Like something harmless to Waddles used to break chewing habits. Birds supposedly have no taste buds.. So shouldn't effect grooming. Only if I'm right about that one. Who knows, they may even become buddies eventually. Like a cat and dog once they get used to each other.. More exposure in a confined area in which you are present to intervene may help.. Put Waddles in a cage near to Rudder till he gets bored.. and don't allow 'any' aggressive behavior. A rolled up newspaper works as a detorant... both sight and sound. It's called discipline, don't be a wuss. Good Luck

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You can't teach an old dog new tricks 'quote'.. Soft mouth as in toothless..? This case you could try a training collar.. Old school choke chain to electronic shock collar. Have had better luck with choke chain on runners.. They get to the end of the the rope and jerk.. Takes time and attention.. though fairly quick learning.. Electronic you can use as it occurs if you are ready. Just remember to turn it on or it won't work.. been there. Rudder doesn't sound like a killer and Waddles slow to learn.. You could just live with it. I have had dogs who couldn't care less to those who snap so quick there's nothing to do.. Too one two steps behind killed 5 in one run.. dead chicken trick did it. Had one who would herd them back into their pen at closing time, never harmed one. Yet if you were a varmint, it was lights out quick to battle of the century. You could make the duck less tasty.. Like something harmless to Waddles used to break chewing habits. Birds supposedly have no taste buds.. So shouldn't effect grooming. Only if I'm right about that one. Who knows, they may even become buddies eventually. Like a cat and dog once they get used to each other.. More exposure in a confined area in which you are present to intervene may help.. Put Waddles in a cage near to Rudder till he gets bored.. and don't allow 'any' aggressive behavior. A rolled up newspaper works as a detorant... both sight and sound. It's called discipline, don't be a wuss. Good Luck

I think they mean the soft mouth that bird dogs have. Their (instinct maybe, not sure how they learn it so well) is to hold the body's just enough that they can carry them back, but aren't actively biting down so that they puncture or bruise the meat. Think of when a dog lightly closes it's mouth around your hand when playing sometimes. It's just enough to hold the object steady. But all dogs, even soft mouthed ones have the ability to chomp down if they want

 

[Kimmyh51]

You need to put the dog in a run it cannot get out of. Or the ducks in a run the dog cannot get into and you need to accept that your dog will go after your ducks ANY TIME it is given half an opportunity to do so...

You can also assume, that for your dog, the reward it gets from chasing and grabbing the ducks, is so great, that it is, in the dogs eyes, worth any punishment or other consequences that come from this behaviour, or that simply the excitement of the hunt, is so great that any thoughts of what you want the dog to do, or punishment or anything else at all, are just completely forgotten in the thrill of the duck hunt!

It’s not the dogs fault, they are an animal which would die in the wild if they did not hunt and kill, so it’s totally normal for a dog to have an instinctual drive to chase, hunt, grab, kill and eat, and you are working against this whenever you try to get a dog to stop chasing or harming prey animals such as ducks. Once the dog has had a taste of this as in it’s actually been successful in grabbing a duck (even if it never killed or ate it) your job of stopping it doing this is not only difficult, but possibly impossible. It might behave around you, but you must accept that any time you are not present, even if just for a moment, your dog is going to go after those ducks....

So you need to ensure that at all times it is impossible for the dog to get to the ducks, by either putting the dog in a run it cannot get out of, if the ducks are to free range, or putting the ducks in a suitable dog proof run and not allowing them to free range...
Or switching between the two, ie keeping the ducks in a dog proof area and only allowing free range once the dog is secured in a dog proof run, and not letting the dog out till all ducks are back in their dog proof area.

If the above options are not acceptable to you. You need to rehome either the dog or the ducks, for their own sakes.