Livestock Guardian Dogs?? Should I get one? (more pics)

[big brown horse]

I'm so sorry Diane.

 

[ksalvagno]

Sorry about your LGD. Hopefully someone can give you some tips on what to do.

 

[dianneS]

From what I've read, it's not uncommon for a LGD puppy to kill a chicken when they are still young. I'm just disturbed that he ate her.

I can tell by the location of the feathers that she most likely got lost and stuck inside the goat pen. She was a really skittish bird and her crest had grown so big that she couldn't see where she was going at all anymore. She probably started making quite a commotion and she was too tempting not to chase.

I've tried enticing him with other birds to see how he reacts, and possibly train him not to chase, but he shows no interest in them at all! He is housed right next to the chickens and when the chickens are free range, they go in the pen with him and along the outside of his fence, and he never even looks twice at them!

I'm hopin this was a one time thing provoked by that flakey bird and it won't happen again.

One thing is for sure, I won't be getting any more polish cresteds! It almost seems cruel to breed a bird that can't even see where she is going most of the time! I guess I should've trimmed her bangs.

 

[dianneS]

I fed the chickens right outside of his pen today. He acted like they weren't even there! He's never shown any interest in them before either??

I took one in the pen, he didn't even notice her. I can't seem to set up a scenario where he gets provoked so that I can correct him.

I hope it was a one time thing.

 

[big brown horse]

Are you 100% sure it was him?

 

[dianneS]

Oh, I'm pretty sure it was him. He took her into his crate to eat her! His crate was all full of feathers!

 

[dianneS]

Oh no, I think I may have a chicken killer on my hands.

I didn't get this pup in the first place to live directly with the chickens and be a chicken guardian, I just wanted a dog that would deter predators and be of a temperment that would make it unlikely that the dog would be capable of killing anything.

Well a goat got out a few days ago and the dog followed her. He acted like a typical sheepish guardian dog while he was on the wrong side of the fence, scared to death and wanted himself and his goat back on the other side!

A day or two after that, my husband found the dog loose again. This time my husband takes the dog on a little romp around the barn and gives him treats and hangs out with him. Ever since then, the dog has been escaping over and over! Digging under the fence. I found a dead chicken next to the pen today, but it must have been killed yesterday when they were free ranging, because nothing broke into the coop.

Today, the dog breaks out again. I find him ten feet from where I found the dead chicken, and all of my other chickens are on the opposite side of the road! They never go over there, and never ever all of them all at once!!

I put the dog on a leash. I had to drag him outside of the fence, he acted like a typical sheepish LGD, didn't want to leave his goats. I put him in the corner of the barnyard on leash and threw some scratch for the chickens. Only a few would eat the scratch and once they spotted that dog, they high-tailed it out of there! I didn't even need a reaction from the dog, I could read the reaction from the chickens that they have had more than one bad experience with this guy!

I don't know what to do? Should I give him another chance? Stop free ranging my chickens? Put up electric fence to keep the dog in? I actually am at my wits end with containing him. This dog is about 85 pounds now, with a huge head. He managed to get out of a big heavy duty wire dog crate by bending the wire at the bottom to make a slot about four inches wide, and he sqeezed through that! He just digs a small bit of dirt under the fence and squeezes through a four inch gap there too!

What do I do?? My husband is sure that the dog is a chicken killer and wants to find him a home on a sheep or goat farm, with no chickens. I think he's still young and we could work on it. Maybe neutering him would help? I don't know, I'm so disappointed, he was doing so well.

 

[ksalvagno]

Is there someone in your area that could help you with training? Maybe a professional trainer that trains LGD's would be helpful.

 

[kimmyh]

I would run a hot wire to keep the dog in, and accept that chickens in the goat pen are probably fair game. Some people use a shock collar and set thing up to catch the dog in the act, but who has time to sit out there all day and night? Chasing chickens is an instinct it is part of the dogs genetic makeup to attack the panicked bird/prey, and I have never had any success in training one out of it.

 

[dianneS]

I could look around, but this woman who sold him to me and the lady with the Karakachan dog association told me that these dogs shouldn't require any training at all, they should instinctively know their job.

Right now, my main concern is just keeping him contained. He digs out under the fence, he has destroyed a huge heavy duty wire dog crate. I currently have him tied to a drag. A car tire that he can drag, but he's freaking out because he has never been tied before. He's muddy from digging and slobbery from panting, but I can't turn him loose or he'll just get out and get after my chickens! I can't get the chickens back inside until it gets dark either.

He's just becoming a destructive, nightmare of a dog all of a sudden!