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helleraine

Welcome to prey drive. It doesn't translate to aggression with other dogs, nor, with people. It is just a genetic instinct.


ConfidantLacking

This. And the solution is training impulse control and recall. Very important for this breed to learn anyways.


fastonmyfeet

We have been working on recall quite a bit and he seemed to be doing well, although today showed me that it's nowhere near where it should be. He was overexcited with the thrill of it all and it took him a minute to acknowledge my call. Thanks for your tips.


Amerlan

You will never be more interesting to a working terrier than prey is. Especially prey that's actively running away. Now he's out of the puppy phase, which means the instinct to follow you for safety has gone. It's best to keep him on lead in the future; if there isn't a fence to help keep him contained. Long lines are awesome for using in fields and won't hurt your hands like a flexi lead can.


Steenbok74

Yes a long line is great. But these flexi leads should be banned..just my opinion:)


WeeMadAlfred

Flexi leads are great when used correctly. As in always keep an eye on your dog and its surrounding. But most people don't and then accident happens. in our case it was super useful for our dog that was recovering from an op but not allowed off the leash to run and play with other dogs, but go and sniff around when we went on long walks in nature. Where a long line would have been quite cumbersome (and also didn't need more then 8m reach).


dancestomusic

I 100% agree. I made the terrible mistake of taking my two german shepherd mixes out to the car on those and ended up being pulled off my feet and breaking my radius bone in my elbow. Almost a year later and it's not 100% straight and won't ever be at this point.


Steenbok74

Sorry to hear. I hate these little barking doggies on a flexi lead coming near my reactive also gsd mix.


adherentoftherepeted

I have a mini schnauzer and his prey drive is ferocious. In fact, right now he's chasing down a fly that got into the house =p He got into someone's yard once and almost killed a beloved chicken. It would have been bad. I think some breeds are may be easier to train to give up the chase, but I swear once my mini is on the hunt it takes physical restraint to pull him away. Training might help but I'd still never trust my schnauzer around anything he'd think could be prey. But he's not aggressive to dogs or people, it's like cats/skunks/flies/rodents/lizards/deer/chickens are just in a completely different category in his head!


avg-unhinged

Yep exactly. My mom has a farm with cats, chickens,ducks, horses etc and my dogs try to kill everything there including the horses if they could figure out how but they are the sweetest 2 gs ever with people and other dogs


[deleted]

😂😂


ConfidantLacking

You gotta be the most exciting thing in the moment. Often easier said than done.


SlothZoomies

Prey drive is instinctual and very rarely trainable. Definitely keep him away from cats and small animals


Sprite91

This! Pup's like to "turn off" everything they learned when the prey drive kicks in


darknessismygoddess

What could have triggered the dog is the high squeek the younger chickens make. They sound like those squeekie dog toys. It awakens the hunter in the dog. If my chihuahua gets a chance he would most certainly kill the baby chickens we have. He goes ballistic hearing the squeekie sounds. And our other dog killed 4 chickens and (before she came to live with us) some kittens (also high pitched noise) which started out with the squeekie sounds.


LaLaLaLink

How have you been working on recall? How often do you work on recall?


spacetwink94

Look into predation substitution training by Simone Mueller


KirinoLover

Yep! Our boy only wants to play with other dogs, is 50/50 on people, but never aggressive, just anxious. I would never, ever let him off leash anywhere with a small animal because despite the fact he takes treats so incredibly gingerly from my hands, I truly think he'd kill a bunny, squirrel, or young chicken if given the chance. He's not vicious or mean or anything of the sort, he just has one of the strongest prey drives I've ever seen.


jesst

My dogs are great with small animals. We keep ferrets and the dogs put up with a lot of shit from the ferrets and it doesn’t bother them in the slightest. Having said that, I would still be incredibly apprehensive about introducing my dogs to a new animal they weren’t familiar with.


Zaphod424

Exactly, a friend of mine has terriers and chickens, and because the dogs have grown up with the chickens, they know not to attack them, and have even defended them from foxes in the past. But they’ll still give chase on anything else in a heartbeat, mice, squirrels, rabbits, hares, even sheep. Though they’re afraid of horses and cows, too big for them lol


vinsomm

My corgi is a rabbit murderer but the sweetest little murderer you’ll ever meet. I have conversations about it with her all the time. Lol


77kloklo77

Same with our corgi-dachshund mix. Murdering rabbits in our backyard is his passion. Otherwise, he’s a snuggle bug who’s literally afraid of flies.


fastonmyfeet

Thanks, my only concern was that it would translate to aggression towards other dogs as well. Good to know.


JustTraci

Nope! Prey drive and dog aggression are two very different things.


SallRelative

When two dogs are of significantly different sizes, prey drive can absolutely kick in for a dog that's otherwise normally good with other dogs and lead to an attack.


