My Own Dogs?!?!

[stuckinthecity]

I am so mad right now i could burst into tears. I looked outside the window today to see my dogs both have a chick in their mouth. DEAD. I ran out there with my towel around my waste and I saw 2 chicks dead, 2 live, and 1 injured. I have no idea what happened to the other 5 but i am soooooo mad. Those babies were perfectly healthy. eating,growing, getting their new feathers inand then this happens? I gave both dogs a pretty good slap to the face when they walked up to me wth the chicks in their mouths. I'm not ashamed of doing that either. I am SO MAD. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me recently.

 

[schellie69]

Sorry for your loss, maybe the other 5 will show up just hiding I think some good hard training for the dogs is in order I would not leave the dogs outside with the chickens again. dogs can be trained but it takes works hope you can find some new chicks and hopefully your dogs learned not to mess with the babies.

 

[Marie1234]

In defense of the dog...if it sounds like a squeaky toy it must be a squeaky toy. My dog will let the hens drink out of his water bowl and scratch out a dust bath six inches from him but when it comes to anything that squeaks or pips he "must" play with it. Could be a similar issue. I've learned to keep the small ones penned up till they don't make baby noises anymore then it's good to go around here. Wanna know how much money I spent on ducks before I learned this?

 

[greenpeeps]

So sorry. I've learned to keep mine on a long leash while the chicks are running around. The pyrneese is fine, untill she wants to play, she's just to big. The American Bulldog likes to lick them a little to much for my comfort, but she is getting better. Evertime she goes for one I grab the leash and tell her no. To my surprise yesterday I didn't have to grab the leash once. Still don't trust her though.

Remember, that's what most dogs do.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

You have to remember though that you have Labs and labs were and are bred to hunt and retrieve BIRDS! I will NEVER trust ANY animal with my chickens or chicks as no matter how well trained we think they might be instinct can still kick in and take over. They are after all "just" dogs, and dont have human rationalization.

 

[Marie1234]

MomtoSyd&Emma :

You have to remember though that you have Labs and labs were and are bred to hunt and retrieve BIRDS! I will NEVER trust ANY animal with my chickens or chicks as no matter how well trained we think they might be instinct can still kick in and take over. They are after all "just" dogs, and dont have human rationalization.

Mine is a choc lab mix and good retriever for duck hunting but it's the sound chicks or baby ducks make that sets him off. Having seen it with my own eyes, I can tell you that he will slap at them with his monster paws then pick it up with his mouth trying to get it to squeak again. No tooth marks at all. He has never gone after a mature chicken, duck or turkey. When we have him out "working" he doesn't go after live birds, just retrieves what we have shot at on command without leaving a tooth mark. Not the same as the husky in my neighborhood who will run up and violently kill every bird he can catch and leave them all over the yard.​

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Mine is a choc lab mix and good retriever for duck hunting but it's the sound chicks or baby ducks make that sets him off. Having seen it with my own eyes, I can tell you that he will slap at them with his monster paws then pick it up with his mouth trying to get it to squeak again. No tooth marks at all. He has never gone after a mature chicken, duck or turkey. When we have him out "working" he doesn't go after live birds, just retrieves what we have shot at on command without leaving a tooth mark. Not the same as the husky in my neighborhood who will run up and violently kill every bird he can catch and leave them all over the yard.

I have a Chihuahua, a Boxer and a Schnauzer mix. I dont trust any of them they are dogs after all.

I had to clean up what was left of my neighbors cockatiels a few years back when her Westie knocked their cage over while they were gone and killed and ate pretty much all of the birds. Not a pretty sight let me tell you.

So for me its just a thing of prevention instead of clean up. I adore my dogs, and I love my birds and chickens so I dont take a chance. (I guess I'm a lil "chicken" myself) lol

 

[moetrout]

We had a dog when I was a kid that killed a chicken. Dad cut the head off the chicken and wired it to the dogs collar for a couple of weeks. We didn't have anymore problems with that dog. Not saying it would work on every dog and certain not something I would do with a inside dog. However if it was an outside dog and I was that mad, I'd be going for dead head payback on that bad pooch!

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Yep my Dad has told me stories of his Dad doing that, I believe its the old farmers way. Kinda like filling a hole with water that a dog has dug and holding the dogs he in there. NOT something I would do by no means, but I have heard it and even read it in a book by the man that trained the original Lassie!

What I do when a dog digs here, is I scoop their poop and put it in the hole, it helps lol

 

[apdan]

Some dogs are good with chickens though

I have 3 labs, a lab shepard mix, lab retreiver mix, and lab husky mix and they are loose with my chickens all the time and I never have to worry about them touching a chicken. my chickens are free range and my dogs whenever I am home are in and out of the house all the time, and in defense of the dog... not all dogs are bad