They Got My Chickens....in My House!!!!!!!!!!(more story on Page3)

[drumstick diva]

Call me a pessimist but people can be very good at "talking the talk", bowing, scraping apologizing profusely. BUT, they don't "walk the walk." Gee, I bet after they took off with their dogs they mulled things over and decided it was your fault because you have the chicks, you have a dog door, your fencing is obviously inadequate for two burly canine puppy thugs. IF and when the neighbors do right by you - I'll be more than happy to say I was a jerk for thinking otherwise. But we shall see. I just subscribed to this thread. Actions speak louder than words. All I can think about is they were pups - they'll be heck on steroids once they grow up., and if one isn't bad enough they had to have two.

Six months is too young for formal training??? Since when, I was always told to start when the pup first comes home - maybe not that crucial for a cocker pup or yorkie but, the larger breeds , MOST DEFINITELY. You start before they realize they are big enough to knock you over or drag you behind a leash. Most people think you turn the dog loose as soon as you get one then are dumbfounded when the dog won't come back. Why should he - he's had freedom from the start and he knows you can't catch him. You start a dog on a lead and when you are convinced it has learned to stay come, etc. then they earn their freedom bit by bit.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
Sonoran Silkies, you make good points. I too am sorry that HusrtsHens had both the trauma and the raucous feedback. I do not advise SSS in this case.

However, to be completely honest, and blunt, I would have acted exactly as I indicated in my first post. Zero tolerance for home invasion. This is a character flaw, but it keeps my property safe.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chicken.Lytle :

Quote:
Sonoran Silkies, you make good points. I too am sorry that HusrtsHens had both the trauma and the raucous feedback. I do not advise SSS in this case.

However, to be completely honest, and blunt, I would have acted exactly as I indicated in my first post. Zero tolerance for home invasion. This is a character flaw, but it keeps my property safe.

To me, while they are still puppies they would be allowed more leeway in making mistakes (so long as their owner is working to contain and train them). Quite frankly, I seriously doubt they understand the concept of home ownership as do humans, especially as they are not yet mature animals. If they have never chewed through a fence before, there was really no way that it could have been predicted. Since the dog door was not secured, there was nothing to indicate to them that they could not/should not enter. It is a mistake to assume that animals have the same values or concepts as humans.​

 

[DinosRBirds]

Quote:
Welcome to byc.

That is so terrible. i remember when i brought my chicks outside for the first time. my german shepherd , Dancer (now deceased) got loose and i had the door to the basement open, and i had set them outside for a second to get the rest, and she came running in, and apparently didnt notice them, from then on, i knew she was jealous of them, every time i got near them, she wanted to play, and then one of them escaped and ran towards me when she was loose, and she was , like i said jealous, and you can imagine how that ended...........

 

[SIMPleChick]

Ok....here is a little back ground....maybe you guys can get help a little more if I tell you more. The neighbors behind us, who's dogs broke through are renters....We have had our 2 dogs for over 5 years, well behaved and obedient, NEVER had a problem with our fence. It is older but still a sturdy 5 foot fence. These guys move in and have been living there for 5-6 months before I even got to talk to them over the fence. We called the cops on them (anonymously...as did others...) for their 4am raging loud music, drinking parties...Now I am from San Diego and I love to party but NOT every weekend while keeping up the neighborhood! They have 2 young girls 8 and 4-5. I just barely introduced myself 12ish weeks ago when we first got our first few baby chicks. I told them about the chicks and they had JUST adopted the older puppy. Our older chickens have roamed our yard for 2 weeks without incident, while I have been home, when I leave I put them in their coop/run so they are not out and about...This thursday as my family and I were in our back yard the little girls were playing in their back yard, alone, as they usually do and the first time I have said hi to them...They say, "Oh my mom said we can come over and play..." I thought that was funny but I said, "Well only if your mom says..." Thinking, there is NOOOOO way she would say that, they don't know us and my step daughter is 13 and special needs....(The youngest)

I get back to whatever I was doing and not 10 minutes later the doorbell rang and it was the young mom with the 2 girls!!!!!! She just pushes them in and says "thanks". Uhhhh... I told her my name....that I was a nanny for over 10 years, about my daughter being special needs and I asked if she wanted to come in to see if she thought my house was safe enough for her kids. I kind of said it in a way like, you don't know me OR my family! I had to ask when she wanted the kids home! The 8 year old was very talkitive, you could tell they didn't listen to her, but after being with our dogs she started saying, "My dad smacks my dogs nose if she pees in the house and drags her over to smell it, he smacks her if they do this and that...." Etc... Didn't really seem like they know HOW to discipline dogs. And I KNOW they do not walk them.....at all. The mom is only back there if she smokes a cigarette....The dad will throw a few toys at night for maybe half an hour. But those are HIGH energy dogs, I know I used to have those breeds!