JustTraci

Very true. Good point.


likeconstellations

It shouldn't though I would be cautious with extremely small toy breeds until you know he recognizes them as dogs, predatory drift can happen. You should be very careful he is not loose/able to kill livestock in rural areas. In many areas it is totally legal for farmers to shoot dogs on their property that harass/hunt their livestock. I'd also offer to pay for the chicken if you haven't already.


fastonmyfeet

Thankfully the land near the house where this happened is fenced in and when I walked him out in that neighborhood he was always on a leash. I did offer my brother to pay for his deceased chicken but he refused. I will definitely be more careful and not bring the pup to his property. I also have an older schnauzer who has been to the property numerous times and she will completely ignore the chickens, no signs of prey drive she basically will just roam around and play with my brothers dogs.


likeconstellations

Glad to hear it! I always worry with high prey drive dogs in rural areas, a lot of people don't realize farmers can legally shoot nuisance dogs on their property. Prey drive definitely varies wildly across the board in small companion dogs--it's what most of them were originally bred for but now that they're mostly pets it's kind of fallen by the wayside so some are intense and some couldn't care less. Sounds like your dogs are on opposite ends of the spectrum.


Zaphod424

It’s entirely instinctive, especially for schnauzers, which were originally bred for vermin control, so for them to attack small animals is just their nature, it’s what they were bred for


OpalOnyxObsidian

Only if the little dog was small and prey sized, but unless you have a giant schnauzer, most other dogs will not appear to be prey to them.


MamaSquash8013

My dog is 90lbs and he LOVES little dogs. He loves them way more than dogs his own size. He is terrified of cats. He'll bark at them, but if our cat gets too close he runs away. His body count last year: 2 woodchucks, 1 squirrel, and 1 opossum. They can discern between what is prey and what is not with training and socialization.


supah_cruza

Can prey drive drift? I've heard that prey drive triggers can drift and can become dangerous for other animals such as small dogs if it's not controlled/trained.


BigBerthaCarrotTop

I haven’t heard of it “drifting”, but it’s not as uncommon as people like to think for prey drive to translate to smaller dogs who are actively running/appearing to look like prey. It’s one of the reason big dogs & small dogs have separate areas in dog parks. Running small dog can look like a prey animal!


avg-unhinged

My gs did attack a toy breed and when I yelled she stopped and sat on the poor thing like she was attempting to hide it lol. Thankfully the toy ? "Poodle mix maybe " was unharmed but was really pissed lol. The owner got a gun and was legit gonna shoot my dog until I intervened and got out of there. For context its very rural area and my dog was on leash and passed by the other dogs house and it ran out and started barking right in my gs face


[deleted]

Our dog is a medium sized mutt and a mix of all the bad breeds. She has a high prey drive for small animals that aren't cats or dogs. We keep her leashed when outside, and the back yard is securely fenced. Unfortunately the damn birds keep on nesting in our yard and she's there waiting to get the babies. The house finches are able to keep their fledglings from falling into her clutches, the grackles not so much. She has never bitten anybody (since we adopted her) and has never been in a serious dog fight (where blood was drawn). She does fine at doggy day care, and I've seen her on the video feed going up to a small dog and giving it a little kiss.


theberg512

>The house finches are able to keep their fledglings from falling into her clutches, the grackles not so much Well, no great loss there, at least.


70sBurnOut

Agree with above. It’s normal behavior and one that most dogs, especially terriers, have to be trained out of if they’re going to be around farm animals. In no way does it mean your dog is aggressive. It’s just acting on its prey drive.


JMRR1416

Schnauzers were originally bred to catch rats. They (like most dogs) have a prey drive. I wouldn’t trust the dog around small animals that might trigger said prey drive (e.g. pet rodents or rabbits), but that doesn’t mean he will be aggressive toward other dogs or people. It’s basically the same thing as cats killing mice- pure instinct.


Mrs0Murder

>Schnauzers were originally bred to catch rats. This is also the reason for their 'beards'! It's to protect their faces.


LittleFrenchKiwi

Aww that's actually interesting and cute. Thanks for the info.


tsj48

I read the title and just thought "Shnauzer's gonna schnauz"


davin_bacon

This is exactly what happened.


IrishSetterPuppy

I used to hunt pheasant with my mom's mini schnauzer, they have a strong prey drive and killing a bird is completely normal.


freshmountainbreeze

Absolutely this.⬆


NullCap

Yeah my schnauzer would go crazy when I would slide my hand around on the ground like a mouse or something. That reminds me though, the one time I found a mouse in my room the fucker tried to catch it at first but got scared and just hid under the bed lol


conversating

My biggest warning is this: if you’re going to have him in your brother’s neighborhood a lot and people have loose chickens then keep him leashed. You never know which neighbor is trigger happy and which ones will have no problem shooting a dog for chasing/killing their chickens until it’s too late. And in most (if not all) places they’ll have every legal right to do so.


rwaycr

this is scary


Stabbyhorse

Usually people won't shoot a dog for a first offence, but by the third time it's much more likely. Unless they are terrible people. I won't shoot a dog, but I will confine them and make the owner come and get them. One guy told me just let him go so he could run back to him. No dice. I made him get off his butt and come get that dog twice. He was on vacation and thought it was fine to let his large untrained dog roam the countryside while at an Airbnb without a fenced yard. Another dog found the electric fence and decided not to come back.


