Once a killer always one? Is this true??

[Badlatitude]

Quote:
I wouldnt bet a nickle on a BOXER pup turning out to be a smart dog. We have 3 in our family ( i refuse to own one) They are bolth spiteful , hard headed and were bolth hyper out of their mind in their younger years. The 3rd is good for a yearling but still a spiteful sneaky lil sht.

My faith has always and will always fall on the shoulders of my Labs and shepherds. I find labs to not only be loving , caring and smart but will remain docile unless needed. My current lab was a rescue. He was an adult about 6-7 years when I got him. completely untrained and LOADED with ticks. Heartworm also. He is the best dog ive ever owned.

U need to treat a dog like a child. It has to be your shadow 24 hrs a day to be a truely great dog. leashed out dogs who live in the back yard will never compair to a dog that does things to please its master and feels its job is its calling.

If you have a wild hearted dog I would 1st make a containment area in your yard directly off the house. so U can let it out to do its potty and it can come back in. Id spend every free moment with the dog treating it like a son or daughter and grooming it so it feels its a part of the pack and not just a rebel with out a cause before letting it anywhere near livestock , children or outside human influence. Since you have 2 dogs work with bolth of them. When 1 learns the other will shortly follow.

We always try to space our dogs ages so the old fart teacher the youngster by example along with our influence. My old dog was trained as an adult and not 1 of my dogs has EVER needed a leash. I can leave my gate open and he will walk right to the line where the gate would be and will not even cross it unless told to. Maybe ive just been lucky with out last dozen dogs

 

[KattyKillFish]

in a book i read, a man had a wolf-dog who was a chicken killer. he walked the dog through the chicken coop every day, holding him by the collar. every time the dog attempted to harm a chicken, he would strike it twice. he did this every day for a week and after that the dog wouldn't even chase wild birds or rabbits. i don't know if i was a true story, but it seems viable enough. if you do this you would only have to keep you dog on a chain for a short while, or keep her inside and only tether her to a long chain/rope when she needs to do "doggie buisness"

i know a chicken keeper who has an inside dog that she tethers when he's out. it seems to work well..

just a few ideas.

 

[gordy123]

hey dancing bear. I'm agree with Cesar Milan! Love, the man, truly a gift from God! We have 3 dogs and utilize most of his methods as well. Could never understand when people here say they cannot let their dogs out with their chickens. It was never an option here!

 

[Beekissed]

Same here, Gordy! I wouldn't consider keeping a dog I couldn't trust around the livestock. Pets or no pets, if they couldn't learn this concept, they would find a lovely home....somewhere else!

 

[horsejody]

Any dog that roams is trouble. Even if you train it to not kill your birds, there is no guarantee that it will see other people's poultry in the same light. A dog that roams is at risk of being injured, killing others pets or causing traffic accidents. I used to have a neighbor that let their dog raom. One day it roamed about a mile away. It got on the highway and caused an accident. Two people died. It is morally wrong to let a dog roam. It's not fair to burden others with your pets in on their property or in the road. Sorry if that sounds harsh. Fence it in, tie it up or get rid of it. Even if you settle up with the neighbor, it isn't fair to him. I can tell you from personal experience how heartbreaking it is to find that somebody's stupid dog has killed your flock. Please don't put somebody in the position of having to shoot your dog.

 

[Peeper]

I have an idea for you. I've tried most of the things listed here with little or no luck. This is what worked for me...even with a rottweiller and a wolf. Get a shock collar with a remote. Go about your usual routine and if your dog shows the slightest unacceptible interest in your chickens, give a zap. He doesn't know you are doing it. All he knows is chickens shock you!!! It is humane and you can set the charge depending on the size of dog. Now my chickens even lay eggs in the dog house and the dog won't go near them. They back away when the hens walk by. It was the best 100.00 I ever spent. The lack of heartbreak...PRICELESS!!!

 

[Crazy_For_Chickens]

I found a theroy in a book that I read and it said to take the dead chicken and tie it around the dogs neck and let it rot. the dog is supposed to be so disgusted that it will never go after a chicken again. But I would advise you if you are doing this to keep your dog outside.

 

[Pupsnpullets]

I agree with Badlatitude. My dogs have always been always with me when I'm home and shut in a run away from other people and livestock when I'm gone. I work at home so they are with me pretty much all the time, but I won't tolerate nonsense when I'm not there. I haven't really had to train them as much as I've constantly supervised them and they seem to learn by osmosis. As we've all seen with kids, too much freedom is not a good thing. Keep the little red runaway contained when you can't supervise her and give her plenty of positive attention when you're with her. Doesn't take long for them to learn alpha family member is NOT pleased when they screw up. Pups don't like being in the 'dog box' so to speak and will attempt to do anything to please - their survival in the pack depends on it and they know it.

 

[Fancie]

My dog used to be nutts for birds... didn't think we would ever be able to trust them around our chickens. Well he has got calmer as he has gotten older. I can't trust him around chicks... but he is fine with the chickens! Not sure at what age he is fine with them thou... I have put fully 2 feather chicks out and he has killed one and left the other.... not sure why???

 

[mamaKate]

Quote:
We adopted an abandoned wolf when my kids were much younger.The first and constant thing I taught them was"This is not a dog!" The guy who hit a wolf dog must have had a death wish and a guardian angel. That being said, it is possible to train your dog not to kill. I don't know about making him reliable enough to leave your neighbors birds alone. It looks like he is recognizing the chickens at home as off limits and doesn't see the neighbor's property the same way. It's also possible that your good dogs could pick up bad habits from him. I know how it hurts to give up a dog. I hope one of these methods works for you. I'm pretty sure his days of running with his friends are over, though.