Losing my patience with neighbor's dog....

I'm glad the situation ended well.

Kinda did a quick scan of this thread. You are an absolute saint in your level of patience with this dog. I'm of the opinion that if it happens once, it's an accident and accidents happen. If it happens again, you better have a damn good excuse or I'm going to assume you are doing it on purpose.

Glad this all ended with your birds intact. And I gotta say - good job on your run security to stop a dog that is probing over and over for several days.

Sally PB said:

I'm glad the situation ended well.

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Thanks. Me too.

Battlepants said:

Glad this all ended with your birds intact. And I gotta say - good job on your run security to stop a dog that is probing over and over for several days.

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First time I've had to deal with a returning dog, getting smarter with each visit. I say my chicken run is predator resistant, not predator proof. I only hope my fencing holds off a predator long enough for the chickens to run into the coop for safety or I can get outside and chase the dog/predator away. The dog showed me I had a few areas that needed to be reinforced, but, as a whole, my fencing held and it now even stronger than before after my fixes/repairs. I'm glad I was able to deter an attack and potential loss of chickens this time.

Thanks for the response.

gtaus said:

If she is true to her breed, she should be a great livestock guardian dog by nature.

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Glad that their vacation ended with your sanity and chickens safe.

Hate to break it to you, but most LGDs still need *training* to be bird-safe which this family doesn't sound like it has the inclination towards. Friends' LGD pups just took out most of their ~ dozen birds a couple weeks ago.

Time to make sure your coop/run is just fortified against dogs (good fences make good neighbors) in time for next summer's vacation arrival with the new pup!

gtaus said:

[...] returning dog, getting smarter with each visit [...]

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Makes sense for:

gtaus said:

[...] a Laboratory Retriever [...]

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ashcons said:

Hate to break it to you, but most LGDs still need *training* to be bird-safe which this family doesn't sound like it has the inclination towards. Friends' LGD pups just took out most of their ~ dozen birds a couple weeks ago.

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Thanks. I was wondering how much of LGD is training versus nature. Will be keeping an eye out for that pup next year if it comes around my chickens. They had that pup on a chain this visit and never let her off. I'm sure they were worried the pup might run out to the road and get run over.

They have a lower prey drive than most breeds, but chickens are so dang tempting. Toys that make lots of noise and movement. I am sure there are individuals within the breed that are totally fine with birds without training.

sourland said:

Once upon a time while we were on vacation, my animal caretaker found my pens destroyed, and most of my birds killed. The culprit, a black lab, was glad to see her. The dog had an ID on its collar. My caretaker called our animal control agent, and he came and seized the dog. Turns out it was the second time the dog had done this. He asked me to file a complaint so that the dog as a 'repeat offender' could be seized and rehomed.

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Once an animal gets the taste of blood it's ruined. RUINED period. The next time it could be a defenseless child. I'm 58 and when I was growing up dogs like this were taken care of. I was a city girl and went to visit my grandparents on their farm. So, I knew the difference then on how things were taken care of. Now a days, if a dog attacks a person the owners get a warning, if that. It would have been different back in the day. The dog would have been put down for the very reason of biting someone. It should still be the way it was back then. If I've offended anyone, well I own chickens, a dog (German Shepard) and a rescue cat. 6ft fence with gates. I still lock the chooks up at knight. Guess who protects them during the day.....She was trained properly and if you think it's the cat well it's not, she is too busy watching the chicks in the brooder.

Idaho Chicken Bungalow said:

Once an animal gets the taste of blood it's ruined. RUINED period. The next time it could be a defenseless child. I'm 58 and when I was growing up dogs like this were taken care of.

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A dog doing what is natural to them and killing a chicken or bird, doesn't mean theyre ruined. It means they cant be trusted around prey animals anymore.It often means the owner cant be trusted to train or maintain control of their animal.
Killing a chicken will not give them a taste for human blood. People aggression and prey drive are not the same thing.

And not every animal that bites needs euthanizing. It depends on the dog and the owner. Some dogs can be trained and helped. But I would never ever trust an animal with a bad history with a child. In fact, I always supervise my dogs with young children, regardless of how well behaved they are.