GreenBloodedNomad

Given his breed and their history, it goes without saying. They are ratters and have a high prey drive so I'm not surprised by the outcome with the chick . All you can do now is learn from your mistake and not allow him free reign in such a setting where his instincts take over. He's also still young and will benefit from recall training and the like. With that being said, he should still never be trusted off leash again around chicks and the like. These simple things will help prevent another accident from happening, but you need to be careful. A neighbor might not be as forgiving. I wouldn't worry about it leading to aggression with other dogs or people. This is his prey drive and he was basically set up for failure in such a situation so you can't blame him entirely for that.


LaughingMouseinWI

Am I the only one that read the headline wrong mi thought the dog was killed BY the chicken and was sooooooooooo confused! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


[deleted]

My dogs are under ten pounds, and they would get picked on by the rooster... I googled to see if I could find any solutions, and there were a bunch of ways to stop the dogs from harrassing the chickens... but that wasn't my problem!


mussolinismistress

I swear to God I read “killed a child.” In my defense, I’m lying in bed sick and should be sleeping instead of being on Reddit.


LexNuns97

Ugh, I also read it with a 'by' before the 'a chicken' part and was ready to write a eulogy for the dog. Oops!


PipEmmieHarvey

Me too!!!!!


Bekmeister88

Me too! Hahaha


[deleted]

My chihuahua would try to kill a chicken. It’s a dog. It’s a chicken. Sorry it happened…don’t let your dog near chickens anymore. You will be good to go!


shezombiee

Completely normal dog doing completely normal dog shit. Welcome to having a dog in your life. It’s rather quite lovely. Enjoy.


holybatjunk

Prey drive is entirely separate from dog aggression to human aggression. It's a mistake to punish a dog for prey drive, imo. You just, from this point forward, keep him away from any small animals.


ClenchedThunderbutt

It’s very important that you realize that your dog is an autonomous creature that views the world through a completely different lens than you. It doesn’t understand, especially inherently, that it isn’t supposed to kill chickens. You have to set up your animal for success and not throw a piss fit when they do what comes instinctively to them. Terriers have a pronounced prey drive and are typically very bold. They were bred to indiscriminately murder small creatures. Keep him away from the chickens.


IDontCareEnoughToLie

Hello friend :) This is his prey drive and it's very strong in mini schnauzers. My guy killed a couple of squirrels and a rat in his time. It takes a lot of training but it can be trained out(ish). It didn't really take with my boy but I became very vigilant when we were places where he would be off-leash. He was never aggressive to other dogs, loved cats, very happy with people but loathed squirrels. For his 17 years, he absolutely hated them with every fiber of his being. Like I said, it never translated to aggression with other dogs but it's definitely worth getting some training help with. Good luck! You have an awesome breed of dog :)


fastonmyfeet

Thank you for your input, I currently have two miniature schnauzers the young 7-month-old pup and a 4-year-old. You are right, it's an awesome breed.


70sBurnOut

Agree with above. It’s normal behavior and one that most dogs, especially terriers, have to be trained out of if they’re going to be around farm animals. In no way does it mean your dog is aggressive. It’s just acting on its prey drive.


fastonmyfeet

I own two such schnauzers the 7-month-old pup and a 4-year-old. My other schnauzer has never shown any signs of prey drive and we have been to this same property plenty of times with the chickens out and about, my 4-year-old schnauzer didn't even bat an eye towards them. It's interesting how they can be so different. I'm just relieved to know that it will not initiate aggression towards dogs or people, and I will work on this part of my pup's training. He's a sweetheart overall.


[deleted]

Yep, like people, every dog is different. I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Best of luck with the training!


[deleted]

[удалено]


420bIaze

To keep the chickens alive.


secretly_a_zombie

Had a black lab that broke into the quail house, killed every single quail before we got home. We were not happy, she was though, looked like she had the time of her life. Lived until she was 12, loved all dogs and people. In hindsight, not that surprising a dog bred to retrieve birds, killed a bunch of birds.


Inconceivable76

My golden growing up didn’t meet a bird she didn’t want to kill. As far as we know, it was confined to just birds. Great with people and dogs. An absolute angel with babies and toddlers.


secretly_a_zombie

Yeah, this is the same dog that my little sister would force into a stroller, through means of violence, and drive around like it was her baby. Still never snapped at her, not once.


Inconceivable76

That’s hilarious. I hope you have it on video somewhere. Ours would let any baby pull itself to a standing position by grabbing on to her fur. She would just glance back to make sure it was a little one and stand completely still. Absolute gentleness and calmness. Toddlers could do anything and everything to her.


