My savage dog.

[cochinchic]

My Lab Scarlett is a well behaved and loving part of our family......but she is a chicken killer. I have built a new large chicken coop, poured concrete around the entire chain link fence run, put up an underground fence system and a hot tape goat fence. She killed all my silkies and cochins......again this morning! Does anyone have a suggestion on how to deter her or keep her out???? I can not go through another massacre again, it is also not fair to submit the poor chickens to this kind of torture.

 

[Evelle]

watch her like a hawk when shes out side!!

get rid of the dog

dont have chickens

hang a chicken around her neck (a dead on of corse) and keep her outside tied up with little attention

hit her with the dead chicken repeating no mine no mine

assurt dominats with the chickend take her out over and over and over with a leash and when she flinches toward them yank the leash and say NO! MINE!

all these have worked with my familys dogs
GOOD LUCK

 

[cochinchic]

I heard that fastening the chicken around her neck would do the job...I think I will try it. Thank you

 

[allieloveschickens]

How does she get into the coop? It sounds like a fortress!

1. I would not leave her in the yard unless you are out with her.

2. If she has to be in the yard then get her a very sturdy tie out lead so she cannot get near or into the coop. My dog used to run around and around the coop and scare my chickens half to death when we weren't home (you could always tell because the chickens would be freaked out and all the flowers I planted around the coop were crushed and dug up). So we got him a metal tie out lead that we hook around a pole cemented into the ground- he has access to his bed, food, water, and most of the yard- but cannot get near the chickens any more. I would not recommend the spiral tie out stakes that hammer into the ground as my dog just pulled it up and went back to his bad behavior.

3. You could also purchase or build a dog run for her- though if she is getting into your hot-wired, chain link chicken coop then I don't know what kind of dog run will hold her.

4. Try to train her to stay away from the chickens - try a shock collar (not too powerful-just a little shock) and go out in the yard with her with the chickens, anytime she tries to approach the chickens, or go after them, or even look at them give her a little shock. Do this until she connects going for the chickens with the shock. (this may not work for her but it's worth a try)

if none of these are good options for you then it may be time to reconsider getting chickens, or find a new chicken-free home for your lab.

Good luck!

 

[dainerra]

Do NOT tie a dead chicken to your dog. 1) you all taking a risk of illness. Dead animals rot and attract flies, rats. Raccoons and other carrion eaters all of which carry potentially fatal diseases. 2) risk of hanging. No explaination needed here. 3) isolation doesn't TEACH anything. 4). Dogs LIKE the smell of rotting meat. They roll in it and eat it. The idea behind this method is that they become terrified of not being able to get the hanging weight off of them. (See again dangers of choking).

If your dog is truely a loved pet, why would you even consider such an option?

You mentioned a strong coop, but what have you done to teach her how to act? Is she loose outsid? If so either bring her in the house or get a secure tie-out or kennel. She can't bother the birds if she can't get to them. Take her out on leash, just to the point where she notices the chickens. When she looks at them give a collar pop. When she looks at you reward her. Repeat several times a day a few minutes at a time until she is reliably ignoring them at a distance. Move a little closer and begin agai.

The most important part is that you do NOT give her access to the birds.

 

[TrystInn]

Has your dog gone through obedience training? It sounds like she has good household manners, but hasn't been trained in Leave It.

 

[Evelle]

Quote:
it depends on the dog.. i had to beat mine with the chicken and tie it around her neck as the last resort to getting rid of her
and isolation does work if it is use to ALOT of human contact..
my grandfather did it to ALL his chicken eaters a few night outside cured them real quick but you have to tell her This is a no no.
and most people who have not tryed it say the dog will eat it... mine didnt EXPLANE THAT one day she massacured my coop when she bolted out the door when my daughter opened it.. if you hang it on the collor it doesnt give the risk of choking.. i kept telling my dog no no no no pointing at the bird when i was getting ready.. to hang it..
What its suposta teach them is dont touch alfas food.
idk how ask my grandfather that but it work with mine

 

[Evelle]

look this kinda thread always turns into an argument do some research on how to get your dog to leave it..
and it will all fall into place it takes a lot of hard work on your part expecally when she has tasted blood its going to be even harder..
start with sudmission training and have her sudmit to your chickens around her.
if she flinches tell her no. and yank on her.

ITS GOING TO BE HARD WORK NOW!!! so good luck to you..

 

[baldessariclan]

How does your dog get through a chain link fence ?!? They make DOG KENNELS out of that stuff (which will successfully contain VERY large/energetic dogs)!! I guess I am not understanding...

Anyhow, you could always tie up your dog such that he cannot reach the chickens. Or put your dog in a strong kennel. Or maybe move the chickens into a strong kennel. Etc., etc. There are plenty of ways of keeping dogs contstrained/restrained, or locking up items so that they can't get in to them...

 

[bobbi-j]

Wow - she must be very determined to play with the chickens to have gone through electric fencing and chain link! In my opinion, you have two optons if you want to have both chickens and dog. 1.) TRAIN the dog to leave the chickens alone. Some dogs are easy to train, some it seems you don't have to train at all, and some don't seem to get it no matter what you do. Which leads to option 2.) Make sure your dog has NO access to the chicken coop or run or the chickens if they free range.

How you train your dog is up to you. I'll admit to having done the chicken-around-the-neck thing in the past. It happened to work for that particular dog for a time. I don't believe it's a permanent fix, though. I think if you want to be sure it's never going to happen again, you need consistent, long term training. There is alot of good information out there as to how to do that.

ETA - If you're going to punish the dog, you need to catch her in the act. If you were to beat her with the dead chicken (I'm not recommending this) after you got home from work or where ever, she will not be able to make the connection to killing the chickens earlier in the day. The only thing she'll know is that for some reason you're hitting her with a dead bird.