Fix'd

[Kitsune Muggy]

I have a seven year old Cocker Spaniel named Zander. Adopted him when he was a puppy. He's been a pretty good dog. His picture is in the spoiler.

Well, today, he got out and killed a handful of baby chicks and I wasn't aware of it until my sister came in screaming at me about the whole mess. First time he EVER got out of the yard and first time he EVER killed anything. He got spanked for both going after said baby chicks (pointing his nose at one of said babies while doing so) AND for getting out of the yard in the first place (pointing his nose at the hole in the fence he used to get out before I fixed it). I had quite a few people tell me that this was enough and he probably got the message.

My sister and I got into it because she claimed I needed to kill him even though this is the first time ever doing something like this. Said scaring him within an inch of his life doesn't work even though Zander wouldn't even LOOK at a chicken afterwards.

Any advice on what I need to do here?

My mom said this is an easy fix. Just gotta go out and fix the fence where he's getting out at. Once I locate it. And, yes, I still have my dog.

[Flutter Fox]

Poor dog, he's just doing what comes natural.

Are the chicks housed properly? I would make sure they are securely fenced in and check regularly for safety.
Make sure Zander is supervised everytime he goes outside even leashed to you for his safety.

If not, rehome him he doesn't deserve to die or be scared half to death.

[o-o_TeaThyme_o-o]

Dogs don't really associate things like people do, so pointing his nose at something and spanking him probably just confused the hell out of him, unfortunately. He might associate a specific area with bad things, but overall I don't really agree with spanking a dog. They just don't get it and it causes them unnecessary stress. I prefer positive training methods...

As for your particular problem, is there any particular reason that he would be getting over to where the chickens are again? You said he got through a hole in the fence, so I'm guessing that if you just made sure that didn't happen again he would be fine? It's a pretty natural instinct for a dog to go after something like a chick (not all dogs will do it, but I can't really blame them), so I really don't know how to go about this except for prevention. I've heard the old saying that a dog that kills chickens will always kill chickens, but I have no idea if that holds up in our modern understanding of dogs and training. Hopefully someone else can give you a better idea there, if you really can't keep him away from chicks forever.

[Shanna66]

You cant get mad at him for being a meat eating animal that killed something. Just make the fence tougher and work harder to keep the chicks safe

[Erin puppy]

Shanna66

You cant get mad at him for being a meat eating animal that killed something. Just make the fence tougher and work harder to keep the chicks safe

this.
the dog didn't mean to upset anyone. a dog would not be born knowing that this behavior is 'wrong' (it's only wrong in humans way of thinking)

if you would like to try and teach your dog to act a certain way, take him out on leash and show him around outside, show him the chickens, etc, help him to be calm and not touch things like chicks, reward him for not eating the chicks, staying back, being calm.
dogs dont have the same 'right and wrong' thinking as we do. if you want a dog to act a certain way, you've got to show him the right way. dont just punish him when he messes up and then expect him to guess what is the right thing to do. dogs don't understand opposites either. they aren't going to realize that the opposite of eating chicks is to NOT eat chicks. this is why punishing doesn't usually result in the better behavior

[Kitsune Muggy]

Flutter Fox

Poor dog, he's just doing what comes natural.

Are the chicks housed properly? I would make sure they are securely fenced in and check regularly for safety.
Make sure Zander is supervised everytime he goes outside even leashed to you for his safety.

If not, rehome him he doesn't deserve to die or be scared half to death.

Nope. Chicks aren't housed properly. My sister's boyfriend INSISTS on them being free roam. Then wonders why animals are always attacking them. Even his own dogs.

I figured I'd just start keeping him inside and take him on a leash. It'll be difficult with me going to camp next week and my mom working.

Probably even considering having someone babysit him for me while I'm gone. Just so I can guarantee he won't be dead when I get back.

[SHD]

Erin puppy

Shanna66

You cant get mad at him for being a meat eating animal that killed something. Just make the fence tougher and work harder to keep the chicks safe

this.
the dog didn't mean to upset anyone. a dog would not be born knowing that this behavior is 'wrong' (it's only wrong in humans way of thinking)

if you would like to try and teach your dog to act a certain way, take him out on leash and show him around outside, show him the chickens, etc, help him to be calm and not touch things like chicks, reward him for not eating the chicks, staying back, being calm.
dogs dont have the same 'right and wrong' thinking as we do. if you want a dog to act a certain way, you've got to show him the right way. dont just punish him when he messes up and then expect him to guess what is the right thing to do. dogs don't understand opposites either. they aren't going to realize that the opposite of eating chicks is to NOT eat chicks. this is why punishing doesn't usually result in the better behavior

This.

