It has been an exhausting few days.
My boyfriend brought home a doggie for my birthday. Cute litttle chocolate lab to be buddies with our current dog. Before I even got home from work, he had killed Stella. He wasn't even in the back yard for a second before he charged her and snapped her neck. She was trying to make it to the wood pile to hide but never got there. She died twitching in Erics hands. We buried her thursday night by the veggie patch. She would have liked that.
Stella was my favorite little pullet. She was a barred rock with a ton of personality. She knew her name by god! I didn't think I'd ever have a chicken that knew her name. And I probably wont ever have one like her again. She loved to climb up my back and sit on my sholder. She loved tofu and grub worms (which made it impossible for my to garden for she practically stood on my hand the whole time waiting for the goodies I'd dig up.) She loved my petunias. She was burried with one.
Doodle was left alone without her sister, she didn't want me to touch her and stayed in her coop for the rest of the evening. When it was time to sleep, she slept alone where they usually perched together. The next morning she looked so sad I couldn't even bare to let her out of her coop and see her roaming out there alone. The dog hadn't been let outside at all. But he peed on my ottoman and I threw him out back and went to clean it up. I heard alot of barking all of a sudden and my other dog ran into the house very frightened. He ran upstairs and laid on the bed which is what he does when he knows we are about to be mad about something. I went out there and found doodle still in her coop, on the ground neck broken and twitching. I held her and she tried to open her beak and cheep but nothign came out. I left her on a pillow outside and ran in to call the vet. She was dead a second later.
Stella was the most beautiful Americauna I'd ever seen. And she was true Americauna with her ear tuffs and little beard. She was a beautiful mix of silver and redish brown. Neither of them got to lay an egg for us.
I cried all Thursday night and friday. Eric was called home form work and he took the dog back immediatley. I knew I could never trust it.
People think duh of course you can't trust a dog with chickens its their instinct to kill them. But these people obviously don't know anything about dogs or chickens. We have a black lab, flat coated retriever mix and he would never lay a paw on the chickens. We have three cats who like to watch the chickens peck around the yard but are only interested in chasing the wild birds that liek to come down and peck alongside the chickens. I can trust all of these animals to be around my chickens whether I am there or not. there was no way I could have ever trusted this dog. He jsut had this instinct to kill. Both times he wasn't chasing them to play, he went for blood.
So, last night we drove out to a small town near Sherman and adopted a beautiful great pyraneese pup that is 8 weeks old. I am told and have read that these are wonderful livestock watch dogs. This one was raised around goats and even has a head butt to prove it! lol. He has huge double dewed paws and judging by his daddy hes going to be around 130 pounds! He has beautiful blue eyes and we named him Moses.
I will start with a whole new flock next week. Very daunting to have to start from scratch again but I am hopeful. Live and learn....
Goodbye to my two little ladies.... you will be missed.
Good luck to you. I hope you quickly find love in your new pets. By the way, you have one of the best dogs. They are very smart, loyal, docile, and protective. Great choice!
I am so sorry, meg_e. I know how wonderful it is when you have formed a special bond with any animal and it is especially wonderful when that animal is something you don't expect that from.
Labs can be incredibly "active " and headstrong when they are puppies. But if you can bond your GP to the chickens as his duty to protect, it should work well. My Akbash has very much the same traits as a GP. They take a long time to mature--at 2 1/2 he is just starting to establish his dominance with the other dogs. Never let him chase the chickens, even in play. They are very serious dogs and when they know what their job is they are like rocks. But puppies do play and they can be pretty stubborn until they understand.
I hope you soon have a wonderful new flock....and a well behaved puppy!
I'm so sorry you lost your babies! Moses sounds like a great dog. It'll be exciting to see your new babies.
I've heard of those dogs catscan they are supposed to be very much like the pyrs. Its good to hear more good things about them and I'm hoping for the best.
Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes!
i am really sad for you about stella.... can i share some chickens with you? do you have aplace to get some?
tf
meg_e I am sorry to read about your two girls.
With the GP be a bit careful at first. They have hearts of gold but a great deal of strength and a very long puppyhood. They can get a bit too rough with poultry just because they don't know their own strength. I was warned by a GP breeder about this. Once they learn they'll be very good guardians for your flock.
