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New dogs!!

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We got 2 new dogs within the last month! A boxer and lab mix named Sassy, and a purebred registered american bulldog named Chula. Sassy came from a retirement home that did not want her anymore since she jumped on the old people and she is only a year old and already spayed and utd on shots. Chula came from a friend of a friend that is moving to lexington and can only keep 2 dogs and she is only 9 months old but not spayed yet and has had all her shots. They both like to chase cats but Sassy doesn't try to kill, Chula on the other hand is iffy about it but we think she is young enough to be trained to tolerate and behave around cats and chickens,but if she doesn't learn then we will have to return her to her owner. Both are sweeties. Sassy [img]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c143/Sn0wLe0pard/Animals/dogs%20cats%…] Chula [img]http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c143/Sn0wLe0pard/Animals/dogs%20cats%…]

critterkeeper Mon, 11/30/2009 - 17:40

How sweet - I hope it all works out for you and "the girls"... :flower

As for the American Bulldog, they aren't usually all that hard to train to ignore livestock...but when it comes to cats and chickens - I'm not so sure. Oh, and they DO have a dog-on-dog aggression issue that will need to be addressed while she is young. Be sure and socialize her as much as possible. I personally recommend 3-4 trips out with meeting 3-5 different individuals and dogs on each outing. I take Abby to TSC, Pet Sense, Pet Smart and our vet's office for visits every week - plus we have "puppy play dates" at my friend's doggy daycare/boarding kennel.

CMhorses Mon, 11/30/2009 - 17:55

Chula lived in a home with multiple dogs and we are slowly getting her used to our other dogs and the aggression is very apparent. We are still hoping she is young enough to work with as she is a sweet dog and her owner said she was the most loyal dog he had ever had. Hopefully if it all works out she will be an outside dog that hopefully can guard a few things but we will have to wait and see how she does with the chickens and cats.

Tianateke Tue, 12/29/2009 - 15:00

She should meet the "electric" chicken! The key is not in the first bite (although it will be spectacular) but in the thousands of times that come after, where she groves in the mental "I am never touching one of those again!" all by herself. No, "well, as long as the human is looking I'll be good" :lol:

critterkeeper Tue, 12/29/2009 - 20:10

"Electric Chicken?" :bounce can't say I have ever heard of that before :roll: - enlighten us...please :D .

CMhorses Wed, 12/30/2009 - 16:52

Lol I want to hear about this chicken!
Chula did get shocked when the guy brought her out. She grabbed a chicken right next to the electric fence, and got shocked so she thinks the chicken did it! As far as cats, she wants to play but she has never tried to kill one even if she gets them down (some of ours tolerate a dog putting their feet on them!). She is definitely an indoor dog and is a complete sissy outside in the cold, but we aren't sure if we are going to keep her in or out in the long run.

Tianateke Wed, 12/30/2009 - 17:35

Sweet! That's about how it goes...[u]Inside a small pen[/u] you make a chicken wire tube big enough for the chicken to lay down in, staple that to a plank with leather tethers for the chickens legs on one side, and a sheet of rubber on the other. Put the chicken in there and tie his legs together, set him down and let him get it figured out he isn't going any where. Crimp on the bare end of an insulated wire to the tubes wire, and run the other end around the corner to your fence charger (solid state, not pulsing, you wouldn't want to give the dog 3 seconds between pulses to chomp the chicken!)
Turn the power on, nonchalantly put the dog in the pen, AND LEAVE ( it is very important for the future chicken victims that the dog NOT associate Electric Chicken with you ) The chicken will be insulated by his board and his feathers, and the dog will provide the ground. It is highly unlikely that the dog will try more than once, (so use a chicken meant for the table anyway) but the important part is to repeat this set up EVERY DAY for an hour or more a week strait. The true lesson comes with the moment to moment NOOOO the dog repeats to himself, groving it into his own mind that Chickens are Electric. Having to sit in close proximity to his fondest plaything and repeat nononono to himself.

A collar might work also, but here the timing is PERFECT, and the dog gets zapped in the offending body part, not his neck. And no one is tempted to over correct, and no one has to be on duty the whole week, risking a miss to a chomp.

CMhorses Wed, 12/30/2009 - 22:24

Omg that is a great idea, I wonder if something similar could be used with cats. We were only lucky that the chicken was trying to run back into the pen and the hen was actually pinned between the strand of electric and the fence so the dog (and the hen, oops) got shocked. At least my little hen got shocked instead of killed though.

Tianateke Fri, 01/01/2010 - 16:18

Ummm, never had a cat killer. Had a cat [i]chaser[/i] in a Giant Schnauzer foster, but I never let it get far enough to find out if he really would eat it! Lots and lots of heeling through distractions work turned his focus from the chase to paying attention to MY movements.

I [i]might[/i] try Electric Rabbit with one meant for the table, but the way I understand it is that birds are not affected by electricity in quite the same way as non-feathered critters...I mean think about birds on a powerline vs. the horror of a parasailer in same situation. Hmmmm, how to do Electric Kitty...as you wouldn't want to have the cat bouncing off the inside of and electrified wire crate, even a feral. Small crate with wooden floor inside of slightly larger crate live wired? AND DON'T FORGET it's the days upon days of close proximity opportunity that make the aversion permenant with Electric Chicken.

critterkeeper Fri, 01/01/2010 - 20:41

My dear sweet Abby has played with kittens and cats from day one with no "accidents" or ill will on either participants part...well, some of the kitties did object to her wet slobbery kisses, but that's another story (she loves to lick and clean them just like their momma's did)... :love

Then out of the blue last night I heard an awful ruckus on the front porch, with lots of snarling and barking (I thought maybe she'd finally cornered my opossum, Junior). :? Hubby was the first out the door to see 15 week old Abby (pushing 60 lbs now) had a full grown male lab (about 80-90 lbs) pinned on the front porch...and she was growling at him like he was Satan himself. :o Once the poor pooch got up (I've been teaching her to fetch and to "release" upon command) we realized it was the same black lab that we'd seen chasing our cats the week before...Abby was protecting her "babies"...

From what we can figure out, the dog (who was NOT barking) chased the cats from around the side of the house and up onto the porch where Abby was snoozing (she does that a lot - that's where her "outside" bed is). She nailed him before he could even get past her bed. :hammer Well that poor dog hit the road and we haven't seen hide nor hair of him since...he was moving faster than a cat on a hot tin roof when he cleared our yard heading for parts unknown. :rofl