# Has one of your dogs ever done something that horrified you?



## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Darla gave me quite the surprise today. Not a pleasant one. She has always been great and completely trustworthy with any animal. She mingles with my rabbits and chickens, and used to lay guard by the baby chicks. Well, today she and Quinn were outside. The chickens were milling around the feeder with several of the newly hatched chicks. I heard a commotion from the birds and looked up. Darla had jumped into the middle of them and grabbed a chick. I was yelling at her to drop it but she ate it. The whole thing was upsetting to me. It just seemed sort of brutal, to grab a baby from the mama's. Now I am worried I can't trust her. I am confused as to why she suddenly changed. I don't think it has anything to do with Quinn. He just stood back and watched her.

I am trying not to feel angry, but like I said,the whole thing was upsetting to you. Anybody ever have to deal with their dog doing something that seems cruel to them?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

One of our dogs attacked one of our cats on Christmas eve this past year. We ended up euthanizing him. So yes, I can sympathize with this. We will never own cats again. 

It took a long time for me to not be internally upset. We still don't know who it was because we were all asleep when it happened. 

I would keep Darla separated from your chickens from here on out.


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

Poor Darla. I really think we expect way to much from our dogs sometimes. I think I trust my dogs like you do BUT it is important to remember that they are just dogs. I would be shocked if my dog did this too though. Many of my dogs have a powerful prey drive. So far we control it with a command such as "leave it". We are not always home though and even if we are, we are not always watching their every move. I know how bad you must feel and would feel the same way.


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Oh, I am so sorry about your incident. That must have been horrible. 
I had dogs growing up who got out and killed our ducks. I was upset, but didn't feel as mad at them because I hadn't learned to trust them. It is diffrent tome with a dog whom youhave grown to trust.

I am thinking I may have to get rid of the chickens now.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Is there no way for you to keep them separate?


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Lisa_j said:


> Poor Darla. I really think we expect way to much from our dogs sometimes. I think I trust my dogs like you do BUT it is important to remember that they are just dogs. I would be shocked if my dog did this too though. Many of my dogs have a powerful prey drive. So far we control it with a command such as "leave it". We are not always home though and even if we are, we are not always watching their every move. I know how bad you must feel and would feel the same way.


Yeah, maybe I am expecting too much from her. It's just that she's pretty much always been a "working" dog. I wouldn't trust most dogs around livestock. She is a guardian breed and has always had a strong desire to tend to her flock. She is sulking right now because she can't get next to the coop to sleep in her normal spot.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

it might seem cruel to you but to the dog
it's natural. i would keep the dog away from
the chickens from now on.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Some of my friends who keep chickens use an electrified fence on _very low_ voltage - just enough to surprise the dog, not hurt or injure the dog. They even tested it out on themselves, first. It only took one shock to keep their dog away from the chickens, and now they don't need to turn on the fence.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm so sorry to hear about both your stories. 
When I was a teenager, my dog somehow got into the neighbours duck pen. She quite literally massacred a bunch of them. When I went to pick her up, I don't know how to explain it really, its like she was in a blood frenzy, Her eyes were glassy, she wouldn't acknowledge me, she was panting excessively and restless. I was quite shocked as other than her looks, I didn't recognise her. Took her a while to settle down and turn back into the puppy I knew. 
Felt hell of a sorry for the bloke next door, our saving grace was that it was illegal to have livestock in the town boundaries, but I shudder to think what would have happened otherwise.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Our little terrier Puck did this to my grandfathers chicks. We were visiting his farm and Puck dug his way into the chicken coop and killed quite a few chicks. I've never let him around birds or mice again. If they squeak he may go into terrier mode. I had to try to reason with my grandfather about why Puck did it, terriers were bred to do exactly what Puck did. Hunt down and kill small creatures like that. :/ It sucks big time. I'm really sorry for your loss of the chick. Try to keep your girl away from them, I think what Spoo suggested is a really good idea for something like this...


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

If she is a guardian breed, I'm not sure what breed she is? and she has been watching over this brood for awhile isn't it possible that she searched this particular chick out, just throwin that possibility out there that maybe there was something wrong with this chick!


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## FL Cracker (May 4, 2011)

Well it upset the Mrs's more than me...but over a month and a half ago...Dawn (Nope not who... HaHa) let the dog's out...and about 3 min later I hear some screaming and Dawn comes into the house upset...dog's in tow. CoCo looked surprised...yet anxious...Bart looked like his usual self. Dawn tells me to get out there and "get it...take care if it".
I find a baby rabbit with a broken leg that CoCo found and brought to the patio. She was pretty happy yet confused about it (this was before CoCo was on the raw diet) The rabbit was trying to scramble...but could not. It was pretty much done...as the force of Coco's bite got the best of it...so I snapped it's neck and honestly if CoCo was on a raw diet...probably would have cleaned it and gave it to her. I'm just not real familiar with the rabbit's down here in FL...due to the heat.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Never had anything happen really, but we have to keep our little parrot caged when Bishop is eating.. he eats in his kennel and Bijou is small enough to slip through the bars of it. He will sit on the bone and alternate taking chunks out of it and trying to bite the dog. Bishop starts snarling.. normally he is fine with the bird but I guess when something tiny with a sharp beak has cornered you in your own kennel and is stealing your food and trying to attack you it's a bit different! He has no guarding tendencies otherwise.

Danemama I'm so sorry for your loss. That would devastate me. I'm a cat person.. if one of my dogs did that I don't know what I would do. It's why I am only considering small breeds..


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

I talked to a couple of people who raise pyrenees today. They said it is not at all unusual for a dog to go after chicks.They said they think they see them almost more like an insect or rodents of some sort rather than something to protect. I have the remaining chicks and their moms in a run right now. Despite this incident, I think it is pretty much hard wired into Darla to be a guardian dog. The little while I had her separated she did nothing but pace and whine.


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