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

[writerskramp]

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

I got that.. Bird dogs are bird dogs. So curing them of birds is difficult but can be accomplished.. If it is not your hunting dog and just a pet.. otherwise someones got to go. Duck, duck.. Goose!

 

[writerskramp]

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.

Any dog can be 'broken'.. but do you want too. Had a Weimaraner which was lady raised in a house, dummer than a stump.. and a chicken killer aficionado. Would eat off the counter, tear up stuff, even ate through a door. That was the last straw.. Once watched him take a sandwich out of the mouth of a child.. very gently. Dead bird around his neck for a time and he wouldn't even look at them.. When one walked up to him, he'd turn his head and whine.. So if it can be done with Forest Gump.. Most of my animals just show up at my door or I take castoffs.. especialy when I had kids. Heck, watched a neighbor drop off twin black kittens in my driveway as I laid under my car working on it. The Shepard hated one and loved the other.. Nursed that cat back to health so many times.. did the one in eventually. Why I have no clue, because the cat loved him.

 

[Kimmyh51]

Any dog can be 'broken'.. but do you want too. Had a Weimaraner which was lady raised in a house, dummer than a stump.. and a chicken killer aficionado. Would eat off the counter, tear up stuff, even ate through a door. That was the last straw.. Once watched him take a sandwich out of the mouth of a child.. very gently. Dead bird around his neck for a time and he wouldn't even look at them.. When one walked up to him, he'd turn his head and whine.. So if it can be done with Forest Gump.. Most of my animals just show up at my door or I take castoffs.. especialy when I had kids. Heck, watched a neighbor drop off twin black kittens in my driveway as I laid under my car working on it. The Shepard hated one and loved the other.. Nursed that cat back to health so many times.. did the one in eventually. Why I have no clue, because the cat loved him.

I don’t think establishing yourself as higher in their pack than your pet dog constitutes breaking them. If anything it’s simply interacting with them in their own way instead of expecting them to understand and conform to a social structure that is totally alien to them. A dog can accept you as the boss and if this done gently but firmly they will simply have security and consistency in their life but still always be free to express themselves and show joy, fun, humour, love, silliness, and their own protective instincts in line with their own character. A broken dog is going to be less trustworthy and more dangerous than a spoilt dog or dog who thinks it’s higher in the pack than it’s humans. A broken dog will just react to everything with fear and like any creature, including humans, who is acting only on fear, you will never see anything except their worst and most unpredictable behaviour. Not what I ever would want to see in my dogs, ducks, geese or any other animal in my care... kind of defeats the purpose having animals if you deny them and yourself the honour and delight of seeing them express themselves truly and fully.

 

[writerskramp]

I don’t think establishing yourself as higher in their pack than your pet dog constitutes breaking them. If anything it’s simply interacting with them in their own way instead of expecting them to understand and conform to a social structure that is totally alien to them. A dog can accept you as the boss and if this done gently but firmly they will simply have security and consistency in their life but still always be free to express themselves and show joy, fun, humour, love, silliness, and their own protective instincts in line with their own character. A broken dog is going to be less trustworthy and more dangerous than a spoilt dog or dog who thinks it’s higher in the pack than it’s humans. A broken dog will just react to everything with fear and like any creature, including humans, who is acting only on fear, you will never see anything except their worst and most unpredictable behaviour. Not what I ever would want to see in my dogs, ducks, geese or any other animal in my care... kind of defeats the purpose having animals if you deny them and yourself the honour and delight of seeing them express themselves truly and fully.

Dead on info.. I just felt that is what I did.. Bird dog and all. Had a dog as described. Half Shepard and Pit Bull about medium size.. Them jaws! About every six months he'd test me.. wack. If you didn't immediately he'd eat you. He'd roll over on his back and submit. Great dog and such a gentleman you never knew.. miss him. He was a darling. He was kind to everything except two legged to four legged vermin and other dogs in his territory.. even herded chickens back into the pen every evening with no damage.. awesome. Neighbor shot him.. and he did nothing but trespass. My dogs love me and I them.. and there is a social order. The big one drags the littler one out the door by the collar if I want them out.. A little intimidated because she knows she is going to get ruffed up for ignoring me by the other, but it works. Large one, Chocolate Lab Husky mix of some kind and wolf rumored.. with two colored eyes which creep me out a bit, others say beautiful.. and the poor cat was used as a mop.. "Don't eat the kitty." She looks at me from time to time as if she is sizing me up for dinner.. and yes they kill chickens, don't stick your neck out of the fence. Lesson learned.

