Neighbors dogs that kill your chickens?

[Ashburnham]

Alternately - put up a fence that dogs cant get through, over or under. Good fences make good neighbours.

 

[mamas farm]

my neighbor's dog attacted my pig and killed my hen's . I shot the dog and then called my neighbor and told him to come and get his dog. I had to put this pig down .

 

[thatneighbor]

I am that neighbor with that dog that killed the chickens. And I really appreciate all the advice posted here. We offered to pay for the chickens that had just started laying and now I know the value of them. We have livestock friendly fencing but out little dog dug underneath and teamed up with their little dog and they killed 8 of their 20 chickens. We saw it happening, immediately got the dogs separated, corralled the loose chickens, cleaned up the mess and buried the dead ones for them. We offered to pay for the chickens and still haven't heard back yet. It's only been 2 days. These dogs have been neighbors for a year and a half and all of a sudden this happened. We are both responsible dog owners and were surprised as well as horrified this happened. Our dog is tied up in a pen as well as there now, but still haven't decided what else to do. We know an option is to get rid of him or put him down. The whole thing is tough, we are trying to remain good neighbors and deal with all the emotions of our pets. Thanks again for all the post. They have really helped our situation.

 

[gawildlife]

My experience from years of both chickens and dogs is that stock killing dogs must die.
It is an inborn trait that can not be eliminated, ever. Believe me I've tried and worse it is genetic. I've seen in other's dogs and my own. I watched my father's line of beagles ruined by a single out cross to a stock killer. His line that could be fully trusted for four generations suddenly had dogs popping out that were spree killers and everyone traced to the out cross ***** down to the third generation, it was at that point I personally eliminated every one of her progeny.
I have a hard and fast rule now if it touches a chicken it dies and every blood relative as well.

 

[gawildlife]

There used to be a time when it was understood and accepted what had to be done without hard feelings.
One of my worst chicken memories was the time we lost three dozen chickens and a half a dozen ducks to two dogs. Dad had an idea of the guilty parties belonged to. He made one phone call but didn't make any accusations just that we had lost chickens to a couple dogs. The neighbor just said that she had no use for stock killers. That night two rounds of buckshot put a stop to it. A day or so later the neighbor asked if she could stop looking for her dogs. She was told yes she could. Nothing more was ever said of the matter and to this day she is still a neighbor and friend.

 

[bobbi-j]

I am that neighbor with that dog that killed the chickens. And I really appreciate all the advice posted here. We offered to pay for the chickens that had just started laying and now I know the value of them. We have livestock friendly fencing but out little dog dug underneath and teamed up with their little dog and they killed 8 of their 20 chickens. We saw it happening, immediately got the dogs separated, corralled the loose chickens, cleaned up the mess and buried the dead ones for them. We offered to pay for the chickens and still haven't heard back yet. It's only been 2 days. These dogs have been neighbors for a year and a half and all of a sudden this happened. We are both responsible dog owners and were surprised as well as horrified this happened. Our dog is tied up in a pen as well as there now, but still haven't decided what else to do. We know an option is to get rid of him or put him down. The whole thing is tough, we are trying to remain good neighbors and deal with all the emotions of our pets. Thanks again for all the post. They have really helped our situation.

If you were my neighbor, and your (and my) dog killed my chickens, I would not want or expect you to put your dog down or find it a new home. This was a one-time event. Accidents happen. You were being responsible and trying to keep your dog contained. Those two dogs were exhibiting pack behavior (kind of like kids - where two or more are gathered, they tend to forget all the rules!). Alone, neither one would probably have been a problem. You are doing what you can to prevent a further attack. Now, if your dog was constantly loose and forever in my yard bothering my chickens, that would be a whole different story.

I do believe with proper and consistent training, most dogs can be taught not to kill chickens. One person on here - centrarchid - uses a hunting breed of dog to protect his flock. His dogs have killed chickens when they were young, but are no longer a threat to the flock. Much can depend on the breed.

 

[gawildlife]

If you were my neighbor, and your (and my) dog killed my chickens, I would not want or expect you to put your dog down or find it a new home. This was a one-time event. Accidents happen. You were being responsible and trying to keep your dog contained. Those two dogs were exhibiting pack behavior (kind of like kids - where two or more are gathered, they tend to forget all the rules!). Alone, neither one would probably have been a problem. You are doing what you can to prevent a further attack. Now, if your dog was constantly loose and forever in my yard bothering my chickens, that would be a whole different story. 

I do believe with proper and consistent training, most dogs can be taught not to kill chickens. One person on here - centrarchid - uses a hunting breed of dog to protect his flock. His dogs have killed chickens when they were young, but are no longer a threat to the flock. Much can depend on the breed. 

I must beg to differ. I have tried everything from the age old beat them with a dead chicken, tie a live one around their neck, penned chicken in the kennel, shock collar, positive reinforcement. You name it I have tried it. BTW I have the time and experience as a former professional handler and trainer of hounds.

There is one type of stock killer that can never be broken and that is the spree killer. I'm not talking about the hard mouthed bird dog or pup not knowing his strength but the bonafide spree killer that kills for the sheer pleasure of killing. This is a trait that runs in the entire canine family as wolves, coyotes and jackals are all documented to engage in spree killing. Spree killing being defined as killing absent the need for food or killing multiples without an effort to consume.

I know the difference as I once did break a neighbor's German Shepherd but he was not a spree killer.

At best all you can do with a spree killer is to break it off a given species. The next time it might be rabbits or calves or even foals. Again I've seen it with my own eyes.

 

[gawildlife]

For the neighbor with the dog. If this is not a spree killing and is only the first or maybe the second experience there is hope but you've got to have the fortitude to make it work.
You need a shock collar, the most powerful you can find, no playing around because to mild a stimulation can make things worse. Basically you allow the dog to come into contact with the chickens in a controlled setting. The minute the dog shows aggression you lay him out as hard as the collar will go. To light and the dog might blow through it to get to the bird or might associate anger at the jolt to the bird reinforces the desire to hurt the bird. The moment the dog turns away from the bird the pain must stop. Immediately call the dog to you and calm it down and pet it. Here the positive is turning away from temptation and going straight to it's pack leader. Continue to expose and repeat every few days until the dog refuses to go near a bird.