Neighborhood dog problem

[kindir]

sorta sucks that anyone would have to resort to shooting the dog. After all, the DOG has no way of knowing that what he's doing is wrong. My preference would be to shoot the owners for being irresponsible idiots (before I get flamed - I'm kidding about *actually* shooting them. but you get the point...) Sorry, but I hate when dogs get blamed for poor behavior that is absolutely avoidable if they had owners who had half a brain.

Regardless, here's how I'd handle it, since I tend to try the positive approach first:

1. Find the owners if at all possible and kindly explain to them that their dog(s) are on your property and endangering your chickens. In a good percentage of the population, that will be enough.

2. If that doesn't work, call animal control. Odd are, if the owners aren't responsible enough to keep their pets on their property they probably aren't responsible enough to license it or have current vaccination records for it.

3. A good fence makes a good neighbor. There is nothing more true than this statement and it would solve the dog problem anyway. If it's not a dog it's going to be something else. In fact, the outdoor runs for BOTH of my coops are dog kennels. So I won't have any issues with dogs since they are designed with dogs in mind. I don't know about your area, but in mine there are always ads for chain link dog kennels on craigslist.

4. If the dog actually ended up killing my chickens the dog's owners would be paying for them, period. Even if it cost me more to sue them than what I got out of it I would do it just to ensure that they understood that the problem won't go away.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[NEK38583]

This is what I would do.

I would fine or borrow a live trap big enough for the dog bait it and catch him/her. I would advertise that I found this dog. That way if the owner comes forth you will have a postive ID and that way you can confront him about the chickens. If no owner came forth after so many days. You could just turn it over to a shelter. You if don't want to mess with it. Turn it over the a shelter as soon as you catch and let them no what has been going on.

That is just my opinion. I hope that helps.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Wow, thanks for all the advice! I never thought about calling animal control. Yea I think I'll look them up. I will certainly ask about some kind of trap. I know it'll be back. Ideally all I want is just to be able to let my chickens roam like they used to. If I can trap the dog I can find the owner. I bet their dog delivered in a trap would say something to them about tying up their dog.

Oh and I live in Portland, where it's legal to have up to six hens, no roosters. I had five, now I have three. I have a pretty big run for them anyways, and now that there's less it's lots of room. Maybe I'll get em a heater so they don't have to be so frigid-y while they're, uh, cooped up.

I'm not even sure if anybody lives next door where the open fence is. I know there's a For Sale sign out front, it's recently switched realtors. So I may have to wait until there's new owners since the previous tenants may be gone and no way to call the owner.

 

[alicefelldown]

Since the fence isn't fully done, I would hold off on free-ranging them when you are not able to physically be outside with them. You are almost asking the dog to come and do some damage when you let them out into an un-fenced yard (regardless who dropped the ball on building/installing the fence) and then physically leave your property to drive to the store. I'm not trying to be offensive but how are you expecting to come home to live chickens under those circumstances?

I have a local coyote that has no qualms coming up to my coop in the middle of the day. Since I've caught him trying to get at the caged birds I no longer let them free-range unless I am actually outside with them. Haven't seen him in weeks, but he killed the neighbors turkey a few days ago, so the supervised excursions rule still stands. Sucks, but since I have no gun, and local animal control won't drive out, I have to make do.

 

[gkeesling]

Quote:
I agree. I sure wouldn't be putting any food into a dog that did this to my chickens. It would either get turned over to the animal control people right away or it would just "disappear".

 

[LynneP]

Sometimes it's not enough to be right, you simply have to bear down and protect the birds. We have no choice here due to predators and occasionally a loose hunting dog- our birds are in a roofed run. Finish the fence at the very least, and consider a protected run for those times when you can't watch the birds. I'm very sorry you lost a lovely bird- and you may be dealing with an abandoned dog, sadly.

 

[Tala]

I never let my birds free range unsupervised until I finished fencing the back yard. We had a temporary electric wire fence that kept my own dog in just fine, but it wasn't much deterrent to a determined dog.

I used a chicken tractor to get them out on the grass until I could complete the fence.

A loose dog breaking into my fenced back yard will be shot. Period. BUT if my chickens get out of the fence then they are open to the risk and anything could happen. Not having a fence changes the "rules" completely IMO.
If you live in a city with leash laws then would call the animal control every time you saw a dog loose.

 

[quailbrain]

Chicken tractors are pretty cool. It probably would be another predator if not this dog. I hope your neighbor gets their fence done soon.

 

[gsim]

Sorry to hear it.

Secure your flock first, then neutralize the predator after that. Lots of good ideas here already on procedures.

 

[cobrien]

Agree with all posts. A few other ideas:

Do you have a neighborhood website or neighborhood group - can you try to find the owner of the dog. This could be as simple as explaining the problem to the owner, maybe they will be responsible and keep the dog confined. Some people are not bright enough to know that letting their dogs run loose can cause a lot of problems for people, they only think that if the dog is smart enough not to get hit by a car and the only nuisance is the occasional poop on someone's lawn, that it's okay to let the dog run free.

Second, I would make every effort to catch this dog. I am really good at catching strays, there are some tricks to the trade. If you know anyone who is skilled with catching strays, enlist their help. If not, here are some tips:

-take a leash with you that is 'ready to go', meaning put the clip end of the leash through the handle, so that it is kind of a lasso ready to gently put around their neck
-take tasty treats with you, keep leash in right hand
-if you have a dog or can borrow a dog, you can use the dog to lure the stray
-when you see the dog, crouch down and call to them in a sweet voice
-if they come close, first offer the back of your left hand to their nose for them to smell, if they don't react, try gently petting under the chin (not top of head)
-offer treats with left hand, if dog accepts, offer more treats, talk sweetly to dog
-with right hand see if you can slowly, gently place lasso over dogs neck and tighten - not too tight, just enough to control dog
-walk dog to confined area, garage, kennel, house, and call animal control

-another way that can work with especially skittish dogs is to simply offer the dog treats and/or try to get it to follow you into your house, car or garage. another dog can be a great way to lure them in, then lock them up and call animal control.

I would want to kill any dog that tried to kill my chickens, believe me, but this dog is just following its instincts and the only one at fault here is the irresponsible owner. try to be nice to the dog, animal control will hopefully do the rest.

good luck