This dog

[pupsanddogs]

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time with "this dog". But I totally understand. It will take a lot of time and training in order to control a strong predatory instinct. And it won't be fast. Some dogs, such as the one I have, want to eat every bug, bird, squirrel, or anything that moves. Even though he listens when I call him, he will try and test the limits. Especially when a stupid squirrel decides it will gingerly cross two feet in front of him. There are two suggestions I have, one is putting a good deal of time and effort into the training and establishing yourself as a leader, or using a training collar. If you want almost instant results, use a training collar. Used correctly, a training collar will work and prevent your dog from killing anything else. It's not cruel, nor mean, and once it's used a few times, you probably won't need it. Read up on them. Training collars have come a long way since they were invented. Most people that hate them don't do the research. Hope this helps, best wishes.

 

[Joanmcm]

Forget the collar...put the work in...you won't regret it!

 

[cafarmgirl]

It's important to consider what the desired end result is. If it's a dog that is a trust worthy ranch dog who will not slaughter the flock or other critters when the owner is not present then this may not be the right dog for the situation given the start this young dog has had in life. Trust worthy dogs are sometimes like that just by nature, however many more of them required consistent training from the time they were very small to turn them into good ranch dogs.

To be honest, a dog with this history is not one I'd ever trust around my birds. Maybe when I was around but not alone and it would be a dog that would be penned up when I was not out with it. To me the lack of trust is a hassle, that's why I spend so much time on my pup's training every - single - day. I am simply not interested in stepping outside to find my dog had a brain fart and slaughtered my birds. Any dog with a history of killing and lack of early training can easily relapse at any time just by getting over excited or being too tempted or any number of reasons.

 

[Fly 2006]

Many pups will go this route if they have access to small animals or birds. I don't ever, ever allow my ranch dog pups to have access to my birds, ever. They do accompany me daily on barn chores and get exposure to my birds and other animals every day but they are on a leash at all times until they have some maturity and training under their belt. It's a long term ongoing process.

This dog may be very hard to train at this point since she has gotten into this very nasty habit. I like my dogs to never experience chasing down, playing with and/or killing a bird or anything else. It just puts your training that much farther back.

I would either rehome this dog to some one with full disclosure of her background or get the services of a trainer to help you.

Agree with this, it really upsets me to hear people saying they hate an animal, dogs do not know how to behave, they do not know what we see as undesirable behaviour, they need to be taught, IMO, it is you that has killed those birds by allowing your untrained pup access to them! Your pup is just another of the many poor dogs failed by humans!