 

[Kimmyh51]

Dead on info.. I just felt that is what I did.. Bird dog and all. Had a dog as discribed. Half Shepard and Pit Bull about medium size.. Them jaws! About every six months he'd test me.. wack. If you didn't immediatly he'd eat you. He'd roll over on his back and submit. Great dog and such a gentalman you never knew.. miss him. He was a darling. Neighbor shot him.. and he did nothing but trespass. My dogs love me and I them.. and there is a social order. The big one drags the littler one out the door by the collar if I want them out.. A little itimidated because she knows she is going to get ruffed up for ignoring me by the other, but it works. Large one, Chocolate Lab Husky mix of some kind and wolf rumored.. with two colored eyes which creep me out a bit, others say beautiful.. and the poor cat was used as a mop.. "Don't eat the kitty." She looks at me from time to time as if she is sizing me up for dinner.. and yes they kill chickens, don't stick your neck out of the fence. Lesson learned.

Yes I definitely think different breeds as well need different training, (but you also have to take into account different backgrounds ie an abused dog may need its fear reaction catered for, and more encouragement, less discipline than a non abused dog of the same breed).

I found with my Rottys that around 6mths they could get real cocky, went from a puppy looking to me for every guidance to “hey, I’m bigger now,. Maybe I should be the top dog?” and for example someone would knock at the door, and I remember one dog I had she started to get just a little too enthusiastic at guarding the door, really going off and aggressively so.. so I would whack her on the nose (open hand) and then hold her so she was looking me in the eye while I gave her my growly voice - and do that straight away if she didn’t stop barking and calm down as soon as I told her to (I’m head of the pack therefore I decide what is a threat and what is not). I believe it was necessary and effective. It certainly never ‘cowered’ her, she was still always her bouncy, cocky, silly confident self. But she learnt that I was the one to decide whether a visitor was a welcome guest or a threat.
And unfortunately when you have a breed like a pitty or a rotty they must be well controlled not just because people judge them as aggressive by appearance but also because I think some breeds are naturally more inclined to try and dominate, and that’s where the person who decides to own that breed needs to be responsible and educate themselves on their breed of dog before obtaining them. And these days, given that 5 minutes on google will give you the basic info, there is no excuse for people who don’t do that.

But because people judge, if you own a Rottweiler or putbull or any other breed that is considered to be dangerous or aggressive your dog has to not just be as well behaved as any other dog, but better.... because they are judged more harshly.

I’ve often walked past houses where small yapping dogs have come out and run at me or even nipped at me, and you don’t think any thing of it, or do anything, but can you imagine what would happen if a Rottweiler or pitbull ran at passers-by, or worse, bit them even without much force?
So as much for the protection of your dog as anything else they have to learn that any aggressive behaviour is absolutely 100% all of the time not acceptable. And even then sadly they can be judged for their breed like it sounds like yours was.
Did you have any legal rights against the neighbour who shot your dog?
Pretty sure over here the neighbour would get in trouble unless they could prove the dog was actually attacking them or their pets or livestock, but I think in some countries you are allowed to shoot anyone or anything that goes on your property? Another reason it’s super important to keep any dog super secure on your own property.
My rottweilers never ever harmed anyone else and I never worried that one would, because I knew I had made it clear that was unacceptable (though one just hated this flat mate we had -she never attacked him as she knew she was not allowed to but I could always see she wanted to have a go at him...no one could figure out why just this one person she hated from the get go..then a few months after moving in he absconded with hundreds of dollars stolen money from one flat mate and possessions of the owner and I believe a significant amount of unpaid rent as well...guess the dog knew something we didn’t..)
But aside from that mine were big softies, one wandered off down the road one day while I was outside saying goodbye to a visitor, looked and realised she was not at my side, and a block down the road there she was, and this little girl around 5years old was hitting her as hard as she could...
But because the girl was so small my dog just thought she was getting a pat and was leaning happily into this girl and enjoying her “pat” lol...I should have kept a better eye on the dog and not allowed her to meander a block down the road, but I also wonder where that kids parent was and why they allowed them to approach an unknown dog and hit it!

I have a duck with two coloured eyes' I think she’s beautiful one s blue the other brown. Just discovered this recently. Someone suggested maybe she was blind in the blue eye so I caught her and did some tests and she can def see in both eyes.....

