Puppy Killed Pet Chook

[Josh Grant]

this was actually directed at the OP! :p

:D

[Awsam]

this was actually directed at the OP!

Sorry

:D :p

[Dogsfevr]

"killing machine ' so this dog killed every living thing that came near it ??

"I am not a new comer to the world of dogs so please don't attempt to treat me as such"...but if he stuffs up again than I'd be sending him elsewhere to live.

:D

[Josh Grant]

that's ok - me is very forgiving! :D

Unless your a puppy farmer ..... then me is a TYRANT!!!!

[Awsam]

Showdog my comments are from my own experiences and I am honestlt not sure I could go through having almost an entire breeding seasons worth of birds killed again so I guess I wouldn't attempt re-training etc again YET I have implemented a lot o things that will hopefully prevent this happening again in my yard.And yes after wiping out at least a dozen birds he was a killing machine in my eyes...come pick up some bodies and piles of feathers and than start defending a dog that kills chooks. Trust me it is not a pretty thing to do when you have raised these birds from hatching and nurtured them to adulthood.

People are passionate about other animals as well showdog AND raise other animals as well.

Josh everything I own is desexed (dogs/cats) so I guesss I will never be a puppy/kitten farmer.

[TangerineDream]

One of my Dobes (Tegan) was a chook killer and used to dig a chook sized hole under the fence of the chookyard...and wait...... score Tegan 7, chooks 0.....

Her younger brother used to play with them and you'd come home to find a tired white Leghorn hen with a brown 'racing stripe' from where Kai would hold it down with one foot. The only one that could live with Tegan was the very dominant Rhode Island rooster...she'd scarper if he appeared because he was just 'mean'..

I've considered getting chooks, but with leaving at 6am and getting home at 7pm I just can't bring myself to feed chooks in the dark..and after Tango pointed at an emu with a serious glint in his eye this afternoon on our walk....it'll have to be a pretty well constructed 'yard'

[monsterpup]

Personally, I would never rehome a dog for behaving like a dog, but regardless of what you decide to do about your puppy, you need to get a better fence for the chooks.

If a puppy can push it down it would be like offering an open packet of lollies to foxes.

If you were upset by what the pup did to the chook, you will be devastated by what foxes will do.

[Tracie]

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.

Thanks very much for your thorough explanation. I have enrolled my dog in obedience now and we have been once since the chook was eatten! I have now placed hot wire around the fence that allows my chooks to free range and thus far its been a sucess. My pup wont go within 5 meters of the fence as the noise and having had a few zaps has scared him off.

[Tracie]

[Hey Tracie perhaps you need to go and read your original post again AND stop and read what I have written.

At no time in your orig post have you mentioned the loss of a dog to epilesy,but what the hell does that have to do with a puppy killing a chook???

I have given you positve advice in a previous post...training!!! If you bothered to read it.

My post re me being missquoted was intended only to stop people "quoting" only part sentences of what I wrote or typed.

Get a grip as I certainly did not ask (nor did my post) what I perceive as a personal attack in your last post. You asked for advice,well I gave advice through my own experiences with a dog killing my much treasured and loved show birds.

PS: My name is Sebastion not mate and I don't like being spoken or typed at in such a condescending way and I am pretty sure others will feel the same.

Iam glad that I have ruffled your feather champ. I hope that I truly ruined your day! ;)

[Tracie]

sebastian....if that is who you are....you need to get the grip champ. Youve looked for a fight when i was only posting straight forward concerns regarding the situation. You must sit on your arse all day and look for any opportunity to try and belittle people who may admittedly not have a great deal of dog behaviour expertise. I feel that you are using this website to boost your own ego and quite frankly Dog Man you probably dont really know shit form shanola about it any way. To those whom helped thanks. To those whom didnt, you have soured what I though would be a positive and fun opportunity to be active within the forums with Dogzonline as a source of information, and to share a common dog passion. ;)

[Ci]

I have two Staffords - both went through a stage of killing birds when they were about 6mths old and they would do it together!

One was very easy to train to stop doing it - he doesn't even look at anything with feathers now. Not remotely interested.