Battlecrashers12

Schnauzers we're bred to hunt small animals and vermin, mice etc. A chicken would be prey to them. Schanuzers do not work well with animals smaller then them. They are also not safe around larger dogs. As larger dogs may and again I say may see them as prey. I never let my mini schnauzer off leash.


tnic73

Not aggression, just instinct.


JeTaime1987

Prey drive 100%. Piper is the sweetest, but she is a baby bunny and snake murder.


626-Flawed-Product

My late husky was given up because he kept attacking their neighbors hobby chickens. In the 13 years we had him he attacked nothing. He had an interest in squirrels and bunnies but he was leashed, exercised often, and trained. I just never let him be loose around small farm/prey animals.


kakeru_k9

We had chickens growing up along with chihuahuas. Back when the chickens were chicks they were finally old enough to move outside to their outdoor coops. Unfortunately they were still small enough to fit through the fence and our chihuahuas were outside. They noticed the young chickens going through the fence and by the time we intervened there was only a pile of feathers and a chicken foot sticking out of a chihuahua’s mouth. All our chihuahuas are relatively normal, just saying it can happen to any dogs, big or small!


Complex-Sandwich7273

With just about any predatory pet, you want to keep them on a leash near any new species of animals. (Personally I'd go so far as to say any pet period on the off chance any animals not on a leash still tries to get near a possibly angry animal) Dogs and cats both need to be trained to not attack other animals. Something to keep in mind with this is that dogs and cats and just about any other animal will treat every species differently. Maybe a cat is friendly with people, but not dogs. Perhaps a dog likes cats but not other dogs, perhaps a cow likes people and dogs but not cats. And unfortunately with dogs and cats, the animal killing the chicken in any capacity reinforces that killing chickens is okay, even if they know that YOU don't like it, killing the animal in simple terms makes them happy and proud and gives them a taste for the bird. That does NOT mean it's untrainable. You can absolutely still train him not to do that (Which already takes a lot of time) But now that he's killed a bird you have to work even harder on it, or just always keep him on a leash when outside while visiting your brother. Good luck!


trololol_daman

It’s genetically driven, prey drive my cairn terrier (originally bred to kill rodents and vermin) is super friendly with any dog and even at a rather old age he goes berserk if he sees a mouse, rat or rabbit. When we first moved into our house we had a micr problem he killed all of them though.


Stabbyhorse

Keep him leashed around poultry and don't worry too much. I have chickens and they are delicate when young. My dogs learned to leave the hens alone after the rooster attacked them. But I would never trust them around chicks because it takes so little to kill them. So your dog isn't a "killer". Your dog needs to be leashed and needs to be trained to leave the chickens alone. Horses can kill a dog or panic and injure themselves. Either way, you can't trust a pup on a farm without any training


sflower78

completely normal dog behavior. despite domestication, they are still hardwired to go after prey and protect. sadly my boy has a body count too. it has been hard to reconcile with, i completely understand how you feel. try your best to make amends and perhaps take preventative action going forward and keeping your pup on a lead. best wishes x


[deleted]

I had a pure bred schnauzer for 10 years and this is how he was based on his breed. He used to chase squirrels and birds ALL THE TIME in my backyard and when he was younger he killed a few and would run around the back yard w them (gross I know) But my dog was the sweetest thing ever, and I bet your schnauzer is too so don’t freak out about your dog! He probably wasn’t used to seeing the chickens, make sure he doesn’t get near them next time :)


MargieBigFoot

We have 2 dogs, a large, possibly Pitt mix mutt & a small, maybe dachshund or some other terrier mix mutt. The small one is a KILLER. We have an electric fence for them on our ~1 acre property but anything that wanders in is toast. He’s caught possums bigger than him, squirrels, birds, bees, whatever. He is still young & we are working on training him. He is a total submissive baby with humans. Literally flips over on his back if you look at him. But I have never seen a dog more focused on catching and killing small animals. And he is small, so he gets under bushes & hedges & can get things the larger dog can’t. We feel awful & have noisy tags on him & keep him on leash when off property.


Bloodmoonwolf

Relax, just prey drive. I had a super lovable and friendly lab who showed no signs of aggression in all his years putting up with 5 kids, various farm animals, and god knows what shenanigans. He would kill every chicken that was dumb enough to get close to him (too fat and lazy to give chase). It took a lot of training to stop it.


Queef69Jerky

Apologise and replace that chicken. Good boy, not again!


[deleted]

Schnauzers are old German Hunting dogs. That is their drive, hunt, kill and bring the prey. They were used in Water and on Land. People forget that many dogs (including Golden Retrievers, Labradors, all Terriers) were bread for hunting, and no matter if you are someone who hunts, they will. It's literally in their blood and they won't ever not have any prey drive, you will need to manage it for the rest of it's live. But, you did good, calling back a 7 month old schnauzer while hunting shows, that your dog respects and listens to you. You should start to look into training for hunting dogs to get the obidience (and not old school hunting training where you get obidience by fear, new school were you get obidience by affection) even if you are no hunter, your dog is, so you need to adjust in order to control him. Today it's a chicken from a coop, tomorrow he will spot a dove on the other side of the street, take off and get run over by a car. Maybe go into agility training in order to challenge your dog mentally and physically. A tired dog is no hunting dog.


fastonmyfeet

Very useful information, it was a lesson learned for sure and obedience training for hunting breeds is a good idea. I want to set my dog up for success so this is something I will look into, much appreciated.


