[Little jack]

  I just got home from the post office and looked out of our kitchen window to see my girl's being run raggaed by a neighbour's dog.On going out to try and catch the dog i saw it had been at my other neighbours chicken's and killed 2 already.It shot off at bolt neck speed with me in hot pursuit, over the fence  - along the bridleway and back though a hole in the fence, where it came from.
I quickly marched round the dog owners house,only be be told " she's so good and doesn't hurt a fly". I am now worried it going to come back for the other neighbour's 2 remaining chicken's as they free range, or try to get at mine.
Mine have an outside grass run area - so the dog couldn't get in - just kept circling it.
Do you think it will keep coming back?? And will my chooks stop laying though the truma they suffered.
Thanks jackie

[Foxy]

Irrespective of whether she thinks her dog "wouldn't hurt fly" she is duty bound to keep her dog under control, and that means NOT on other people's property.
Is there anyway you can get hold of your neighbour? Or pop their birds somewhere safe?
If you can record the dog in your garden that would be something you might find useful as evidence that the dog was not under the owners' control.

[Little jack]

 ???Thanks, yes ive put the neighbour's 2 chicken's back in there hen house until he return's home, as he was out when i went to report my finding's.

[Thrift]

How infuriating! Nothing worse than irresponsible pet owners.

You could start by nailing a board over the hole in his fence if that is the only place the dog is escaping from.

[Angus]

We had the same with a neighbours precious westie, we called the police and dog warden.  Hens are your property if they are killed you can press chrges for property damage and certainlky insist on their replacment or to be reinbursed at very least.  I have to say Northants police we GREAT and took it seriously.  Since their visit the dog has never been seen but the last episode he came into our garden at 3am throught the notorious hedge then after waking us all up proceeded to dig up our cat that had been buried under a rose bush 3 days prior.   So please report it you do not have to put up with any animal coming onto your property and killling your pets.

[Little jack]

 ???Thanks for your reply, i now worried after speaking to other neighbour's it turn's out this dog has already killed cockerl up the road and another neighbour's pet rabbit.I have been out this afternoon and the chap who own's the dog has repaired the hole in the fence.But given how many animal's the dog has now killed ,how long will it be before it stikes again !!! I wil deff be reporting it if it comes near any of mine and hopefully the neighbour will who lost the chicken's today.

[Elcie]

Sounds like it needs to be reported LittleJack.  If the dog has killed that many animals it doesn't sound like it is going to stop or the owner is going to stop it either.

Really sorry, would hate to have something like this.  I have a dog who gets pecked by the chickens occassionally but would be devasted if he killed my chickens, let alone a neighbours which would just be absolutely terrible.

[SMD66]

now the dog has discovered the 'sport' of killing small animals I would imagine it will try every which way to escape it's own garden and continue.

I would try to encourage your neighbour to report it to the police or dog warden to give the owner a wake up call and hopefully act more responsibly in the future.

[Sassy]

I am so  mad at people who think it is ok to let their dogs terrify all around them.  I am currently nursing my own dog who has suffered a broken leg whilst on the lead in an unprovoked attack fom another dog - the dog bit her leg and has broken two bones in it. It was set yesterday for the third time through no fault of the dogs or our own and we are now two weeks and three days after the original attack. The distress to all is phenomenal.

[Angus]

I am so  mad at people who think it is ok to let their dogs terrify all around them.  I am currently nursing my own dog who has suffered a broken leg whilst on the lead in an unprovoked attack fom another dog - the dog bit her leg and has broken two bones in it. It was set yesterday for the third time through no fault of the dogs or our own and we are now two weeks and three days after the original attack. The distress to all is phenomenal.

Not to mention the cost, we too have been there, just hope your pooch gets well soon with out too much pain and phychological damage.

[Caralou]

I would be absolutely furious if this was me! With the owner more than the dog itself. On occassion I have the neighbours dog wander in with me and the chooks - he's a massive german shepherd springer cross, and I've taght him to be wary and not attack the girls and the ducks, and he has even been found out there whimpering as they approached him to be defended by me  Sadly though, most dogs arent like this (especially not without training), it is natural for their prey reflex to kick in - hence they chase cats etc, which is just their nature.

This owner obviously doesnt care enough about your pets to train his own to stop this though He is also failing to keep his dog under control within his property - he must make sure his property is secure to stop this happening again. I'm so sorry for you and your neighbour whose birds were killed, it must have been an awful sight to come home to 

[death of rats]

I would point out nicely to the owner of the dog that it is their responsibility to keep the animal under control. You have witnessed it killing livestock and it attacked your animals on your property. It is your entitlement to protect your livestock from dogs out of control. . Farmers will shoot dogs worrying their sheep.
If you make this clear to the owner of the dog and point out it is his responsibility under the  Control of Dogs act, he might get the message.

I have 2 large dogs which are always under control. It is only fair to them. I have chickens and they need to be safe.
If a dog chases small squeaky animals, which is instinct, then a small running squealing child is also fair game.
A dog that goes out hunting like this one has done is dangerous.

As to the person whose dog was attacked and the leg broken. What happened to the attacking dog? Again this is a dangerous dog and has to be dealt with.

[Angus]

it is the instinct of some dogs to hunt and chase smaller or even larger animals, bye the same token it is my instinct to prevent it from doing so, "when it happened to us all 3 times I caught the dog before any real damage was done my girls were however attacked tail feathers ripped out and shook up but they managed to jump and fly out of the way while I caught the dog" but I tell you if it happens again that dog will be taken somewhere far away where it will never find its way back home.  Sorry if it offends some poeple but thats what happens when instinct kicks in, oh don't forget we have a little girl who is nearly 3 she has been knocked down already by this dog in our garden and had quite a nasty cut to her leg and her arms scratched by its nails.

[8doubles]

I would point out nicely to the owner of the dog that it is their responsibility to keep the animal under control. You have witnessed it killing livestock and it attacked your animals on your property. It is your entitlement to protect your livestock from dogs out of control. . Farmers will shoot dogs worrying their sheep.
If you make this clear to the owner of the dog and point out it is his responsibility under the  Control of Dogs act, he might get the message.

I have 2 large dogs which are always under control. It is only fair to them. I have chickens and they need to be safe.
If a dog chases small squeaky animals, which is instinct, then a small running squealing child is also fair game.
A dog that goes out hunting like this one has done is dangerous.

As to the person whose dog was attacked and the leg broken. What happened to the attacking dog? Again this is a dangerous dog and has to be dealt with.

The highlighted sentence is not accurate as most hounds, gundogs and terriers are trustworthy with small children especially compared to guard dog or fighting dog breeds.

Lets not chuck all animal chasing dogs in the demon basket.

[Caralou]

It is not as much the breed as the training by the owener. As a child my grandparents had a jrt who would chase anything, but protected children, me included, and could be left totally safe with me (no matter what I did the poor dog would let me get away with it  ). Jrt's are snappy little breeds on the whole, but good training can change that. The same for a friend's Staffy who is the true nanny dog, she would protect their child with her life. The dog in question here needs to be controlled by his owner and if continues to do this I can see someone taking control of this situation themselves - you are right, if this was in a farm the dog would likely have been shot for worrying the animals.

How were your neighbours when they returned? Also, hope you are okay Little Jack as this must have been a horrible stress for you