Wish I could adopt 2 GP girls for my goat herd. So far all I've found is places to buy them at $300. each!
MollyD
Yikes! 300 is alot. If you feel like coming all the way to Texas for your pups these ppl are very nice and they have great dogs. Pure bred with their first set of shots for only $75.
I will be sure to be very careful with him around the chickens at first. He is such a sweety but knowing how big he gets I don't doubt he could crush a chicken without meaning harm. At what age should I introduce him to you think? I was just going to do it gradually until he was old enough to be on watch full time.
TF- how much do you want for you chickens? I was going to pick some more up from the feed and seed store close to me. they think they are getting a shipment tomorrow but they order from Ideal and apparently Ideal is out of everything at the moment! Who knew chickens were such a hot item. lol. No one in town has any chicks for sale right now.
Happy belated mothers day everyone!
I would expose him immediately with strict supervision. They bond tightest as puppies. Even putting his kennel near them would be helpful. And praise him for being a good boy. They don't respond at all well to harsh discipline. And they are very independent Just let him know what you want clearly and give him a lot of affection. They love to dig nice holes to rest in:0)
I use to take my Akbash to work with me everyday--but when it got too hot I started leaving him home with the other dogs--six months later he doesn't want to leave his yard without them. They become incredibly tied to their "herd" or "flock" and will patrol whatever area they are given religiously. He is still my big baby though--very loving and tender.
if you drove all the way here for them i wouldn't charge you. what do you want? i have some sweet bantams that are half grown...
meg_e I sure wish it was possible to go to Texas and get a pup but the gas would be more than just paying for one here :-)
From what I was told you start working with them and what you want them to guard right from the moment you get them. Given that he's too young to be gentle with them you sure can't have him move in with the chickens the way I would with the goats but you might try putting a hen or two in a cage and having him spend time with them that way. He's outside and they're inside. Something he can't knock over or reach into. That would get him started on getting use to them. Then once he's calm about that you might try with one calm hen when you are there to supervise. Hold the hen and make it plain to him that it's your chicken and he is not to bother it. If you can watch that Dog Whisperer video. he shows how to do it.
MollyD
He is very herd oriented I have noticed. He has to follow our other dog Charlie and do everything he does. At least thats made potty training a snap! He wants to make sure everyone is in the same room together or else he gets upset and whines if someone is missing. Hes just sucha cutie! We are positive reinforcement people so its all about the good boys and just re-diverting his attention if hes doing somehting we don't want him to. I just think positive reinforcement works best with all animals and people (must be my teacher training.)
Im also thinking that he'll see Charlie is very respectful and calm around the chickens and that he'll take up those characteristics to. He's so observant of Charlie and wants to do everything he does. Charlie loves to chase the ducks at the pond and he can swim forever. Well once moses saw charlie jump in he had to too. Hes only 8 weks old! Neither of us could believe he was swimming. He was just determined to be alble to do it if his big brother could. LOL! It was precious. We watched him like hawks making sure he didn't drown but he is very determined if he puts his mind to something and very independent. He's got to do it all himself! LOL
TF - I'll have to map quest fritch texas...
Oh how sad. Such a sad story, so so sorry.
i'm so sorry about the chicks....we lost 8 and 1 duck the same way when we tried to adopt two puppies from a rescue.....we have two pyrs and love them to death
any one who wants one check your local area for pyrs rescue groups and there are some nationwide that will provide transportation....our second one, livia, came from Tennessee and at the time we had to pay $100 on top of the adoption fee for them to bring her to west virginia where we used to live......any way, both of ours are rescues and that might open up some doors.....they do consider themselves lapdogs :-)
hey meg_e, i am goijng to LUbbock tomorrow. will go again in about a month. that is a little closer, depending on which side of Dallas you are actually on... also, i don't know how, but birds can be shipped. juvenilles are best, you can put cantelope slices and such in the box to give them food an dliquid. find my chick pics thread and you will see what i have. lots of JGs and JG/BA crosses too. they are beuatiful and still young!
tf