Two shorthaired Pointers got 10 of our chickens

[Wattles]

A pointer...in the city?!?! May as well shoot them as sentence them to a life of misery.

Why do you think a pointer can't live in a city?

If given the proper exercise and playtime, any type of dog can live in a city - large or small. I live in the city and run with large dogs all the time at the big park next to my house. The dogs I see running at that park every day probably get more exercise than your average farm dog who spends his day chained to his dog house . . .​

 

[meanmom]

Update on the search for the roaming killer dogs:

The dogs we got a lead on were Springer Spaniels, not English Pointers, but they told us someone down the road from us had German Pointers. We met up with them and saw that they were not the dogs who slaughtered our chickens. He did say that his dogs would be capable of this and gave us his business card, asking us to call if we ever saw his dogs out loose. He didn't know of anyone who owned English Pointers in our area.

So now we are actually putting up posters--in the local feed store, grocery store, all the vet offices, the boys and girls club, the humane society, etc. The poster has a picture of 2 English Pointers that look exactly like the attack dogs and asks:
Do you recognize these two dogs? They were last seen (in our area). Any information on who owns them , please call etc, etc.

Fliers are going out sometime later today.

Even though I know that there are many predators out there --wild, feral, accidental,and all, I still need the peace of mind in knowing who owns these dogs, how and why they were running loose and what measures would be taken to ensure it wouldn't happen again. And, I know that if it was our dog that got out and did this, I would want to know the damage the dog did.

And unfortunately, the Deputy who took our complaint never even followed up on the first and only lead we gave him on who might own the dogs. Great disappointment in our sheriff's dept.

Take care, Lee

 

[jjthink]

I'm so sorry for this terrifying and painful end for your hens and I hope very much you find the owner of the dogs responsible.

With dog ownership comes a solemn responsibility, since they are killers (not every one, but enough so that one can never be sure what their dog will do to someone else's chickens or other small pets). There is no room for error. If the same people had a tiger in the house, we'd like to think they'd be careful not to let him out without a leash, wouldn't we? I am the biggest animal lover going, but after reading account after account after account after account of dogs tearing chickens apart - alive (is there anything worse?) - - accounts reported virtually every single day on this site which is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg - I have reached zero tolerance.

My real anger is with the careless humans even though I realize there can be the occasional extreme situation where a dog in the care of the most responsible people in the world can get loose. Parent looks out the window - child is drowning in pool - parent flies out the door to save the kid - dog follows. But how often is the reason this compelling - my guess is that in 99.9+% of the cases, it's not and the reason for the loose dog is simple carelessness.

Biggest possible hits to the pocketbook seems to be the only way in real time to change the collective consciousness -high fines/bills and word will spread. Human evolution takes too long.

I hope the injuries to your hen attacked but still alive are minor and that the dog's person can be found soon.
JJ

 

[Cara]

Quote:
Why do you think a pointer can't live in a city?

If given the proper exercise and playtime, any type of dog can live in a city - large or small. I live in the city and run with large dogs all the time at the big park next to my house. The dogs I see running at that park every day probably get more exercise than your average farm dog who spends his day chained to his dog house . . .

A German Shorthair is an extremely active dog. An hour at the park will just not cut it for them, they are bred to hunt all day and become destructive if they do not have enough exercise. Feel free to borrow ours for a week or so, and you will see. They are renowned escape artists, and when they get out they will run and run. In the city this either amounts to a torn up house and frustrated pet and owner, or a run over dog. The most common cause of death for German Shorthaired Pointers is being hit by a car. A dog that receives insufficient exercise may feel compelled to exercise himself. These dogs can escape from six foot enclosures with little difficulty. Only regular vigorous activity can alleviate this desire to escape. The natural instinct to hunt may result in the dog hunting alone and sometimes bringing home occasional dead trophies, such as cats, rats, pigeons and other urban animals. In addition to exercise, especially formal hunting, the GSP needs to be taught to distinguish legitimate prey and off limits animals.

None of our dogs have ever spent time 'chained to a dog house', and none ever will. That's inhumane wherever you live, and in my experience usually a scourge of town life.