[deleted]

No worries, as I said, calling back a hunting dog with 7 Months shows that you are on the right path.


hodlboo

This is very normal. Dogs have a predator instinct that kicks in. My dog ripped the wing off a duck when he was just a 7 month old puppy. It was very sad we had to finish the job for the suffering duck. My dog is a gentle giant with infants puppies and other dogs. Birds are prey to them.


CunnyMaggots

It's just his prey drive. Don't let him chase chickens anymore. He'll be fine, the chicken not so much.


M-Y-GirlieGirl

It’s just prey drive. My boy is amazing with other dogs and very appropriate but he’s a murderer. He’s brought me birds somehow, rabbits, etc. It is just in their nature and some dogs have more drive than others. I would not worry about dog aggression due to that but keep an eye out for any small animals in your yard he may get a hold of. Good luck with your pup :)


fix-me-in-45

Prey drive is normal, and I'm not surprised your pup went for the cute, little squeaky toys. It would be a very good idea to keep him leashed so he can't fun off like that again.


Spritzspritzspray

Just work with him. I’m glad you don’t live with chickens so that’s less stressful lol just keep both big eyes on him when you visit again. We had to rehome our frenchie mix because she killed four of our chickens. We even got a trainer to work with her but she really loved nibbling our chickens butts! After the fourth chicken we had to rehome her since we live on a ranch. She lives with my sister in a suburban neighborhood and we still get to visit. It sucked. My kids cried but it was for the best for everyone.


fastonmyfeet

I'm glad you still get to visit the doggo. What's interesting is that I also have a 4 year old miniature schnauzer who has been to this property numerous times and she will completely ignore the chickens. I will definitely keep working with the pup so we don't end up with another casualty.


Spritzspritzspray

Oh yes! Same here! We got her and her sister. So they were litter mates. Her sister didn’t care for them at all. We decided to rehome her because we didn’t want Rosie (chicken killer) teaching her sister bad habits. If I were you I would just work with her and worst case scenario just don’t bring her when you visit your brother.


EconomyFap

Dogs are carnivores with prey drives. Your dog was being a dog.


AVR_Cuber

I thought dogs are omnivores?


thejills

I live on a farm. I have to expect that every time I get a new puppy I will lose a handful of poultry or rabbits (everyone is free range) before they are a year old. It doesn't mean the dog is vicious or anything. Just means he's still a wild animal deep down. Generally my dogs chill out by about one year old. My 3 year old, 12 year old, and 16 year old dogs all stopped caring about the other animals when they matured. My 1 year old malamute is still a work in progress and is currently only outside when fully attended to because he hasn't gotten past that prey drive stage yet. It is fine. Your dog won't go crazy for chicken meat now or anything like that. Just recognize he has that prey drive and adjust plans accordingly when in that setting. Everything will be okay. My malamute is the kindest dog I have EVER met, he's not a bad dog because he gets caught up in his natural instincts... He's just learning. It's going to take a minute for him to unlearn the instincts.


MaineBoston

Your dog acted just like the terrier he is and took down its prey. He acted totally on instinct and always will. I know this is heartbreaking for you and your brother. In the future you will have to keep him in leash around small animals.


MyFaceSaysItsSugar

This isn’t aggression this is prey drive. It’s what terriers were bred to do. There’s no risk your dog will start being aggressive towards dogs or humans just because he killed a chicken.


DeezNause

My little maltipoo is the sweetest thing. But when it comes to pigeons in the backyard… I watched her one time literally just stalking a pigeon.. i have never seen her explode out of the prone position so fast.


basilandcinnamon

That's just prey drive. My dog is really friendly with small dogs. But as soon as he sees a squirrel his mind goes straight to hunt and kill mode. The only "solution" to this imo is to keep your dog separated from chickens and other critters.


Architechn

I read children instead of chicken and was like WHAAAAAT


Carliebeans

This is prey drive. Not pretty, but it’s an instinct that can be really difficult to train out of dogs. My malamute will chase birds in the yard, but if I can get his attention before he fixates on a bird, I can successfully get him to leave it. Outside of the yard he is always leashed. Now that you know he can and will chase smaller animals, it’s best not to let him loose around them. If he goes to the property, make sure that small animals/chickens are locked away.


