Tracie Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Iam really concerned that my 6 month old staffy pup will now have a taste for killing our other pet chooks after i found yesterday he had driven throough the wire fence and calculatedly debowled one of our chooks. i had caught him eyeing them off on several seperate ocaisions and was able to interven thankfully. This occaision he waited until I left to go out and immediately hunted one chook out and killed it. By the time i came home 2 hrs later the chook felt cold and had been partially eatten. so it had happpened some hrs earlier....Iam presuming when i had been out of sight. iam worried that now that he has been 'blooded' that it will have compromised his character and want to know if i should be at all worried about him around my 12 month old daughter, cat (of whom he had got along well with to date) and our other dog a 5 yr old border collie?? he is at a friends place at the moment while I have a think about what we will do whether we rehome him or take him back on board. i just dont want to be restricted to adding more pets to our house hold as we are on a larger than normal sized residential property and have the room. We have the option and will put hot wire along the bottom of the chook enclosure to see if this can be furthur prevented. does anyone have any insigts they can give me regarding the things that i should now be concerned about if any? any ideas about his behaviour besides the obvious terrier instinctive analogies? i have the option to rehome him with an older couple whom have a beautiful home and no other animals. O really want to know if this can be controlled and that it wont infringe on our lives or his too much and we can enjoy him as all staffies should be enjoyed without the fear. please help me if anyone has anything to add. I do apologise if this post comes across that we are giving up on him we arent. We just need to look at the big picture and do what is going to be best for him and us. thanks guys. look forward to any responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowanbree Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I do not believe it will impact on his behaviour with people or even the cat that he has already bonded with but it is unlikely that he will be able to be trusted with the chickens again. This would however be the same with most dogs that have not been taught that the chickens are part of the family. If you can safely enclose the chickens I wouldn't hesitate to have him back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peibe Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Put the chooks in a properly fenced enclosure that he cannot get into and electricfy it He may want to kill more but you cannot rehome a dog over this, it is just a normal obsticle to overcome in his growing up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paganman Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 My mums got chooks and both my crossbreed dogs would kill them if they got the chance but the chooks are in a secure enclosure so theres no problems. Ordinary chook wire wont keep the dogs out you need much stronger wire cause if the dogs keep jumping up at the wire it weakens it and then theres a hole and the dogll be in. My dogs would kill rabbits or guinea pigs or chooks or any small animal if they got the chance, they caught and killed a possum last week. But theyre great with people and as I say they carnt get at mums chooks so alls well. Lots of dogsll kill chooks if they can get at them youve just gotta make sure they carnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I am amazed that you have any chooks alive. If he had found a rat and killed it you would have been happy. To the dog the chooks are just big rats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Yep..he at least stopped with one! Get proper dog-proof weldmesh or something..hotwires, and maybe a bit of shadecloth ..the movement will attract a puppy. He maybe needs a bit more general training, and LOTS of praise for being gentle with the other critters. We have 2 pups currently free-ranging in our yard, with 3 geriatric chooks. ( one of whom sleeps on the ground) Every morning I wake up, expecting to find feathers and dead things..no probs yet. *touch wood* Pups are 6 and 4 mths old. One of our pups used to catch these old chooks, and then carefully place them in a hole, on their backs. the chooks had to be rescued, and were never bruised, even! They now lay eggs in this dog's kennel!! Oh..our dogs are Koolies and koolie crosses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 It seems its a hassle for you so i would contact the breeder or staffy rescue & rehome." that it wont infringe on our lives " This part & parcel of owning dogs & you dont just turf them out over things that arent there fault.If you want chooks then you securely house them but Given the wording you used "been 'blooded' that it will have compromised his character " i think you are seeing the worse in the dog & will never trust it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 You are dealing with predatory drive- which is a fairly simple concept. Introduce some kind of correction- such as an electric fence/ hot wire that will counter the drive and you may resolve that issue. This should be done in conjunction with training and stimulation- what is the dog receiving now? No need to complicate it by suggesting that the dog has been 'blooded' and fear for your child and other dog. Recognise that dogs are predatory animals and that chickens, rabbits, possums etc can become prey objects. You need to actively teach the dog what is a prey object and what is not and if you're not in a position to do this, then rehoming may be the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny_beagle Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Regardless of whether you decide to rehome the dog, be aware that chickens are natural prey for dogs, the only answer is to separate them as said above. Also, remeber your dog is not stupid, it knows the difference between a chicken and a cat and a human child just as well as you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Tracie,this is not the end of the World.The Dog is actually just being a Dog.I would follow Peresphones advice in this matter.I would not even entertain rehoming this Dog as to me its a very small problem.I would look at it differently if he were out killing Sheep. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 (edited) It is not impossible to teach a dog to leave the chickens along but I would never leave them unsupervised. I have taught our high prey drive GSD to leave birds alone ... I was trying to teach him to leave my cockatiels alone when I put them outside but now he allows any bird to land in our yard. I started by putting him on a lead and having him sit or lay near the cockatiels (with me). When he showed no interest in them he was praised. I ignored him looking at them but if he made a move to go near them he was corrected (verbally initially). I also taught him the leave command. Now I trust him enough that I can put the birds outside on the back table without worring about him jumping up and knocking them off. Not that I would leave them outside for the day without me being around (mainly because of the wild birds) but I know that his main focus is not on having cockatiel for lunch. The only time he has even chased a bird was when it stole food from his bowl. Edited July 6, 2007 by Tilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugerfly Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I dont think any kind of containment would stop my two But thats not the point. If you want to go as far as having both pets, you would have to build up the chook pen good and proper. If you are thinking you are using this as an excuse to change your mind about your dog, dont. Dog is dog, chook is chook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awsam Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I have not long ago sent a dog back to the rescue he came from,even though it broke my heart for killing chooks. I have show birds and after he cleaned me out of over a dozen birds in about 7 months AND many things had been attempted to prevent it from happening again I had no choice but to just give up on him. Yes was a major shame but considering I also have 4 cats and a Labrador (gundog) that have never touched or even looked at my poultry the wrong way,thats the way it had to be. He was a PapX JR I think...and when you have a terrier mix they just cannot be trusted. Chooks have the right to free range the same as a dog has the right to not be kenneled (runned) forever. I got to the point that even under supervision I couldn't trust him....and the chooks were really afraid of him even when they were locked up and he went near their fenceline. Give your dog time AND training and see how things pan out. Not all terriers/dogs are the same so your pup may learn. And he may also have just been trying to play. Give him another chance...but if he stuffs up again than I'd be sending him elsewhere to live. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 "Chooks have the right to free range ' yes they do but you cant have your cake & eat it aswell,if you want other variety of animals then you need to be prepared to put yourself out as some dogs will chase chooks. I have setters & they have killed many a native bird,there bird dogs ,i dont like it & would prefer it didnt happen & when able to to i distract but thats the way it works. "when you have a terrier mix they just cannot be trusted" that is so untrue. "but if he stuffs up again than I'd be sending him elsewhere to live." Dogs dont stuff up the owners enable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 All animals can live side by side. Just make sure you put a deceint fence between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Give him another chance...but if he stuffs up again than I'd be sending him elsewhere to live.JMO The dog didn't stuff up, he was being a dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 This is perfectly normal dog behaviour. For this reason, Doggie Rescue (who I volunteer for), will not rehome ANY dog to a home with freerange chooks or birds of any kind. I stupidly trusted my Italian Greyhound to be with my free ranging budgie, they'd had 6 months together with no hint of a problem but one day the bird must have landed on the floor and he took his chance. He is an extremely gentle dog and wouldn't hurt a person or a cat either but birds are a different story. He probably frightened my budgie to death but it is never something I would do again, I loved my little bird very much (people find this very hard to understand) - I'd had him for 3 years before my dog and wanted to find a gentle dog that wouldn't hurt him and he lost his life because I was ignorant. I will never forgive myself. I will never have a bird with dogs again unless they were in separate situations, safely apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpe Noctem Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I am sure that as long as you don’t let your child or your cat dress up in any chicken costumes for a while they will be alright. Otherwise build a Staffy proof enclosure for the chooks, keep them in it and enjoy your omelets on the back verandah with your dog on Sunday mornings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wherezaball Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 this is simply a management and training issue As others have said dogs are predatory animals and chooks are prey. Its that simple. Socialisation can go part of the way to preventing problems such as this. But as I say Staffies (BTW, I love staffies) get "the cant help its" They really do. So do many other terriers and some working dogs. Many people have the same concerns about their dogs after they have attack an animal... will the dog attack a child? who knows... depends what the child does to the dog... depends what experiences the dog has had with the child or children in general. But generally speaking staffi are great people dogs but need alot of socialisation with other animals. But even the social staffi will find it tough going if the is a squeaky fluffy animal running around in front of them. if they can get to it they will. Thats what dogs do. Has the dog been to training to help him respond to you better? Wont stop his prey drive all together but will give you a bit more control when you are there and you use good management strategies when you are not there. Does the dog get much exercise? Dogs dont repreatedly attack because they have been "blooded". They are dogs NOT vampires. They do it again and again cause it is fun and they can. its thats simple. You just need to make sure the dog cant get into the chooks. Iam really concerned that my 6 month old staffy pup will now have a taste for killing our other pet chooks after i found yesterday he had driven throough the wire fence and calculatedly debowled one of our chooks. i had caught him eyeing them off on several seperate ocaisions and was able to interven thankfully. This occaision he waited until I left to go out and immediately hunted one chook out and killed it. By the time i came home 2 hrs later the chook felt cold and had been partially eatten. so it had happpened some hrs earlier....Iam presuming when i had been out of sight. iam worried that now that he has been 'blooded' that it will have compromised his character and want to know if i should be at all worried about him around my 12 month old daughter, cat (of whom he had got along well with to date) and our other dog a 5 yr old border collie?? he is at a friends place at the moment while I have a think about what we will do whether we rehome him or take him back on board. i just dont want to be restricted to adding more pets to our house hold as we are on a larger than normal sized residential property and have the room. We have the option and will put hot wire along the bottom of the chook enclosure to see if this can be furthur prevented. does anyone have any insigts they can give me regarding the things that i should now be concerned about if any? any ideas about his behaviour besides the obvious terrier instinctive analogies? i have the option to rehome him with an older couple whom have a beautiful home and no other animals. O really want to know if this can be controlled and that it wont infringe on our lives or his too much and we can enjoy him as all staffies should be enjoyed without the fear. please help me if anyone has anything to add. I do apologise if this post comes across that we are giving up on him we arent. We just need to look at the big picture and do what is going to be best for him and us. thanks guys. look forward to any responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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