 

[Wattles]

I have had both German wirehaired pointers and viszlas and I guess I have been able to fulfill their high exercise requirements because seldom have I experienced the sort of behaviour you're describing. I would certainly never allow my dogs to wander off alone, wherever I lived, as they could run into almost any danger - whether it be an armed landholder or a larger aggressive animal. I don't believe there is any breed of dog whose exercise requirements cannot be met by mankind. Have you ever been around Dutch or Belgian shepherds or even a border collie? All those breeds seem to have an inexhaustible amount of energy yet there are ways to burn that energy off. Have you ever seen Cesar Milan put weighted packs on a dog in order to give a more intense workout? Playing disk games, agility training, or any activity that engages the dog's mind as well as tiring his body goes a long way to soothing that urge to roam. I think giving dogs like that a job to do is key. I agree that GSPs are very intense - I've known some people who take their GSPs swimming once a week or so and they say that wears them out for days. I know that breed, like the GWP, just wants to get out and do what they were bred for - roam far and wide and hunt, hunt, hunt. I've always worked to fulfill those needs in other ways (jog 6 days a week - 4-5 miles at a time) and by regularly taking them to big parks for a "hunt" day in the hill country (me hike -them 'hunt'

) off-leash with me. There's nothing sadder, in my opinion, than people who have these big dogs in the city who don't work with them - who just dump them in the backyard to amuse themselves, thinking that they'll exercise themselves. Awful. Anyway, I just wanted to point out there are city-folk like me who do fully appreciate and work daily to meet (and sometimes exceed) the rigorous physical demands of our big sporting dogs and who are working to dispel the old-fashioned notion that big dogs only belong in the country, little dogs in the city.

Tara

 

[lacyloo]

sorry 4 your losses

 

[Wattles]

Lee, I know what you're going through. I just went through it in early Nov. and it still hurts. I'm so sorry. It's devastating to be invaded in such a way, to see pets you've raised from babies ripped up and lifeless. It makes you angry. I hope you catch the culprits soon. It's the fault of the owners of those dogs and if they are indeed English pointers, then it probably won't be hard to find the owners - there aren't a lot of English pointers running around. It will take time to get over this - have strength and appreciate the ones you have left - that is what helped me. I hope this helps. It is a poem that Deb (justasnak) posted in my Dog Attack thread on 11/7/07. It made me cry it's so lovely:

Tara......as I sat here...thinking of your thread....something came to me..I wanted to share with you...im no poet...but..I do get inspirations..so here goes.

I flew the coop to soon it seems, to all my human friends.
I know your heart is breaking and will take some time to mend.
Our lives are all planned out you see, no matter how we try.
I know the love you have for me, I saw it in your eyes.
My coop is now in Heaven, my pastures green and bright.
The days are always sunny, warm breezes every night.
GOD saw that my work was done, and called me to come home.
When you see a feather in the wind, remember me....your not alone.

Its not perfect, but I hope it helps you heal.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deb
Heavens Door Acres

I wish you well in overcoming this

Tara​

 

[dbjay417]

There are a lot of stray dogs in the neighborhood and lots of chicken owners, so once a dog is marked as a chicken killer its marked for death, by fender, bullet, or rat poison. Even dogs with owners, if the owner is not responsible for their animal, its only a matter of time before the pet meets an untimely end.

Its a little barbaric, but in this rural area, livestock trumps pet.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately the majority of dog owners are not as committed to exercising their pets (hence the large number of obese animals), and i'm sure you'll agree that the GSP isn't your average family dog. They are awesome dogs if you work with them, but they're not an animal you can slack off walking for one day or expect to snooze on the sofa all day. They certainly won't let you forget about their needs.

 

[thechickenfarmer]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had one neighbor ( a lawyer) offer me $200 for his dog killing some of my chickens. I wouldn't accept it because I was so angry and didn't want to make him feel better. My chickens were penned in their run and the dogs broke in. I was in my kitchen and heard the commotion and saw him trying (and not succeeding) to remove his two dogs. We have strict leash laws but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I call animal control, make a statement, get it notarized, they pay the fine, and it starts over again. It's been very, very frustrating! They don't get it at all! I had another neighbor say to the animal control officer "so, what does a chicken cost?" I don't know about your neighbors but my neighbors feel they've bought a house in the country so their animals can just roam freely. I hope you have better luck and find the owners. We all put so much into raising our chickens and just want them to be safe.