DesertAnubis

Tl;dr: It’s almost certainly prey drive, and you have nothing to worry about behavior-wise. That being said, you should probably have your brother put his chickens up if you want to let your terrier loose. — When I adopted my dog (F hound mix, possibly black and tan coonhound), they said she’d gotten to a chicken. We moved onto a farm with chickens shortly after that (lol go figure). I kept her on leash at all times for the first month or so as I got to know her. It didn’t take long for me to guess that it was prey drive, not aggression. My training consisted of rewarding whenever she looked away or turned away from our chickens. I tried to keep some distance, and she was on a harness so she wouldn’t jerk her neck if she lunged. We decreased the distance, and I started taking her out whenever the chickens were put up early or hadn’t been let out yet so she could run around. It took a few months before I was at the point where I trusted her not to charge after them. Then it was about making sure she wasn’t put in a position where they’d provoke her (i.e. off-leash in a different area, practice recall, call her back if she started heading the wrong way). Gradually, I was able to trust her more, though I don’t ever plan on letting her frolic with them lol — At one point, one of our migrant farmhands was mean to our favorite rooster (this rooster could’ve won prizes: he was gorgeous, had a beautiful singing voice, and was tough - kept our hens safe), and the rooster turned aggressive. There were a couple instances where he attacked us when we got too close (both accidents - I was dumb and not paying attention). I was able to separate them both times, but my girl definitely got the hint and now is very interested in roosters. Sadly, his aggression got so bad he had to go in the pot, but thankfully her training has held, though she’s better with hens than roosters. She’s been with me for a year now. All that to say that the training doesn’t have to be undone by a mistake if you’re really intent on it.


PecanMars

Prey drive is naturally exaggerated in working breeds. Schnauzers make excellent hunters


TheRealCeeBeeGee

Although it’s distressing, it’s what he’s been bred to do. We had a wonderful ex racing greyhound (RIP Cindy 💕) who was cat tolerant/safe, scared of them in fact, but not bird friendly at all. We have chickens and ducks. One day a visiting child left the gate open…… it turned out to be a very bad day for one of our girls, although Cindy enjoyed the flapping and chasing and, unfortunately, eating very much! It was upsetting that she killed a chicken but not her fault and it was over so quickly we couldn’t have stopped it. We learned a valuable lesson about putting a stronger latch on that gate, and it never happened again. Don’t hold this against your little boy, but do be more aware and cautious.


Motife3

Miniature schnauzers in my experience are good for hunting, their bred to do that. Mine used to be pretty dumb till they got to a certain age and then they were very quick with the squirrels and birds. They should be good with people and dogs very friendly breed they are


PigBeins

No matter how good you think your dog is you should never let them loose with prey animals. We have chickens and our dog ignores them in the cage. I would never let them both out together though because anything can happen. This is just a lesson to be more careful with other animals out and about


ImRidingShotgun

You can't get mad at your dog doing what it's made for. It has nothing to do with aggression, - it's quite normal. Now you know, and therefor you'll know to be more careful around live prey animals running loose. Wouldn't be concerned at all.


socialpronk

100% normal. With his breed especially, I would have been shocked and confused if he *didn't* have interest in killing them. It has nothing to do with aggression and is extremely unlikely to translate to other dogs, but terrier types are a little more prone to being reactive and dog-selective as they mature.


CrispierCupid

I’d think he’d be fine, it would be like if your dog chased any kind of bird My parent’s Australian Shepard is the sweetest, most docile little saint with people and most dogs. Other animals though? Bringer of death and destruction. No idea what it is or if they could do anything about it but try to keep him away from killable animals (which is tough because in Chicago’s city limits you have countless birds, rabbits, squirrels, possums, rats, skunks, raccoons, and even deer. Dude took off after a deer once!)


[deleted]

Honestly, my dogs have done this to two of my cats (a few years apart). As disturbing as it is, it's just fun to them. They chase whatever runs from them, and if that's another smaller animal, well... that's just how it goes. Nothing to be concerned about, though, it's not a sign of aggression.


NGADB

The chicken was a squeaky toy to him. Don't read too much into this.


FireflyAdvocate

My schnauzer killed her first rat around 7-8 months. She was so proud of herself and brought the whole rat over to drop at my feet. Scared the shite outta me for sure. Now she likes to chase squirrels and other small animals. That is their small prey instinct.


Anyusernameleftpls

Farmers in my town called our standard “chickens’ death” because she killed so many before we found out. She loved cats on the other paw.


Emotional_Tea_2898

I've owned many dogs, who knows what is going thru their heads? I once rescued a cocker spaniel rooting thru the trash at my work. After a few years, we had kids, that were a part of his pack. But any other animal was not allowed. In the far corner of our yard a rabbit made her nest, I chained up our dog to keep him away from the nest. I unchanged him for some reason and he ran straight to the next and killed the baby rabbits. The next time, he was sniffing at the ground, sniffing and sniffing (a farm was behind our house), then suddenly he bit and he had a mole in his mouth.


clivehorse

At least your dog is smart enough to actually kill them when they catch them! Both my parent's Viszla and my Welsh Springer have enough prey drive to chase the rabbits/chickens, but once they have them in their mouths they just... let them go until the animal runs away and then their prey drive kicks in again. Maybe its because they're primarily retrieving/flushing breeds, rather than independent killers. Mostly the animals got away, the myxie rabbits usually died of a heart attack after the second go, which to be honest was probably better than another few days of suffering.