So I watched their kids for a little over an hour....randomly....My husband and I couldn't believe they would just bring them over and then not even care about seeing our house or meeting everyone IN the house!

The point of the story.....I don't know how good they REALLY will be at fixing things or staying on the dog training...They seem nice....BUT...My DH and I just don't really know what to do.... We didn't call the cops or anything and I don't want to loose some of my chickens....I have a few more than the "3" limit.....but that shouldn't matter on HIS dogs getting into MY yard!!! They said they didn't care about us having chickens, but you know how that can go....BUT I DO have a special needs step-daughter! What if the dog had gone into HER room??? Would he have "attacked" or "rough housed" with her? I know they are just puppies.... We really are on our guard here....So IF it happens again, I think our plan will be to call the proper people, cops and animal control....We really don't want to have a bad relationship with them so maybe just keep on them until the get their fence fixed and let them know if their dogs are misbehaving???? Our side of the fence was No problem, it can keep our dogs and chickens in....so THEY need to fortify THEIR side of the fence to keep THEIR dogs in! Well, we are going to do a little more on our side just in case......

What do you guys think?????

 

[kla37]

UGH! After reading your last post I don't think these are the kind of people you will be able to count on doing the right thing or being able to handle their dogs. I just escaped neighbors like that last year when I moved. At one point, the kids from a family like that were over ALL the time and I had to finally tell their father that I have 2 children of my own to feed and care for, and while I don't mind them playing with his 4 kids, I couldn't entertain them every day and maintain a revolving door policy. Set limits, quick!

 

[mamabahre]

In the meantime before your fence gets strengthened or whatever you do, just nail the dog door SHUT...I personally hate those things anyway...Ever walk into your kitchen in the middle of the night to find a raccoon sitting on the floor like buddha munching cat food from the dish as he stares you down....Not fun! That was thanks to a dog door!

 

[SIMPleChick]

Oh my gosh! No....we haven't had any other animals come in, thank heavens! The reason why we got our dog door was for our german shepherd, she is VERY protective, we know all of her barks and she seriously, literally patrols the house and yard at night. She has her route, checks all the doors and gates and gets aggrivated if she can't make sure everything and everyone, including pets, are ok....We have had a couple cats and skunks get close to the house but our GS, Sierra wards them off before they get over the fence line or lets her sister know and she goes crazy barking....LOL! So for 5 years, nothing in our yard...(We DO hope to move next year, that IS our plan!) She seriously has her posts.....I think the only reason why they got in, in the first place was because our dogs were used to their dogs being by the fence, Sierra has herded the chickens away from the fence before when their dogs were barking...Their dogs followed mine in the house when they came to tell us....She helped my son corner the pups when they out of our house to our back yard again! Soooo we kind of need A dog door....This is a pic of Sierra, she is 5 and if you believe it or not, this is her "chunky" after a little winter weight! And her food is out ALL dayLOL! She is petite. (((Oh yeah...picture of the fence where the dogs got in is in the 4th pic!!! You can't really see the plastic fencing up against it but it is there!!!! Came in right behind where my step-daughter is standing!!!))))

Sierra with chickens, being a protective mama...

My special-needs step-daughter with chickens! They light up her life!

And to show just HOW much Sierra LOVES Kaylee, she lets Kaylee brush her with a barbie brush and the ONE thing Sierra HATES is being brushed.........

 

[dkvart1]

Very pretty dog and beautiful little girl!

People never cease to amaze me. I agree, they don't sound responsible with their children, so I wouldn't expect much in the dog training department or fence fixing either! I feel so sorry for those kids, makes my heart ache.

 

[thekid]

How do you train a dog to like make a route and alert you? Would you have to take the dog to a class? Or did you train it yourself? Thankyou