But yeah at the end of the day, if I had any dogs now, regardless of breed or behaviour, I would consider and treat them as duck killers. And I consider any other dog a duck killer.

Have had people get pissy at me because I would not let them adopt a duck from me who they wanted to free range with their dog who they were just sure would never ever harm the duck because they loved it (and therefore their love for it MUST mean it is going to instantly and magically go against all it’s doggy instincts and love the ducks too?). For dinner maybe....

Yes occasionally you get the vary rare dog who actually won’t ever harm chickens or ducks, but they are exactly that, VERY rare... more common are dogs who can be trained not to go a duck or chook while their human is watching...but who will definitely consider it if they think they can get away with it.

It’s just as unfair on the dog expecting it to not behave like a dog as it is on the poor mauled ducks or chickens.

I’ve watched videos on flock guard dog training, of the dogs that are bred specifically to guard flocks of poultry, and even with those dogs, the people training them spend months working with them for hours and hours evey day and never allow them to be alone with the birds for a very ver long time after hundreds of hours of training. So why would anyone who has no experience with training flock guard dogs, expect to have a dog of an entirely different breed, put through a fraction of the amount of training the flock guard dogs receive, expect their dog to be trustworthy around their birds when unsupervised.

A good starting point for anyone with dogs or intending to get one, would be to spend a few hours at a minimum, learning about dog behaviour, prey instinct, pack behaviour, and so on, to understand that their dog does not think like them and never will.

I read somewhere that predator animals were created without the ability to feel empathy for the pain and suffering they would cause prey animals. Which makes sense, if a predator felt empathy and guilt every time it killed an animal so as to feed, it’s like would either be extremely short, or deeply miserable. So if you look at things that way, it’s not fair or possible to expect a dog to understand your ducks or chickens as feeling, sentient beings who you consider friends and part of your family.. Why? Because their survival depends on them NOT seeing your chickens or ducks as having feelings or any value beyond that of being food.
Any time a dog denies that instinct, they are going against their deepest instincts. So it’s no wonder they might be convinced to do it for you in their presence, if their love for you and desire to please you is stronger than their desire to survive. But once you are not there, it’s craziness to expect them to go against what their every bone, muscle, nerve ending and survival instinct is demanding they do...

 

[writerskramp]

Yes I definitely think different breeds as well need different training, (but you also have to take into account different backgrounds ie an abused dog may need its fear reaction catered for, and more encouragement, less discipline than a non abused dog of the same breed).

I found with my Rottys that around 6mths they could get real cocky, went from a puppy looking to me for every guidance to “hey, I’m bigger now,. Maybe I should be the top dog?” and for example someone would knock at the door, and I remember one dog I had she started to get just a little too enthusiastic at guarding the door, really going off and aggressively so.. so I would whack her on the nose (open hand) and then hold her so she was looking me in the eye while I gave her my growly voice - and do that straight away if she didn’t stop barking and calm down as soon as I told her to (I’m head of the pack therefore I decide what is a threat and what is not). I believe it was necessary and effective. It certainly never ‘cowered’ her, she was still always her bouncy, cocky, silly confident self. But she learnt that I was the one to decide whether a visitor was a welcome guest or a threat.
And unfortunately when you have a breed like a pitty or a rotty they must be well controlled not just because people judge them as aggressive by appearance but also because I think some breeds are naturally more inclined to try and dominate, and that’s where the person who decides to own that breed needs to be responsible and educate themselves on their breed of dog before obtaining them. And these days, given that 5 minutes on google will give you the basic info, there is no excuse for people who don’t do that.

But because people judge, if you own a Rottweiler or putbull or any other breed that is considered to be dangerous or aggressive your dog has to not just be as well behaved as any other dog, but better.... because they are judged more harshly.