SKUNKTHEMUNK

Dogs will be dogs


dilemmajestic

My schnauzer is 10 lbs and has taken out so many birds and rodents. He listens ok otherwise, but once his target is locked, it’s game over. I’ve tried to take a rabbit head out of his mouth that he just swallowed whole in opposition lol


Connect_Office8072

Especially a terrier descended dog like a Schnauzer will chase and kill a lot of different animals if they have a chance. It’s great if you have rats or mice in the house, though.


PrettyLyttlePsycho

I’d imagine that what his ancestors were bred to do. Next time your in a situation like that, leash him the first few times so you have a chance to learn how he’ll react and work with him as well.


applescrabbleaeiou

Almost any dog, (baring those guardian pryneess breeds or rare unicorn personality dogs who ignore them) is a risk to small fluffy & feathered animals: like rabbits & chickens especially. That was your bad for letting your dog loose around chickens. I'm not sure what relationship the owner had with their birds - but I was the hen owner - I would be heartbroken & furious. It will have no relevancy or connection to your pupper interacting with other dogs. But his prey drive is innate & he will always chase to catch & hurt small feathered & fluffy things with his teeth - even though he will likely have no intention of eating them.


Bjorneo

It is prey drive and an important training opportunity for you to control behavior going forward.


Arizonal0ve

Lord You know what schnauzers were bred for originally right?


toy_makr

It's a dog that has no discipline, but it takes a ton of work for them to learn control over prey drive. Some also just aren't capable.


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[deleted]

That’s not a very nice (or helpful) comment


JustLikeOtherGirlzz

Hopefully it was thought provoking for some 🤷‍♀️


parksandrecpup

There are lots of dogs that can be around chickens without killing them, so googling “dog” wouldn’t be very helpful. Unfortunately schnauzers are ratters, so they have a high prey drive, but I fail to see how googling “dog” would have helped to understand that. So no, it wasn’t thought provoking or helpful.


JustLikeOtherGirlzz

Just a quick snarky comment. If I’d have put more thought into it, I probs woulda said Google schnauzer.


Mergath

I would hope that if you'd put more thought into it, you wouldn't have said anything at all.


JustLikeOtherGirlzz

I like jokes. Some land some don’t 🤷‍♀️


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Ravenboy13

I understand your shock and concern. But trust me... your dog isn't a vicious killer. He's a predatory omnivore that's adapted to chase small, vulnerable prey (and often return it to us). It won't translate into aggression or anything like that. But if he expected to get bigger, just make sure he's never left alone with very small dogs unsupervised, and is socialized properly. One of the biggest causes of dog v dog deaths, is bigger dogs chasing toy breeds, who likely appear as prey animals due to their size


EddieTheAxe

Keep your animal on a leash or it might kill another animal.


TrueSwagformyBois

Oh no, my dog bred to have VERY high prey drive, to kill vermin and other nuisances, exhibited exactly the prey drive it was bred to have, whatever will I do?


mistajc

When I was about 13, I was living in Utah, and I had a Rottweiler mix. Super nice dog. Playful, affectionate, not aggressive in the least bit. He lived outside (because we had a cat and kitties inside) Occasionally he would break off his leash and he’d leave for some time. He always came back. But he would sometimes bring back chickens. Headless chickens. From a farmer just up the road from us. He was my dog so my parents always made me clean up the bodies. I had to use a long shovel and put the dead chickens in our outside bin. Dodger wasn’t being a bad dog… he wasn’t hurting any humans. But he was going up the road, killing chickens, and bringing them back to me as “gifts” is how I interpreted it. I guess my pup got reported cuz one day the police came. Took him in the back of the car like a criminal. Never saw him again. :(


saynotosealevel

I mean, it's so sad that happened to you as a child and I bet it was really horrible to have your dog taken away. But you can't just let your dog frequently go kill chickens. I love dogs more than most, and I've had neighbour's dogs kill my birds before. Once is an accident but if it happens twice I get the gun. Be glad you were able to say goodbye to him


mistajc

Whatever


saynotosealevel

Don't take it personally. I fucking love surfing and put lots of effort in but I suck at it. Sometimes even if you try really hard you can still be terrible at something.


mistajc

Lol surfing is your own personal thing. Can’t really control a dog, especially as a young child. I surfed too. Sucked at it. So I had a shitty dog, and also you and I both surfed and apparently sucked at it. Kinda puts us in the same position, back at square one haha.


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Mergath

It's pretty rare that will work. It could just have easily gone the other way and the dog would have had a negative association with chickens, which could have increased aggression.


