- Jan 5, 2012
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Some people shouldn’t own dogs period.
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Why do you not do something to keep your dogs at home and not going and killing the neighbors birds?We have 3 well trained dogs. A Siberian Husky X Malamute X GSD X ?, her faithful Golden X Malamute sidekick and I'm not sure why but I now also have a Reg Siberian Husky pup too
I keep our chickens in a 100x100 old horse paddock that shares fence with the dogs. Thus far, they've not killed any of OUR chickens, bothered them, dug to get to at them etc. However it has happened that when I'm in with our chickens dog #1 thinks "Chickens?! I know where theres more chickens and we can eat those ones because they're not OUR chickens!..." and so the brat pack takes off to my neighbors free ranging flock of 60+ and kills one or two. Unfortunately they (mainly dog #1) has differentiated "our chickens" from "those other chickens"...
For what its worth: We had one dog who only took one time of me tieing his killed chicken to his neck and him wearing a dead barred rock for a week to fix that issue and he never killed chicken again.
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More in regards to the original post: I have two professional dog trainers in the family. We have a handful of German Shepherds in the family, seem to be a favorite. I will advocate for the OP & agree with others that, these are a brilliant dogs, but some are just NOT easy to manage and they're not for everyone and that is OK! Not everyone has the same skills as a dog trainer. I've likened the GSD to the Thoroughbred horse before, they're just more horse. Not every laid back trail rider wants a horse that is "to much extra horse" and thats OK. German Shepherds, while I love em, can be intense, driven dogs that need more than casual training and limited jobs. I do not suggest trial and error rehoming of dogs, sometimes it happens, but to avoid further rehomings, I would suggest looking at breeds & deciding what dog traits you're OK with. First off, Why do you want another dog, is its purpose to be the older dogs friend or a livestock guardian? That might help narrow it down. And assume that ALL DOGS will need to be taught that chickens are friends, not food.
Personally, I've found the Husky type mixes to click well with me. I do not necessarily need them to guard my goats, chickens or rabbits because we keep our stock in very secure and appropriate fencing. I landed on them because 1) my dogs are strictly outdoors and I live somewhere where it is very cold 6 months out of the year. 2) I need them to respect my other critters, not bark at and terrorize them and in that they're dogs running around putting dog smells places and generally not OK with foxes and coyotes on their farm they do protect. Even from within their pen. By proximity to the chicken coop, due to our set up and them fence sharing, they deter anything from getting the chickens without actually having to be so chicken safe themselves that they live with them. 3) I think they're stinking cute and they can pull a sled. So thats how we've landed here. The Huskies struggles in training differ from my relatives GSDs struggles... obviously, teaching anything with husky in it to STAY HOME is the training compliant you'll hear people have. Hence, look into various breeds to see what it is that you do not want to deal with, and narrow it down.
Some of the best laid back easy farm dogs I've known are small-medium sized mixed type breeds. Think, like, the cute little puggle posted. That makes sense to me, that dog would do well by nature with chickens. We have a neighbor with a beagle, lab, rat terrier something (right...) mix who is great at protecting and great at ignoring the livestock. No prey drive. However, she isn't a great serious protector "size" dog.
The good ole small mutt is so often looked over but so often the best choice in many situations. Or, to not replace the dog is a fine option too.
I agree! I love dogs and cats, but I would prefer snakes and birds. But, I like all animals and bugs.When I HAD my birds, Eva would sometimes slip into the run with me, mostly sniffing around. She LOVED to run at the chickens while OUTside the run and watch them scatter. She has a bad habit of chasing the cats, but That has a plus side. ALL of my 7 cats are climbing trees and posts all the time now bc Eva chases them. I lost a wonderful cat 7 years ago. Her name was "Favorite", she was hanging mostly in the barn at that time, but sometimes in the summer would come to the door pretty early, like 5AM. I was beat that morning and didn't get up early. A neighbor's dog had ripped her apart. We only found her her front legs. She was 12yo. and not afraid of dogs. THAT dog had been wandering onto the 5 acre property, but I never saw him after this incident. I suspect he dragged the rest of her home and the neighbors panicked.
