Dog killed sheep

[gottobehavemyself]

I know how awful this is, trust me. I also know that it's not his fault - he should never have been in the position to kill the sheep.

My in laws' 18 month old german pointer got into the farmers' field and killed two sheep. He's previously killed a peacock. Is there any coming back from this? Can this be trained out of them?

He's partially trained for day to day stuff but still a real handful and unpredictable with regards to his recall. They've had dogs for years, trained big and similarly bred dogs from puppies but they have struggled with this one from day one. I think they've underestimated the breed in terms of size and strength, and over estimated their own ability, given their age and other commitments.

Really I want to know if this can be sorted out or if he needs to be euthanised. I (know nothing about dogs) suggested he's never off the lead and wears a muzzle in the short term while they figure out what to do. Anyone with any experience of a similar situation? Any helpful advice or stories welcome

Reading this thread you have to ultimately recognise there are many ways to meet each dog’s unique needs and it’s just got to fit in with the owner. Otherwise neither party is happy and it’s not a sustainable situation before something goes wrong, which is what seems to be the case here. So the canicrossers can think the protagonist can be rehomed as a canicross companion, while the rest feel this is impractical and not meeting the dogs needs, and both parties continue to speak at cross-purposes. I used to be a canicross instructor but decided it pushed my Vizsla’s threshold to the red zone unnecessarily. When I walk my three (all working breeds) I will introduce what I think they need at the time. Sometimes this means breaking up the pack and doing one on one work to develop the bond with me because they’re my responsibility. It’s time consuming but my dogs are motivated to understand me because they associate me with positive feelings. If they associated me with negatives (aversive measures) like DH, they wouldn’t be motivated to work with me or learn new things. They also learn through neuroplasticity - neurons that fire together wire together. Some wrong decisions won’t get them what they want! But it’s got to be a quick association or the connection isn’t there. Dogs don’t have a massive prefrontal cortex although they do have the ability to use inferential logic as the wonderful case of Chaser showed us. The puppy (my first retriever) I’ve found needs more fun play than the other two. So I’m having to be more spontaneous and observe for signs of boredom. I doubt there was any observation going on with the poor dog out of sight in a field, no wonder it decided to find something interesting to do… genes will find their way to be expressed and working with them is our best tool!

www.insideedition.com/chaser-the-smartest-dog-in-the-world-has-died-at-age-15-54821?amp

For @OllytheCollie as a fellow psych who may be interested to look up the study published that describes the method used! You may already have looked it up as a Collie owner; I’m seeing if I can do this with my puppy…. Although I doubt I’ll be an effective as John whose wife and daughters worked well with him as a team in their home. Everyone has to be on the same page and my DH is my confounding variable!

Your in laws are feckless dog owners and should not own a dog. I’d be reporting them ASAP to give the dog a chance of a decent owner and keep local livestock safe. There’s some really shit pet owners around. What next? A toddler?

I just don't value a dogs life more than a sheeps, it's not okay to have dogs ripping sheep apart because their owners can't control it. There is another thread on the go just now about recall and someone on there has said their dog almost snapped their long line 'in flight mode'. Long lines are not substitutes for actual training.

Honestly, my opinion is that if a dog who has been galavanting, chasing and eating things, it will absolutely seek out an opportunity to do that again.

Sent too fast.

If the OP's inlaws seriously care for the dog and want to keep it alive and also allow it to be a dog, they should seek a professional who has experience in dealing with run a way dogs and dogs who have worried and killed live stock. No 'positive only' trainer (whatever that means!) will likely be able to assist much.

A lot of people cringe at the thought of e collaring a dog but will read a story about yet another attack on live stock and just brush it off. It's not okay.

@ShouldIknowthisalready I have an interest in both live stock (involved in agriculture) and dogs.

This is so utterly sad. That poor dog and those poor sheep. All because two irresponsible people got a dog and didn’t put the work in and know how to manage it. And to try to blame the dog. You have to ask yourself just how ignorant these people are.

@ferociouslychristmas I think a lot of people who cringe at the idea of an e-collar have never seen one in use. Yes, they can be used very badly indeed, but they can also be humane and effective. I know a dog who is only off a longline because he was carefully trained with an e-collar. He has much more freedom and a much more relaxed realtionship with his owner as a result.