My stupid dog killed one of my chickens!!

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

my 2 dogs free range unsupervised with my bantam chickens and ducks without any trouble and have for a couple years now, but I agree that it is dog's nature and I could not blame my dog if it were to eat one of them. I am just lucky and it would be my fault if that happened for trusting them alone with them, I do trust and believe my dogs would not harm them... but you never know and the responsibilty is mine not the dog's. I would be mad, but wouldn't take it out on the dog other than a reprimand "bad dog" and "no" and maybe a time out.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
I had a lab one time that figured out that if he ran around and around the outside of the run, the chickens would panic and fly OUT of it! Then it was a matter of jumping up and catching one. So much more fun than frisbee! Anyway, after I figured out what was happening, I covered the run. Ruined all his fun. Labs are bird dogs. He was just doing what he was bred to do. I was totally at fault by not covering the run or training him to leave the birds alone. My current lab does not bother the birds. Much. Just likes to run through the flock and scatter them now and then, but never touches them.

 

[chicklunatic]

Quote:
I don't think this is about taking sides. I don't think it's a good idea to label a dog with human issues such as right or wrong. I don't think dogs should be tied up all the time either. And I agree, if a dog can be trained to live in harmony with livestock, it should be done, but it is also my opinion that it can also be an unrealistic goal in some cases.

For instance, my Doxie has excellent manners and is trained, but she has a prey drive that would make it irresponsible for me to trust her with small animals. If I were to leave her where she could get small animals and something happens it would be my fault, becuase I know what she is capable of doing. I'm sorry, but I know dog training and I know my dog. She just isn't safe around small animals and if she gets out and eats something, I can't blame her for that. My dog is who she is, and I am not going to engage in harsh or dominance based discipline that would in my opinion, ruin my dog. In my personal opinion, and no one has to agree with me, but this is my opinion: dominanace training and dominance theory is very misunderstood and is treated as gospel when it is disputable. Temple Grandin has some interesting thoughts about dogs and dog training, I recommend her recent book to anyone who is interested in animal behavior.

I have no idea what dominance training is....I just meant teaching your dogs to behave and know you mean it when you say "bad dog". I do understand that if you have a pet that is terrible around chickens and you know it ( but you love the dog enough to keep it despite it's faults), then it would be your fault to take the dog near them. I do think that if you are gonna own chickens and you have a dog that likes to eat them; you either have to keep your chickens away, keep the dog away, or in some cases, find the dog a chickenless home.
Back to the original person's statement...I think chickens are way easy to get attatched to. Lost one of my first to some unknown disease and three to an accidental heat stroke....it was terribly hard.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Quote:
I don't think this is about taking sides. I don't think it's a good idea to label a dog with human issues such as right or wrong. I don't think dogs should be tied up all the time either. And I agree, if a dog can be trained to live in harmony with livestock, it should be done, but it is also my opinion that it can also be an unrealistic goal in some cases.

For instance, my Doxie has excellent manners and is trained, but she has a prey drive that would make it irresponsible for me to trust her with small animals. If I were to leave her where she could get small animals and something happens it would be my fault, becuase I know what she is capable of doing. I'm sorry, but I know dog training and I know my dog. She just isn't safe around small animals and if she gets out and eats something, I can't blame her for that. My dog is who she is, and I am not going to engage in harsh or dominance based discipline that would in my opinion, ruin my dog. In my personal opinion, and no one has to agree with me, but this is my opinion: dominanace training and dominance theory is very misunderstood and is treated as gospel when it is disputable. Temple Grandin has some interesting thoughts about dogs and dog training, I recommend her recent book to anyone who is interested in animal behavior.

I have no idea what dominance training is....I just meant teaching your dogs to behave and know you mean it when you say "bad dog". I do understand that if you have a pet that is terrible around chickens and you know it ( but you love the dog enough to keep it despite it's faults), then it would be your fault to take the dog near them. I do think that if you are gonna own chickens and you have a dog that likes to eat them; you either have to keep your chickens away, keep the dog away, or in some cases, find the dog a chickenless home.
Back to the original person's statement...I think chickens are way easy to get attatched to. Lost one of my first to some unknown disease and three to an accidental heat stroke....it was terribly hard.

Pure dominance training (think Cesar Milan) has been proven to be incorrect a few years ago by several of the leading animal behaviorists after exhaustive research in the field and in some instances may make a dog more dangerous by teaching him/her to not give a signal before biting. Getting your dog to respect you by giving clear and consistent signals is safer, long lasting and more humane. It is also a good practice to make the dog work for praise and/or treats. I do think many dogs can be taught to respect chickens, however we need to be realistic that not everyone has the time and patience to do all the training necessary and have all family members be consistent as well to have the dog be perfectly trained to ignore its natural instincts. .

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
I have no idea what dominance training is....I just meant teaching your dogs to behave and know you mean it when you say "bad dog". I do understand that if you have a pet that is terrible around chickens and you know it ( but you love the dog enough to keep it despite it's faults), then it would be your fault to take the dog near them. I do think that if you are gonna own chickens and you have a dog that likes to eat them; you either have to keep your chickens away, keep the dog away, or in some cases, find the dog a chickenless home.
Back to the original person's statement...I think chickens are way easy to get attatched to. Lost one of my first to some unknown disease and three to an accidental heat stroke....it was terribly hard.

Pure dominance training (think Cesar Milan) has been proven to be incorrect a few years ago by several of the leading animal behaviorists after exhaustive research in the field and in some instances may make a dog more dangerous by teaching him/her to not give a signal before biting. Getting your dog to respect you by giving clear and consistent signals is safer, long lasting and more humane. It is also a good practice to make the dog work for praise and/or treats. I do think many dogs can be taught to respect chickens, however we need to be realistic that not everyone has the time and patience to do all the training necessary and have all family members be consistent as well to have the dog be perfectly trained to ignore its natural instincts. .

That's what I meant, Chickerdoodle! Thanks for explaining it!

 

[chickerdoodle]

You are welcome fancbrd4meo2. It doesn't hurt that I had my own practice in animal behavior for over 20 years.

 

[alabamachick]

Quote:
I have heard this also! My grandfather did it to our barn dog growing up! NEVER killed another chicken, as a matter of fact, never went NEAR another chicken.

 

[chickenlady08]

I had a dachsund and she got into our run and killed a chicken on Christmas Day 2008. She was no longer welcome in my house ever again. I tried to get past it but I knew that she was always gonna want to have another taste so I didn't chance it and gave her to an elderly lady that has always had dachsund (hers had recently died) They are both very very happy. I am to.

I am so sorry for your lose. It is sad to lose a chicken or any other pet.

XOXOXOXOXO

 

[dmccann]

years ago i had 2 dogs who killed chickens they were the neighbors, a few years later my son got some chickens well the rooster kept te dog out of his dog house when it was raining, just a thought