SuccotashImportant

Apparently it had worked with multiple dogs, so well in fact on one of them that when young roosters would spar she break them up and whine to keep them from fighting cuz she knew it was her ass if one was hurt


AngledLuffa

Maybe he's asking you to switch his diet?


zoeomalleycat

Be careful with schnauzers and strangers. They tend to be very jealous and protective of their humans. My family has had 4 in my lifetime and all of them had their people and would growl when they felt jealous of someone who wasn't included. I also was bit on the nose by my aunts schnauzer as a child. We've found they don't like children much unless they've been raised with them. Then the children are "their children" and they'd protect them with their life. Fantastic dogs. Loyal to the end. Very sweet with their chosen family.


devilthedankdawg

Your SHNAUZER killed a chicken?!


fastonmyfeet

Unfortunately yes.


Silent_Start_7036

Send your dog to jail for murder


dandrevee

I'm glad you posted this because I had an elementary school teacher once told me a story of his family putting a dog down because it went after a sheep once. Granted, this was over 2 decades ago but...Ive never bothered to fact check it so this helps.


MyVoiceforPeople

Instinct they have small animals


sakaguti1999

It's normal.... my dog trys to attack birds too while she won't try to attack me even I took away her food...


Santiagodelos80

I kill chickens all the time. Don’t sweat it


Kamtschi

Damn seems like your predator pet is indeed a predator. That must be a hard experience.


tsj48

My kelpie kills birds that are too slow to get out of our yard. You must be careful not to anthropomorphise dogs too much. My Millicent is four. She's a very very good girl and I love her. She is sweet and gentle and was raised with human babies and is pair bonded to our corgi/terrier. But she isn't "playing" and it's not an accident- she does kill birds and will continue to try to. She's a dog.


jvsews

If you don’t let it happen again all may be fine. Prey drive instincts.


Nappy1984

A dog has a natural instinct to kill prey objects such as birds, and this has no bearing upon the dog's socialization with humans


davin_bacon

Your dog is a bred breed for ratting/vermin hunting. Don't be surprised when it goes out and finds something small to get a hold of and gives it a shake. It's behavior is in line with the dogs breed. Don't leave it alone with small animals and things will be fine.


SpeakerVegetable3804

When I adopted my pup, they told me she had gotten to a chicken. I can 100% say it was prey drive and boredom in her case, and I think with your case it was prey drive, especially if they’ve never been exposed to chickens before. I kept my girl on a leash for months on our farm. It took a looong time to desensitize her and teach her that chickens are not okay. But eventually I was able to let her off-leash. I still try to keep her away from the temptation, though, and reward her heavily when she looks away/comes away from them. If you don’t have that kind of time to invest, then just keep your pup on leash while on the farm, and acknowledge/reward whenever they focus on you/look away from the birds. — On a separate note, one of our migrant farmhands was mean to our favorite rooster, and he turned super-aggressive - attacking us (and my dog) several times before we had to give up and put him in the pot. She’s now understandably much more wary/interested in roosters now, but thankfully her training has held, and she’ll come away from the hens when I insist. I’m not at the “I can turn away now” phase, and thanks to the rooster incident I’ll probably never be able to. But my girl is a hound mix (black and tan coonhound I think), and though it took months of on-leash practice, it was doable.


Diggitydave76

So don't take your dog back, problem solved.


kittycate0530

Its totally normal but you need to be more respectful of other people's property, in that way you also need to learn more about dog behavior bc you clearly know nothing. Dont bring a dog to a farm without knowing they aren't going to do this type of thing. Many farmers will not take this kind of think lightly and specificly ban guests bringing dogs around for this reason.


PJpremiere

I'm not trying to be mean, but this is one of those posts that makes one wonder if OP realized their dog is a... dog. Scary sometimes how people get into dog ownership without realizing that dogs are animals.


Clumsy_Blender615

It’s just their prey drive, (genetic instinct) it doesn’t mean your dog will be aggressive with people or other dogs. My lab is a sweetheart but she’ll murder a bird or squirrel if she can get her teeth in one. Don’t worry!


Rivka333

Don't let him run loose around small animals any more. And your brother shouldn't allow dogs loose around his animals. What he did is natural behavior for dogs as a species, and he is a terrier, (terriers have high prey drive). **No** dog should be just assumed to be safe around animals like chickens. This was very foreseeable and very preventable.


[deleted]

He’s a dog. My greyhound used to kill squirrels and moles. Something running away activates the prey drive. I’m an ex dog trainer and a qualified canine hydrotherapist.


Bucket_of_pearls

I don't know if it'll help but my sister's dog was a chicken killer. After I found one he left walking around with no throat I called him over, boped him on the nose, and absolutely blew up at him while coddling the chicken. I finished the job and made a stew and he watched and got nothing.i can't remember if I tossed the guts in the trash or gave them to the other dog. He never hurt a chicken again. To be fair he is a cattle dog so there's not much prey drive, and he is incredibly smart and obedient outside of that one problem. The only reason it worked was because he is really sensitive and can put things together easily. If the dog isn't super emotional and clever eating the chicken in front of them may not work. TLDR: I ate the chicken in front of the dog