My dog killed my chicken. Is she now a killer?

[saffronwblue]

My 3 year old lab collie cross broke into the chook house last night. She was intent on some pigeons who were in there. She killed 3 of them before we could stop her then turned on the chickens who were on their perch. She killed one then we managed to get the other out to safety. It was truly awful. My colleague says that she is now a confirmed killer and no small animal will be safe from her. Would love to hear any thoughts or advice. We think we will try to rehome the remaining traumatized chicken as she will be lonely on her own and we can't bring another chicken in to be potentially slaughtered.

I am so sorry, that sounds horrendous. Does she have any previous form with small animals? My terrier seemed fine with my hens but one day one of them flew out to see him and he grabbed her, luckily just playfully, she was rather upset but not injured. For a dog to be intent on killing things tends to be either a breed trait (terriers with rats for instance, although I had a pet rat with my first terrier and they got along fine) or a trait that has been there since puppyhood. I would think that some serious training now will help, but she may always have too keen an interest in birds. Certainly I would not ever let her be in a position where she might attack them again. We have a secure run and house for our hens, anything fox proof should also keep out a collie type dog. Electric fencing might be an idea if you decide you do want to keep hens in the future.

Confirmed killer ? Bit extreme choice of words by your colleague. Your dog was being a dog but we as humans choose to think that dogs can be trained out of all of their instincts just because we find them upsetting. She may have been playing and had no intention to kill but that's irrelevant given that the outcome is the same either way.

I've known a few dogs that can be around chickens but not many. I've found that the only way to be 99% certain that chickens are safe around dogs is to have the dog and chickens imprint themselves on each other during puppyhood. Even then, you're still taking a risk albeit a more manageable one.

You can create an aversion in dogs to chickens but it's a nasty messy cruel thing to do and it's no guarantee. Reward training is something that I've found only works so far and I wouldn't risk the lives of an animal on it.

Any breed of dog should be watched around chickens so I would err on the side of caution and either ensure complete separation or rehome the chicken to ensure her safety. It's a horrible thing to experience but try not to view your dog differently.

I would say your colleague is right actually. Not that her behavior is bad, just doglike

No, of course not

I have a terrier who rats regularly and he is trained not to go for other small furries and chickens. Would I trust him without supervision? No, but he can be with me off lead without any problems.

Some dogs will kill prey, some won't. My spaniel caught a few of my chickens as a pup and didn't kill them, but of course if I hadn't intervened they would have died from being repeatedly flung in the air and caught like a toy. But he's a spaniel, and they were bred for flushing out birds, so I couldn't really blame him I blamed DH who left the gate open. I wouldn't trust my dogs with small furries or birds, but I don't see them becoming man eaters any time soon.

Mine would kill our chickens if she could get to them too I think. I had two follies though prior to her who used to break into the large rabbit run we had, not eat the rabbits, oh no! But to eat the rabbits food. I shit you not. So it depends on breed personality etc. Labs are working dogs too, trained to fetch birds

My dog was trained with chickens as a pup to get him used to birds. He picks up for me on shoots and he ignores the live birds and picks up the dead ones. My friends dog is a nightmare and chases and kills pheasants and anything else it can find. It obviously enjoys the chase and kill and is now not used as a gun dog because it can't be trusted. I would say keep your dog away from your chickens in future because she now knows she can do it and you'll never be able to trust her that she might not do it again. She might not associate the thrill of the chase with cats, rabbits, etc but personally I wouldn't take the risk.

My dog got a chick (about 20 weeks) once. My fault, I had him on a very short lead to introduce him to them (on advice of someone on MN), thinking I had control, but forgetting he has an 'Inspector Gadget' neck.

He grabbed a chicken in his mouth, so very quickly. Fortunately, I was able to shake his collar enough while shouting 'leave' to make him drop her.

If he was let loose with chickens there is no doubt in my mind that they would die. He shakes and tears at his toy giraffe, so I can't see how a chicken would be any different.

It's an awful thing to have happened and I do sympathise, but it needn't change how you view your dog, or your commitment to having vulnerable small animals. It is just a practical issue of making sure that there is no possibility of contact between the two.

I guess that with a part-lab you might have started from the idea that her kill-instinct was relatively low, and feel sad that it has now had quite a powerful reinforcement. I have a terrier, so I started from a view of him as a little murderer (which he has lived up to out and about on walks). But it has been quite easy to keep small pets. His level of arousal in the presence of hamsters, guinea pigs, pet birds, became gradually less and less, so that he wasn't looking for ways to access them. He would still kill them in a flash if we slipped up and allowed contact, but there is no constant tension. I'm sure that with training you could reduce your dog's level of reaction to the chickens despite the earlier incident.

When i had a springer she caught and injured a squirrel which I had to finish off on a walk and then later caught a pigeon, I suspect both were ill/injured in some way as she wasn't the fastest of dogs.
She was,however, terrified of cats and of my DD's hamster so not a natural born killer.

I'd maybe do some refresher dog training to ensure she remembers her commands. Other than that I think she's just a dog. I wouldn't advertise what's happened with friends though tbh....

One of our collies scalped a chicken once. She lived to tell the tale for another 5 years. Ddog followed the birds around the garden for the rest of his life and only once picked up another chicken and left her for dead. Again she lived. So... he was never entirely trustworthy around chickens, but not really what could be described as a confirmed killer. His attempts failed.

Our collie cross once accidentally killed one of my hens - she got a bit carried away - she knew she shouldn't. The other, younger collie cross never killed any of the hens - but she would slaughter any wildlife that she came across - particularly rabbits - but she got the odd pigeon and pheasant too. This is what dogs do.

My current dog had to be desensitised to the chinchilla over a long period - the chin is now back in the sitting room (in her cage) and the dog normally ignores her. But we had to barricade the door of the room we moved the chin to when we first got the dog as we didn't want her breaking into the cage and killing her.

So your colleague is right - she is a killer - but that doesn't stop her being a lovely pet, and it doesn't mean that she's dangerous when out or anything. If she's never shown any aggression to small fluffy dogs, having killed the pigeons and the chicken won't suddenly change that.

Our old spaniel/colliex would regularly catch and kill rats, he caught and killed a hare once

We have cats which he never dared to look at....they were all excellent at dealing with uppity puppies. And we have had a rabbit who used to malinger about the garden without ending up in the dog's mouth. Also have chickens and he never bothered about them

To be fair I wouldn't have trusted him alone in the garden with the rabbit, but dogs are dogs. I doubt your dog is going to run riot and start offing children and pensioners at will.

My Best friends JRT killed chickens given half a chance. In the end the dog stayed and her DM gave up on chickens. They trashed her attempt at giving the farm house a garden as well as been eaten by the dog.

Personally I'd have kept the chickens and got rid of the dog. He pulled me about by my shoelaces as a little girl and growled at me when we both got older.

It is natural though. I mean, my dog is a terrier. He is designed to shake small furries by the neck.

My dog was born on a farm where his father, a whippet, was kept to cull the rabbits that were eating the crops.

He's nearly six now and can't be trusted anywhere around small furries. He's so fast he catches squirrels, rabbits, rats etc. If I let him off lead in the countryside I can guarantee he will be back with a rabbit in his mouth within 5 minutes.

So I know what he's like. It's an instinctive prey drive for him and there's nothing I can do to change this. He's lovely with people and ok with other dogs as long as they don't do the dominant thing of getting on his back.
Ok with cats too, especially if they stand their ground and don't run.

I just have to be aware of his prey drive and avoid situations where some other poor creature is likely to wind up dead!