The girl was abit more tricky - she knows she is not allowed to touch them or hurt them but I wouldn't trust her if I wasn't watching her. I would not leave her anywhere near birds without supervision. She will still salviant when she sees them but she will always watchs me to see what I say about it. I say "NO", she says "OK" and she knows she can't act on her intentions.

Both are fine with cats, they live with two, both are fine with children, both are fine with humans, both are fine with horses, cows, sheep.

Up to you to show your pup that the chooks are a no good zone and to provide proper housing for your chooks so that they are safe.

It is very easy to build an enclosure that ensures the chooks have plenty of room and are "free range" and that also keeps them safe.

Edited July 11, 2007 by Ci

[Tracie]

Thanks , nice to chat to a staffy owner about the problem. Cheers for keeping your response tasteful and beneficial. ;)

[Ci]

You just have to remember that they are dogs - it is what they do as much as we may not like it.

So you just have to be sure that while you are getting him use to not being allowed to touch the chickens, that you also don't put him in a situation that is tempting fate because it is really unfair to the pup.

And it doens't have to be in a harsh way either - neither of mine were hit or anything, it was just a case of training them - lots of "NO", stopping them running after the birds, removing them from the situation or sin binning them if they didn't listen and lots of dirty looks.

Some dogs are easier to train than others as some dogs have alot higher prey instincts than other.

Edited July 11, 2007 by Ci

[~Anne~]

Hi,

I came home once a few years ago to my then 14 year old daughter screaming and crying about our Pug pup, Boofy, chewing on the pet guinea pig's head.

I raced outside to find my adorable 6 month old Pug happily laying down gnawing on the head (still intact) of our now very dead guinea pig.

There was guinea pig fur all over the lawn.

To this day I have no idea if it was him or my cat that suddenly decided to killed him when they had never worried about him before. I think perhaps it was the cat that intiated it anyway.

Boofy has never attacked anything else. He never shows agression either. Being a Pug I wouldn't think he would either but I guess I am saying that it hasn't altered his personality at all.

I put it down to puppy play and a cat that became a hunter.

[niki schaef]

i think you've recieved some very good advice here and i'm glad to see that you are on your way to fixing the problem (fencing and training) i say good on you for not giving up on your boy, you obviously love him ;) we have the (sort of) same situation here. my kelpie is obsessed with the chooks, being a sheep dog i think she just wants to round them up, but can;t be certain. so our chooks have a massive free(ish) range yard where they can happily peck and scratch around and the dogs can't get in. that said one quick chook got out the other day and the dogs were on her like a shot! but they quickly stopped after i shouted at them and told them to 'leave it' (which i never thought they would!!) so i just want to say good luck and it can be done ;)

by the way puggles that story

[MissMonaro]

We have chickens and dogs and well they all did live harmonously together, until we got a mini bull terrier.

Then we started having problems. Had a few chooks fly out of the pen - not a good move.

Anyway she killed a few - between her and one of the younger labs (that is her partner in crime).

We have now erected a new colorbond fence so that we have the facilities to seperate the dogs that cant control themselves around the chooks, and now the chookies will be able to free range again. If they jump into the dogs pen, well I cant help them then.

Our BT wont go near the chook pen though when we are feeding them...she stays right away. She is full aware of what is in there and I am pretty sure she knows its wrong.....but I am betting in her eyes its a great game to chase the chicken (and she goes straight for the neck too).

We have a cat as well (3 actually) but only 1 that comes into the dogs yard. The bully actually doesnt really fuss much over the cat...but the younger lab will chase her. She has just met the baby pups and they sat and barked at her and she didnt move, so they became bored very quickly with that game.

But my suggestion is.......build a more secure chook run.

[CALB]

My Akita X was obsessed by our chickens when we first got them. He killed one when it flew out of the enclosure. I was worried he'd have a taste for killing too. We built a much higher and more secure pen and haven't had a problem since. And he's still best friends with our free range bunny rabbit, small dogs and visiting children.

I think it's the fluttering that excites the dogs. Maybe if you block his line of sight to the chooks, he might lose interest like mine did. I like keeping dogs with chooks - no neighbourhood cats come calling!