I’ve often walked past houses where small yapping dogs have come out and run at me or even nipped at me, and you don’t think any thing of it, or do anything, but can you imagine what would happen if a Rottweiler or pitbull ran at passers-by, or worse, bit them even without much force?
So as much for the protection of your dog as anything else they have to learn that any aggressive behaviour is absolutely 100% all of the time not acceptable. And even then sadly they can be judged for their breed like it sounds like yours was.
Did you have any legal rights against the neighbour who shot your dog?
Pretty sure over here the neighbour would get in trouble unless they could prove the dog was actually attacking them or their pets or livestock, but I think in some countries you are allowed to shoot anyone or anything that goes on your property? Another reason it’s super important to keep any dog super secure on your own property.
My rottweilers never ever harmed anyone else and I never worried that one would, because I knew I had made it clear that was unacceptable (though one just hated this flat mate we had -she never attacked him as she knew she was not allowed to but I could always see she wanted to have a go at him...no one could figure out why just this one person she hated from the get go..then a few months after moving in he absconded with hundreds of dollars stolen money from one flat mate and possessions of the owner and I believe a significant amount of unpaid rent as well...guess the dog knew something we didn’t..)
But aside from that mine were big softies, one wandered off down the road one day while I was outside saying goodbye to a visitor, looked and realised she was not at my side, and a block down the road there she was, and this little girl around 5years old was hitting her as hard as she could...
But because the girl was so small my dog just thought she was getting a pat and was leaning happily into this girl and enjoying her “pat” lol...I should have kept a better eye on the dog and not allowed her to meander a block down the road, but I also wonder where that kids parent was and why they allowed them to approach an unknown dog and hit it!

I have a duck with two coloured eyes' I think she’s beautiful one s blue the other brown. Just discovered this recently. Someone suggested maybe she was blind in the blue eye so I caught her and did some tests and she can def see in both eyes.....

But yeah at the end of the day, if I had any dogs now, regardless of breed or behaviour, I would consider and treat them as duck killers. And I consider any other dog a duck killer.

Have had people get pissy at me because I would not let them adopt a duck from me who they wanted to free range with their dog who they were just sure would never ever harm the duck because they loved it (and therefore their love for it MUST mean it is going to instantly and magically go against all it’s doggy instincts and love the ducks too?). For dinner maybe....

Yes occasionally you get the vary rare dog who actually won’t ever harm chickens or ducks, but they are exactly that, VERY rare... more common are dogs who can be trained not to go a duck or chook while their human is watching...but who will definitely consider it if they think they can get away with it.

It’s just as unfair on the dog expecting it to not behave like a dog as it is on the poor mauled ducks or chickens.

I’ve watched videos on flock guard dog training, of the dogs that are bred specifically to guard flocks of poultry, and even with those dogs, the people training them spend months working with them for hours and hours evey day and never allow them to be alone with the birds for a very ver long time after hundreds of hours of training. So why would anyone who has no experience with training flock guard dogs, expect to have a dog of an entirely different breed, put through a fraction of the amount of training the flock guard dogs receive, expect their dog to be trustworthy around their birds when unsupervised.

A good starting point for anyone with dogs or intending to get one, would be to spend a few hours at a minimum, learning about dog behaviour, prey instinct, pack behaviour, and so on, to understand that their dog does not think like them and never will.

I read somewhere that predator animals were created without the ability to feel empathy for the pain and suffering they would cause prey animals. Which makes sense, if a predator felt empathy and guilt every time it killed an animal so as to feed, it’s like would either be extremely short, or deeply miserable. So if you look at things that way, it’s not fair or possible to expect a dog to understand your ducks or chickens as feeling, sentient beings who you consider friends and part of your family.. Why? Because their survival depends on them NOT seeing your chickens or ducks as having feelings or any value beyond that of being food.
Any time a dog denies that instinct, they are going against their deepest instincts. So it’s no wonder they might be convinced to do it for you in their presence, if their love for you and desire to please you is stronger than their desire to survive. But once you are not there, it’s craziness to expect them to go against what their every bone, muscle, nerve ending and survival instinct is demanding they do...

"You have insufficient privileges to reply here.".. Imagine that.. I'm being jerked around by Mark Elliot Zuckerberg... Anyway, dogs and children. They know. Well said. When you are not looking is when they do stuff.. No matter how well behaved in your presents.. Dogs will be dogs and kids kids.. When you hear nothing coming from the other room is when you need see what they are up to.. because they are up to something.

 

[Cobra96]

Does that actually work? I read that is an old wives tale.

 

[Cobra96]

Yes, I've done it and seen it work very well on German Shepherds, Never came back to the bird. Dog also learns it gets no affection for a couple weeks. Who's going to pet it?

 

[Jrios58]

Sorry but you can't be successful with most dogs and chickens/ducks. It is part of their canine heritage. That is why I have a barn cat she helps me get the eggs and they do not bother each other.

My cats are SO tempted to try to take on a chicken, but the hens look a lot bigger than they really are, especially when they squawk and carry on. I call it 'Cat TV' when the cats sit there and watch the hens just doing their thing

 

[Jrios58]

My friend has tried similar things but nothing works. They've lost full grown turkeys to their dogs