Neighbour's dog got my hen

[Mung]

Amazingly she is still alive and well, but he came into our garden and DH caught him with her in his mouth. He came through a hole in the bush, but im now concerned that he is going to have a taste for them and he'll jump the 4ft fence. Neighbours seem convinced he wont, but he is a big dog.

Im now afraid to let my girls out in the garden, which i only did when i was at home anyway. DH thinks we shouldn't have to change our behaviour, but i cannot rish finding a dog with my hen in its mouth.

Has the hold in the bush been covered? My parents have a very large who couldn't jump a four foot fence. My little terrier could scale it with ease though. So it very much depends on the dog itself. It is in some dogs nature to hunt smaller animals though, so chances are the dog will try it again.

Would the neighbours be willing to go halves with you on a higher fence?

Neighbours should really ensure fence doesnt let their dog through but I guess difficult ot make them. We raised our fence with full agreement of neighbours and paid for it. Would never have dreamed of asking them to contribute.

The hole has been covered. The dog is a lercher. I know the dog was only doing what its bred to do. I'm also concerned about leaving my baby out on the lawn now (not that I could today in this weather anyway).

The annoying thing is that its a rescue dog and when they were talking about getting they told us that they were going to raise the fences as it was part of the agreement of being allowed the dog. They never did it and have had the dog for a while now. Apparently a friend said it wouldn't be a problem and it hasn't so far. I just dont want to find a hen or a baby in his mouth after the first jump into our garden.

Your baby will be fine. A healthy lurcher could jump a four foot fence with ease. But it is not in their nature to hunt or eat babies. Chickens, yes, babies no.

The neighbours should ensure their dog can not escape their property, for it's own safety if nothing else.

Contact the rescue place they got the dog from? They will probably pop around and have a word. Although I'd talk to the neighbour again first, because they will know it is you who has called.

They know it cannot get out of our garden as we have no access from front to back other than through the house.

You can never trust a dog with children though in my view.

I dont know which place it came from though, that is the problem. I will tell them that I am concerned about my children's safety as well as my hens.

Mung, if you came to me about my current dog and said you were concerned for your children, I would see your point. He is a nasty little sod, when he wants to be and would bite a child who hurt him or teased him too much. I wouldn't have believed it about any other dog I have owned. Bar my parents Akita. who is grumpy old fart, not socialised with children.

Lurchers are pretty laid back by nature and it doesn't sound like these people know a great deal about dogs. Especially if they believe a Lurcher could not a jump a fence that low. It might sound better if you tell them that you are worried about their dog, as your children aren't used to dogs and don't know how to behave correctly around them.

A lot of dog owners (most rightly so) believe that their beloved pooch could never hurt a child.

Thanks for the advice. They made an effort to let my older 2 get to know him, which was good. I cannot really say that they are now scared of him . It is the baby that worries me. Even if he was intending on hurting him he could cause him harm if he came into the garden again. I'm sure that once DS screamed he would be scared though.

The dog gets left out all day and he cries and barks. I just think he will get bored soon and will start venturing into my garden to see what there is of more interest.

I should have posted this in dogs rather than chickens...

Difficult - sorry about your chicken - but dogs don't really distinguish between alive and dead the same way people do - chicken is just chicken, and he will be familiar with the smell of chicken in his food bowl.

I know Colditz. I just feel that it is the owner's job to keep him in their garden now. The chicken is amazingly fine, a few ruffled feathers and thats it. Apparently, he had her head in his mouth and they were both tugging in opposite directions. DH managed to scare the dog before the chicken suffered. I did think she might die in the night, but she is there right as rain two days on...she is a tough old bird!

It is the neighbour's responsibility to ensure that there dog is contained within their garden - especially if you have livestock. I would talk to them about what happened and ask if they will dog proof their side of the fence. Seeems only fair, after all it is their dog, coming into your garden .

I thought that was the case. It is their boundary anyway. It makes me laugh to think that only last year they complained that our compost bins were near their fence (albeit 170 feet from the house) and they asked us to move them to the other side . They thought they might attract wasps.

We haven't told them about the ground level bumble bee nest we found. We didn't want them to ask us to get rid of them.

I have three hens and two lurchers and they NEVER mix. My hens did free range previously before we inherited the dogs so do have a more resticted life now. I would not let yours out until the fence is sorted out even if you pay for it yourself.