ALL puppies will mouth a cat on the neck and we broke her of that very early. It was one of the few times I smacked her in the face. She doesn't do that any more.
We have 3 cats, 1 yr 9 months old, that were abandoned by their mother--left and got caught by a coyote I imagine, since, though she was feral she had been a very good cat mother. There were 5 in the litter and these 3 were the only ones crying and still alive. So, I brought them in from the barn loft at 3 weeks old. I knew they were female bc they are all diluted calico. No droppers or bottles, just kitten milk in a bowl. Our ranking male cat, Tomkins, who pretty much lives inside since he was neutered last year, would spend lots of time cleaning them up after they ate.
These 3 cats are so docile and Tomkins and (Lynx, Mynx and Smudgekins) aren't at all afraid of Eva. They know that you have to run to be chased, so they will walk to the door. All 3 cats think that DH and I are their parents. Lynx even tried to go with us on our CO trip this week, since she blends in DH's rabbit hat.
What is important is that you spend time with your animals. Dogs and cats, especially will reward your time in multiples. Set barriers, be consistant in your training, OVERdo the praise when your dog does what you want, rarely hit any animal in the face, or at all. Dogs understand crating and isolation and will work towards avoiding it. Even though I crate Eva when she is naughty, she willingly goes in her crate by herself at bedtime, and she knows that it is the only thing that she really "owns."
Maybe you are NOT a dog person. If you have young children at home, a puppy is just another child and you can get "dog tired" with one more to train.
Older dogs, especially, are heartbroken when they are rehomed and don't understand.
Domestic Dogs are so deceiving! Don't let those puppy eyes fool you, especially when they look so sad and sorry for killing your chickens. It's a ploy until they have a chance to do it again! I just had to re-home my newest beautiful cream sable German shepherd puppy because his prey drive was off the charts! My old German shepherd/Rottie mix knows the chickens are our friends to be loved and protected and I thought I could raise the new shepherd puppy to respect the fowl also. NOT! Electric collars and fences be damned! He was a straight up chicken murderer and at the slightest chance he was going for blood. Darling hubby swore he was part coyote! It was plain cruel to keep him when I know it would be a matter of time before he would kill again or worse yet finally catch the family cat he started chasing up trees. Sad to see him go but chickens and cats were here first and after the third killing it was the last resort.
Seems like the dogs that I tend to like are not typically LGD dogs. In the SC low country, I hate to have such a giant furry dog in this humidity. I can picture the intense hot spots, heat exhaustion and tons of seasonal fur shedding competing with molting feathers! LOL!
So other than a beware of new puppy this thread is touting, i was wonder if anyone else has success with non-LGD breeds that I may take into consideration when shopping for a replacement. I got lucky with my Shepweiler, being a calm laid back girl that learned chickens are our family too. I'm weary of bringing home Jack the Ripper again, but my old dog was enjoying having a buddy without feathers too.
Yes and no... There are many breeds that are instinctual and will kill, then there are those that can be trained. Dogs are not likely people, we all basically have the same "values" dogs differ greatly by breed,.. I have been a canine behavior consultant for 20 years, I have seen all kinds and you are right about training but instinct can overcome especially with an intact animal... a spayed or neutered dog is a different ball game... All in all be careful and train for sure, socialize with the chickens but always be there to supervise...
I don't think people should beware of getting a new puppy as much as they need to be aware that dogs need training.
It's no surprise that without any or much of any that they're gonna kill your chickens again and again and again.
Dogs are a responsibly not just a throw away object when they do something wrong.
Why do you not do something to keep your dogs at home and not going and killing the neighbors birds?
If a dogs gonna kill birds here it needs to be our birds. If they run at large and kill neighbors chickens there's a better then average chance they wouldn't make it out alive.