If your sister's boyfriend doesn't want to have the chickens/chicks in a safe area. Then he should expect dead chickens/chicks. Either make an area suitable for the chickens/chicks that the boyfriend accepts, or tell him to do it himself. Your dog's natural instincts will not go away without you training him how to behave correctly around chickens/chicks. But even then, accidents happen and prey drive can take over. It is best for all involved to just have the chickens/chicks housed in a special yard with secure fencing away from the dogs.

[Flutter Fox]

Kitsune Muggy

Flutter Fox

Poor dog, he's just doing what comes natural.

Are the chicks housed properly? I would make sure they are securely fenced in and check regularly for safety.
Make sure Zander is supervised everytime he goes outside even leashed to you for his safety.

If not, rehome him he doesn't deserve to die or be scared half to death.

Nope. Chicks aren't housed properly. My sister's boyfriend INSISTS on them being free roam. Then wonders why animals are always attacking them. Even his own dogs.

I figured I'd just start keeping him inside and take him on a leash. It'll be difficult with me going to camp next week and my mom working.

Probably even considering having someone babysit him for me while I'm gone. Just so I can guarantee he won't be dead when I get back.

Can he stay at a friends house while you're gone? It really sounds like Zander is in danger since youre sister is not backing down with the chicken housing. Like what's stopping your sister from putting him down when the babysitter goes home?

[Kitsune Muggy]

Flutter Fox

Kitsune Muggy

Flutter Fox

Poor dog, he's just doing what comes natural.

Are the chicks housed properly? I would make sure they are securely fenced in and check regularly for safety.
Make sure Zander is supervised everytime he goes outside even leashed to you for his safety.

If not, rehome him he doesn't deserve to die or be scared half to death.

Nope. Chicks aren't housed properly. My sister's boyfriend INSISTS on them being free roam. Then wonders why animals are always attacking them. Even his own dogs.

I figured I'd just start keeping him inside and take him on a leash. It'll be difficult with me going to camp next week and my mom working.

Probably even considering having someone babysit him for me while I'm gone. Just so I can guarantee he won't be dead when I get back.

Can he stay at a friends house while you're gone? It really sounds like Zander is in danger since youre sister is not backing down with the chicken housing. Like what's stopping your sister from putting him down when the babysitter goes home?

I don't have anyone that isn't going with me to camp to watch him. I wish I could take him with me but I can't.

Mom's got tomorrow off though. I think, so long as I leave a note or something telling her to take him out on a leash and kennel him up when she's gone, I think he'll be fine. The other half of the fence is so mangled with wild sunflowers that I can't get a better look at it until we either clear them out (which Mom will not allow) or they die on their own. And I am thinking about asking a family friend to check in on him on her way to work when Mom isn't working. Make sure he's alright and such.

[Latrans]

Hitting him won't do anything. Keep him separate from the chickens.

[Literatic]

Kitsune Muggy

Probably even considering having someone babysit him for me while I'm gone. Just so I can guarantee he won't be dead when I get back.

If you can't find a babysitter.. don't go to camp?
I couldn't leave any of my animals at home while I went off somewhere without being 1OO%
sure that they were safe and well looked after. I think the animal should come first.

[Keyona]

beating an animal will just make the issue worse.

hey looking at that thing, or being near that thing makes the humans freak out... I should get rid of it so it can't hurt me.

[q2k]

He definitely doesn't deserve to die for killing some chicks. He's a dog, they're natural hunters. He also did not deserve to be spanked. Hitting a dog will never help them learn to behave properly and should never be a go-to for any situation. You're not going to make him know it's wrong, to him you're just showing aggression toward him for doing something that came naturally and if he may become fearful or aggressive toward you or people in general as result.

Just work better on keeping him away from the chickens, as everyone else said.

[irideae]

Honestly, I had a foster that never stopped wanting to take a bite out of the chickens. Prevention is the only fail-safe measure.

ETA: Also, that's a bird-hunting dog. You might find it impossible to train the bird out of him.

[Kitsune Muggy]

Literatic

Kitsune Muggy

Probably even considering having someone babysit him for me while I'm gone. Just so I can guarantee he won't be dead when I get back.

If you can't find a babysitter.. don't go to camp?
I couldn't leave any of my animals at home while I went off somewhere without being 1OO%
sure that they were safe and well looked after. I think the animal should come first.

Well, he got out while I was gone and killed more babies. Fortunately, Mom had a few days off so he wasn't always home by himself. And she said she will not let my sister's boyfriend or my sister touch him because these chickens are fighting chickens and they're not worth anything. She said there's a hole in the fence somewhere and, one of these days, I need to figure out where he's getting out at for his own safety.

I'm going to do it sometime next week when I'm not STILL unpacking and doing laundry from camp.