Preventing a dog from attacking livestock animals is part of being a responsible dog owner, and has nothing to do with being labeled as a dog hater or a dog lover. This is similar to a responsible parent preventing their child from entering a busy street in front of their home. Does this mean that a parent should be labeled as someone who hates or loves children? Absolutely not. Yet there seems to be a myth that the majority of dogs are physically and behaviorally incapable of killing livestock, with many owners feeling their pet dogs are being falsely accused. Is this also true? Absolutely not.
Truth be known, statistics show us that well-fed dogs from suburban homes near attack sites are usually responsible for killing or attacking livestock. That dog may be as small as a Silky Terrier or as large as a Great Dane, either alone or in a pack. These dogs are usually friendly and approachable by people, which is why approximately 90% of all dog owners refuse to believe their dogs have ever attacked or killed livestock.
What owners need to understand is that no matter how much they dress their pet dogs in human clothing or treat them like a member of the family, their dog will still remain a dog with the normal instinctive behavior of a dog, such as chasing and attacking. Unfortunately, there is not one dog that is not capable of chasing, tracking and retrieving everything in front of them. And unfortunately, it is not always a Frisbee or a ball. With livestock this game can turn to grabbing, killing or biting an animal of what they consider as prey. Chasing prey is instinctively rewarding to the attacking dog, as all livestock will run out of fear.
RULES FOR DOG OWNERS To prevent the family dog from attacking livestock, there are certain rules to follow to show responsibility:
1. Keep the dog fenced in at all times with a secure fence or keeping them inside the home when not supervised. 2. All restrained or confined dogs will require adequate exercise. 3. Show responsibility for your dog, as most dogs that escape is through the carelessness of the owner. a. It can be from open gates b. It canbe from insecure fences c. It can be from extremely low fences d. They can be unrestrained without fencing at all e. They can be unrestrained through the forgetfulness of owners 4. Do not allow the dog to run in the morning without supervision, as this is the time most livestock attacks occur. Killing takes less than an hour to happen. 5. Prevent any all-night roaming episodes. Typical roaming for dogs occur from the time their owners retire and then when they awaken in the morning. 6. Roaming is normal for unsprayed or un-neutered dogs when they mature, so having them taken care of will eliminate this. 7. Dogs who roam can be shot, impounded, and poisoned.
8. Dogs who roam can pick up diseases from other animals.
The thing to recognize is that all dogs who attack livestock may eventually be impounded and killed by authorities. So preventing the family dog from playing or visiting a livestock location may save their life. Even livestock owners have had their own dogs put down due to killing or attacking their livestock after several years of doing nothing. Only certain dogs who are trained and supervised to work with livestock should be around them, such as herding dogs-not the neighborhood Chihuahua or untrained Blue Heeler whose instinct is to chase but does not quite know how. Remember that dogs who are attacking have fun attacking whether they are pets or wild dogs. Yet they never kill for fun, returning to the same attack sight the same as predator animals.
When a pet dog attacks livestock, not always are the animals killed instantly. The dog or dogs have a tendency to run them to death. This is done by chasing the animal through barbed-wire fencing, the stress of being chased causing early births or aborting the fetus in pregnant livestock, or causing the livestock to enter highways or roads where both the attacking dog and the livestock may be killed.
Dogs who attack livestock may cause their owners misery through the attackings causing the owners' raising or cancellation of their home insurance policies, fines for ignoring leash laws or dogs running at large, or fines for having an attack dog-eventually having that dog destroyed. Dogs that attack livestock are off their property, chasing and destroying livestock who are on their property which is fenced in. It is a pretty much a cut-and-dried case against the pet's owner in court, who should have been responsible enough to keep their beloved dog at home and protected.