Neighbours' dog attacking our hens

[jensner]

Hoping for some wisdom from dog training experts here. We have 3 hens which we keep in a section of our back garden. Neighbours 5 doors up have a field spaniel who I think is about 6 months old. It first got into the garden last week and attacked the hens. The kids and I were there so scared it off - it was very upsetting and traumatic. One hen missing a large chunk of feathers and some bite marks but nothing serious. Chickens put in their small run as precaution. Dog returned the next day and the day after. Owner only accepted it was their dog when I showed them a photo of it in the garden!

They said they had fixed the fence, we tried to secure our side, chickens let back out. Dog returned again - made a new hole in hedge/chicken wire and attacked again. Chased off quickly but one hen with lots of blood and all tail feathers removed. Told neighbour and gave them vet bill which they agreed to pay.

They assured us fence is really fixed this time. DH buys more stuff to Fort Knox our end but chickens still in run. Neighbours children left the gate open today and the dog came straight round.

Obviously now the dog knows they are there, he won't give up. I suggested to the owner that they should look into training the dog to leave them alone but he poo-pooed the idea. Could a spaniel who doesn't live with hens still be trained (with our cooperation) to stay away? All the examples I've found online are of people who have dogs and hens together all the time.

Sorry that is so long - must work on my ability to condense information!

Agree with PP - dog warden - it's their responsibility to keep it secure and stop it damaging your property - otherwise it could be classed as dangerously out of control.

Unfortunately once dogs get a 'taste' they will persist. One of my school friends labradors raided our chicken when I was a kid. We lived 4 miles apart and despite the chickens being secured in pens, the dog came back 2 months later, ripped out the chicken wire from the pens, broke the door hinges and destroyed all of our chickens and 2 pet rabbits in hutches.

Thanks everyone.

Definitely not going to sue the neighbours (although I like the sound of that peaceful enjoyment - where can I get me some of that?).

I honestly think if they were killed by a fox overnight, I would handle it better as the fox isn't anyone's responsibility and we probably wouldn't witness it. I'm shocked at how distressing it was to actually see our much loved pets getting attacked and made doubly worse by the fact that the owner of the dog was really to blame so there was a lot of anger too.

Anyhoo, we'll just have to do our best to secure the garden and hope they do the same.

If you wanted to work with your neighbours over this problem [and they were willing and you all have the time] you could invite them with the puppy on the lead and spend time desensitising him so that he gets rewarded for not chasing the chickens.

Unless of course, your neighbour is planning on using him as a working dog....

Unless of course, your neighbour is planning on using him as a working dog....

I think he's an accountant or something so seems unlikely!😜

Ask neighbours to pay for electric fencing???

I agree with rizlett if Mrs Neighbour would agree to bring the dog along secured on a lead and make it sit/ stand in the garden whilst getting rewarded not to react to the chickens. You could start with them inside the run and the dog sitting on the lead and then once it is non-reactive to that try them loose in the garden. Lots of fuss and treats whilst it is ignoring the chickens. It might take a couple of weeks but if it works then it's trained for good, otherwise it will always be trying to get to them.

If you wanted to work with your neighbours over this problem [and they were willing and you all have the time] you could invite them with the puppy on the lead and spend time desensitising him so that he gets rewarded for not chasing the chickens.

See, that's what I was thinking and the whole point of this thread, rather than spending the next how many years fighting against the dog's instincts and hoping he doesn't find another route into the garden.

Super soaker probably won't work - we have a lab X springer and he loves water. We also take responsibility for making sure he is secured and in our control .........

Yes the dog can definitely be trained to leave the hens alone
In a similar vein, gundog trainers have pens of rabbits which they hold training sessions in to desensitise the dogs and get them used to concentrating on the commands they are given with distractions going on in the background

Even if they are planning to use the dog as a gundog, there is no reason at all it can't be taught to leave chickens alone - our dogs grew up with a garden full of hens and ducks without it effecting them

It's a pretty simple training exercise. They bring the dog to the other end of your garden on a lead and reward the dog with a treat when he ignores them.
Over the course of training, the dog will be walked closer and closer to the hens and rewarded for not reacting to them.
He should soon learn it's more rewarding to ignore them than to chase them

Blimy, talk about using a machine gun to get rid of a money spider! Some of these options are a bit extreme.

If one dog can get in so can others. If you don't want to witness your hens being killed you need completely secure fencing round your garden if they are going to free range in the day.

I'd keep them In their run in the day till you can afford to put proper fencing round the garden. Is your run dug down underground?

While the neighbour training their dog might help it won't stop other predators getting in the garden.