Does anyone have a good (humane) remedy for dogs killing chickens? My dachshund just can't seem to help herself. Spankings don't help and leave me feeling worse. I remind her "no chickens" and she does OK for awhile then next time we leave she forgets. Our back yard is fenced in hog wire and she can fit through the holes in it. So my husband just spent 2 weekends covering the bottom 2 feet of fence with more chicken wire. Somehow she is still getting out. So far she has killed 18 chichens in the last 3 months. We are now rooster-less! She is a great dog, very protective of the home area. She is around 2 years old. I don't know for sure because someone dumped her out on our road a year ago. She looked pretty young when we took her in. We love her but this reign of terror against the chickens has to stop!

-- Linda Wernecke (lmwernecke@medicine.tamu.edu), June 15, 2001

Answers

Linda,

You need a little prep work to ready the next time the little rascal offs a chicken. Get at plastic trash can a little bigger than the dog and drill a bunch of air holes. Now, be firm here. When the dogs kills a chicken (you didn't mention if she was eating them or not, so I guess she just has "fun" killing them) lets take the fun our of it. Put her and the chicken in the can. Leave her for a couple of days, let that chicken really start to stink. Give her water, and keep her in the shade, but make her live with the foul smelling carcus for a few days and she won't want any part of chicken after that.

Good luck.

-- Rickstir (rpowell@email.ccis.edu), June 15, 2001.

18 chickens? Oh my lord that dog's got a strong taste for chicken blood by this point. Take the legs of the dead chicken next time and place them on the sides of the dogs neck and tie them together real good with stout rope or cable ties. Make sure the dog can't pull it off. Leave the dead chicken necklace on for a week or so. I guarantee that dog won't even want to look at a chicken after that.

-- April (atobias@yahoo.com), June 15, 2001.

Tying the dead chicken around the dog's neck *might* work but don't bet the flock on it. A neighbor of mine when I was growing up had it work for him but our boxer dog was completely unphased and we left that bird on for nearly two weeks!

Puppy's can be trained not to attack birds if you're willing to use patience and persistence but adult dogs can be quite difficult, many times impossible to break of the habit. You may be better off building a hen yard.

I built mine with dogs, coyotes, and foxes in mine in that it uses one inch welded wire all the way around with roofing tin buried outward at an angle from the fence a foot deep and extending upwards from the ground about ten inches or so. Nothing yet has managed to dig under or go through the fence (except those damned rat snakes). A lot of bother up front but makes for a very secure situation in a world full of chicken predators.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), June 15, 2001.

Linda, I am guessing your dachshund is an indoor dog and you don't want to have a dead chicken in your home tied around it's neck? I know I wouldn't! (We used to have dachshunds and I just love them!) Anyways, my opinion is to just make sure she doesn't have access to them at all whether it is making sure she stays in a pen when outside or else make sure the chickens are secure from her and all the other predators out there. We don't let our dogs anywhere near the farm critters because they are not to be trusted. Dogs just have that instinct and I do know that some people can train their dogs not to hurt other things, but I know I couldn't do it. I am sorry, but the can idea makes me sick. That sounds like you would end up with a pretty traumatised animal and would be considered mental cruelty. Just my opinion there. But then again, I end up with the worst animals because I let them walk all over me! :) Take care and hope you can come up with something soon. That sure is a lot of chickens to lose. juliemarae

-- juliemarae (dabanks@harbornet.net), June 15, 2001.

Hi Linda:

You need to keep in mind that the doxie is a hound ("hund") -- that is, a hunting dog. They have the instincts to chase, to burrow, to fight fearlessly, and to kill -- even though we haven't encouraged those behaviors in our housepets. That's just the way it is. You can't train genetics out of an animal.

But, you can put the dog on a leash, chain, or other restraining device when the chickens are out and about. Basically, it's either restrain the chickens, or restrain the dog.

Hope this helps.

A

-- Anita Evangelista (evangel@atlascomm.net), June 15, 2001.

I have had Dachshunds for 23 years! I love them but they will kill any bird, rat, mouse, mole, lizard, rabbit, squirrel they can dig up,chase down or sneak up on! We have ours in a 4'high chain link fence (60'x100')and I have tunnels all over the yard (we had voles and moles).These dogs were breed to hunt/kill badgers. You need to retrain the dog. Start w/ a leash and take her into the chicken coop w/ you when she starts after the birds pull her back to you fast and hard and shout no! Do this several times a day or as often as you have time for. I broke an English Setter (a bird dog) from killing chickens this way. I could take him into the chicken coop w/ me to gather eggs and he would just sit at the door. He never chased or killed another chicken but was a wonderful hunting dog.

I think the key here is do you love this dog enoungh to take the time to retrain her! Good luck and keep us informed.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), June 15, 2001.

Keep it simple. Doxies are hounds. THeu are bred to get varmits. They are strong minded and determined. Usually punishing the dog is just hard on her and you and doesn't work. Lock up the dog before you leave! If your house is not escape proof(?) build a proper kennel. The 2nd. approach is to build a proper chicken pen that will keep not only the dog out but other chicken lovers too. Use a decent welded wire(NOT so called chicken wire) and don't forget to put a width(24 " will do it)of good wire down on the ground, all around the pen so nothing can dig in, not even a dog which is bred for this like your Dachshound. Hope this helps. :-) Little Quacker

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), June 15, 2001.

A suggestion, for the really desperate - electrinet and any electric wire has the advantage of discouraging preditors. If I only wanted to use it on a small dog, I'd be inclined to use an electric charger designed for dogs rather than livestock. And be sure you are around the first time the dog encounters the fence, even have it on a leash so it won't bolt. This is a serious remedy so use carefully. Training may work when you are around - I've trained hunting dogs as well as herding dogs (which is just another hunting instinct.) but if she's escaping when you are away she's smart enough to know that you can't correct her.

-- Lana Pettey (Ragtimedog@Yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

the training shock collars are a great aid in training adversion in dogs for bad habbits especialy when you hide and jolt them when they dont see you . i had corrected bobby a number of times for chasing the chickens and she was hard headed at being called off soooo while i was in the house i listened when i heard her chasing again i zapped her throught the window she stood there looking at the chickens again very puzzled then started at them again another zapp and she went to the door and layed down just watching the chickens ,seems to have worked we broke herchel without a collar he would eat heads and feet when we buttchered but wouldnt bother the live chickens i have been cooking the waste with some coorn meal mush to keep these pups from getting a tast for raw chicken

-- george darby (windwillow@fuse.net), June 16, 2001.

get a wiffle ball bat,,, tie a dead chicken to the dog,, preferable around the neck,, ,every time it goes for it,, smack him with the bat. Keep it up till it wont even look at the chicken,, it shouldnt ever do it again. Its worked for me and a freind,, the bat just stings like the dickens

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), June 18, 2001.