Hey everyone i desperately need some advice on what to do about a very sad situation. i recently visited a friend of a friends house and was disgusted to find their dog daisy, a pure bred border collie who is 8 months old, on a chain that is about 2 metres long and she hasnt been taken off it in 2 weeks. her owners are chicken farmers and since daisy killed two chickens, most prob due to boredom cause she is never stimulated, they have tied her up and not gone near her other than to feed her. they have now got a new puppy and dont want to know her. I have a 10 month old desexed staffy cross ridge female (who is an absolutely gorgeous terror) and am wondering if getting daisy (who is completely untrained) will send me backwards with training my dog, and is it ever possible to get chicken killing out of their system. I am willing to spend the time to do it, however i am def not a wizard at dog training. Are dogs ever too old to re-train?

No, dogs are never too old to re-train, however, there are some bad habits that are much more difficult to correct than others. Let's address the problems one at a time. I don't know whether or not chicken killing is a habit that can be broken or not. Usually, when a dog, (or any carnivore, for that matter) tastes blood for the first time, they are usually hooked. The only solution to the killing of chickens may be to keep her away from them, or find her a home where there are no chickens. As for bringing the dog into your home, with your fairly young dog, I think that you will have your hands full, and then some, trying to train both. That being said, I don't think it is impossible, but I do think that it will be very time consuming and difficult, it all depends on how much time you have to spend with them, and how committed you are to making it work. Will it set your current dog back in training...maybe, again, depends on the time and commitment you can put into the task. It may be necessary to bring in a professional dog trainor or behaviorist to help in the task of "untraining Daisy". The best thing for Daisy might be to call the animal shelter, or police department, and lodge a complaint, and get her to a new home that she can be loved and trained without having to be in a multiple dog home, far away from chickens. Whatever you choose to do, I would do it fairly quickly, as the quicker she is removed from this situation that she is in now, the better. Every day is adding more to the matter of re-training her. Good luck, and let us know how things turn out!

does she have a box & can she reach it to get in? get familiar with your cruelty laws & perhaps that is the way to go. report them to AC or the Humane Society if they are in violation

getting her spayed immediately is paramount. is there any way you can find out who the breeder is? if so contact them & ask what their contract says. if they have no contract, or got the dog from a pet shop - forget it.

killing 2 chickens does not make her a seriel killer. no that doesn't mean she will continue to kill, not that she won't ever, she was probably hungry

If you want her and are willing to take the time to train her. I would take her. Just keep her away from chickens and you should be fine. And if you have chickens, try first teaching her to be soft mouthed. I have a hunting dog and she is very soft mouthed. Even when she gets a bird when we don't want her to she doesn't kill it and just brings it to us. Try teaching her that so even if she gets a chicken she won't kill it. The other behavior problems are going to be easy to correct....

Agreed with LadyA

[lil mutt]

There are dogs that are hard to train but like what someone said here there are dogs that are never too old to re-train. You have to be patient and consistent if you want to correct behavior problems specially bad habits that's been there for a long time.

hey all i just wanted to let you know daisy has a home! i asked around and found an old farmer who has 2 very well trained dogs and who was willing to take on daisy even with her problems. he has tonnes of land for her to run wild on, chickens that are safely contained and he is sure he is capable of re-training her. i picked her up from her old home and delivered her myself and am sure she has gone somewhere good. thank god for a good story for a change. thanks all for your help, and im pretty sure it would have been too much for me to handle.

Originally Posted by chelz

hey all i just wanted to let you know daisy has a home! i asked around and found an old farmer who has 2 very well trained dogs and who was willing to take on daisy even with her problems. he has tonnes of land for her to run wild on, chickens that are safely contained and he is sure he is capable of re-training her. i picked her up from her old home and delivered her myself and am sure she has gone somewhere good. thank god for a good story for a change. thanks all for your help, and im pretty sure it would have been too much for me to handle.

That's great news, Congratulations to Daisy!

It was great to hear a good outcome. Thanks for saving this girl!

Its really a great news. Congrats!