My Vicious Pit Bull

[Morgan7782]

Alright so my backyard consists of to 10 week old pullets Munk (EE) and Joon (Barred Rock), and my 3 year old pit bull Tommy. The girls happily free range in the yard and Tommy is outside with them whenever I am outside working in the yard. Tommy usually spends the time worried about the chickens stealing his beloved Kong toy. Go figure..

Well, today Tommy was sitting on this wood bench that Munk and Joon absolutely LOVE to perch on, and of course Munk decides to fly up to perch on the arm. Appearently she did NOT see Tommy sitting there, and he didn't see her until she flew up into his face. BOTH animals freaked out! Munk did a complete 180 and flew straight at me like "OH SNAP! HELP MOM!" and Tommy BOLTED off the bench, tail tucked and his Kong safely in his mouth. Yes, Tommy was TERRIFIED Munk would steal his Kong! I started BUSTING up at the scene as it played out.. This 57 pound pit bull running SCARED from this 10 week old BABY CHICKEN! Of course Munk panicked too, but after a second everything was calm again.

I swear to gosh I am waiting for Munk to break her neck! She get's so scared from stuff and goes into a blind panic. At first it was funny, but now I am really worried that she will fly right into a wall or something. She isn't the smartest chick on the block... Earlier she was running around the yard and ran smack dab into my legs, head first going FULL speed. I am sure she can see, but how well? No idea. Are chicken's vision based on movement?? I love this girl.. But man.. I swear she is something special and the lights are NOT all on inside her noggin.. LOL!

Both the girls are great with Tommy, and they wander around calmly most of the time, but today was just funny how Tommy got just as scared as Munk did. He is more the kinda dog to RUN from fear rather then fight back. He's been attacked by cats numerous times, and all he does is try to get away, never makes a move to harm them. My poor boy..

For anybody who thinks Pit Bulls are vicious.. Come meet Tommy LOL!

Here is a picture of the boyo:

 

[Paganrose]

My "vicious" pit bull loves to gaurd my 8 week old chicks...... from our kitten, from the bunnies, from that strange tree shadow........etc It was so funny watching this 50lb 6 year old arthritic pit bull try to herd them all back into the pen the first time I let them range about the yard, gimmpy leg and all!!!

If the chicks are out of the pen she refuses to come inside. If it wasnt for her being gimmpy she would make a perfect LGD! as long as they would be scared of being licked to death, or possibly tail whipped.

 

[mylittlezoo]

Morgan, that is a GORGEOUS dog!!

 

[AmberH]

I love Tommy's ears! I'm an APBT ear fanatic. lol My girl just has houndy, floppy ears. Ugly! lol

Cute dog and cute chicks. Love the story. I love it when my chickens and ducks pick on my dog.

 

[Cetawin]

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH VICIOUS DOG VICIOUS DOG is adorable as all heck! Cute boy. Bad chickens trying to steal is Kong.

 

[Morgan7782]

LoL! Thanks all

he is a very good boy, and funnily enough in spite of how 'scared' he is of the girls he protects them.

When they are in the run, I leave Tommy in the backyard because occasionally we have a stray cat cut through, but since I got my girls I have been uninviting to any other cats besides my own (IF that LOL). And whenever my cat gets too close to the run Tommy runs over and headbutts him away. Even though he would never admit it, he LOVES his chicken sisters. He actually really enjoys them especially when they are little little. Joon and Munk TOLERATE sharing the yard with him lol

Cheap entertainment right? That should be the chicken owners motto. Haha

 

[Chicks&Chihuahuas]

What a beautiful boy! I love how he is so timid yet protective of them. I had a cat that was scared to death of my cockatiel. Funniest thing ever watching that bird chase the cat down the stairs.



How is it so many people have BIG dogs who are so good with their chickens and I've got a 3# Chihuahua that WILL NOT stop eating my chickens. She can't hurt the big girls or the ducks now that they are big, but she goes after the little ones all the time. On Tuesday she killed Billie, my house chicken (and our absolute fav) who was my Polish Bantam. She was always fine with B in the house but I never let them out in the yard together when B would go out to forage with the others. Tuesday Lily snuck out the back door when the Englishman came in from watering the gardens, and before I had even realized she was outside, it was too late. The strange thing is that Peanut, my 9 year old Chihuahua seems to think he IS a chicken. He lounges by them in the yard, lines up with them for scratch time (though each time he eats some, remembers he doesn't like scratch and spits it out) and is just generally friendly with them. I just can't seem to get Lily to behave. How do you all teach your dogs that the chicks are NOT toys?

 

[Morgan7782]

Well first off, I have NO experience with little dogs, none what so ever. LoL so I have no idea how to teach a Chihuahua ANYTHING. But I will explain what I did with Tommy, and my past pit bulls (who all have had incredible prey drives).

From the very get go I taught Tommy the commands "Don't Touch" and "Leave It". He knows these commands better then his own name. I am able to hold a raw steak about a quarter inch from his face and say Don't Touch and he will NOT touch it. He will drool of course, but he avoids it after I tell him Don't Touch. He can be eating dinner, and if I say Leave It, he will stop eating and back off to sit down and wait for the OK to go ahead again.

I just applied this to the chickens as well. From the day I got them he has been there with them, and I taught him FIRMLY that these are a "Don't Touch" object. No matter what. So if anything he avoids eye contact, or any real close contact with the chickens. Which is great, better he respect them and keeps his distance then crowd them.

One more thing, the only time Tommy is outside without any people is when the chickens are in their run/enclosure. When we free range the girls, Tommy is only outside with them as long as SOMEBODY is outside. Even if I am the only one outside, if I need a drink or something I bring him inside with me. I lost a wonderful Barred Rock to a German Shorthair Pointer years ago because I made the mistake of running inside for ONE second to grab a cigarette. Came back out to my hen who had a broken neck. No guts and blood thank gosh but it certainly taught me a lesson.

Also, I make sure I never get too comfortable with my dog, he is after all a dog, and not only that he IS a pit bull. He kills squirrels, and chases stray cats that happen in our backyard. If he ever did kill a chicken of mine I would not be able to do much to punish him, I would just look at what I did incorrectly.

I'm sorry if I rambled lol!! And I am sorry I don't have specific little dog advice, but teaching my dog Don't Touch as a command is something I will ALWAYS do with a dog. It is great! If Tommy happens to grab some chocolate or something bad (we have kids lol) I can say Leave It and he will spit it right out. Hopefully you might be able to teach your Chihuahua a similar command but like I said I have no idea how to train a little dog lol.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

SO HANDSOME! I also have pitties and it's always great to hear about the sweet, well behaved family dog VS the media hyped baby killing machine!