Need advice about my GSD - Page 1

Hi, 

I have a 5yr old GSD her name is Leyna, 

This weekend Leyna killed our pet Pygmy Goat Millie, This has totaly crushed my whole family as it was completely unexpected.

we have had Milllie ( THE GOAT) for 3 years and there has never been any issues with Leyna before this weekend. 

she attacked and killed Millie while she was sleeping in the dogs house, if this was a strange situation then we would not have been surprised but the goat has been sleeping in the dogs house on a regular basis at least 3 times a week for the last year

Leyna also has issues with small breeds of dogs due to the fact that my grandmother has 2 Bichon Frise who attack Leyna every time they see her. she attacked the female during the summer and attacked the male in september and now she has killed our beloved goat.

I am at a complete loss at what to do now could a;ll that be conected??

both my parents no longer trust her with anyone and want to muzzle her full time. Leyna is my baby and love her so so much and do not want to see her being muzzled (Shes afraid of muzzles) but that is our only option without getting her put to sleep

I would just like to know if anyone has any ideas why she attacked Millie this weekend? It could not have been prey driven as millie was asleep in the house with her and millie was completely comfortable around Leyna so there would have been no chase

 

If this was done for no reason what so ever i fear for our other animals... (We have some chickens a cat 2 others dogs and a pony) 

Please any insight into this would be so appreciated!! 

 

Thank you

 

simple - your dog is a dog.

 

it did nothing other than be itself. sure you can train the crap out of your dog and it will suppress it's dogness for some unpredictable amount of time, could be another 5 years or 5 minutes. the dog in your dog is now awakened to it being a dog, you can not turn back the clock, the veil is lifted.

 

what can you do, throw the muzzle in the bin, build a good fence , manage your animals responsibly, YOU have been irresponsible and YOU have caused this to happen and if you kill your dog, it's blood is on YOUR hands just like the blood of millie's is and so will be the blood of the two bichon's.

never leave your animals unsupervised, keep them physically separate as they should/would be if you were a responsible owner of the animals in your mini zoo.

 

tough lesson in reality for you huh, i hope you learn something, i hope your dog doesn't die or have a life not worth living because you are too incompetent to care for animals responsibly.

 

i suggest you re-home all yr animals and get stuffed toy animals until you grow up.

 

have a nice life.

While a tad harsh, vk4gsd has hit the nail on the head.
Why is the only option to wearing a muzzle, being put to sleep? Take vk's advice and rehome her. It will prevent future heartache and disaster for all the other animals, including the pony.
BTW, not being in prey drive because the goat was sleeping? Carnivores are opportunistic animals, and instinct would dictate that a sleeping prey animal ( which ALL hoofed animals are, including your pony) is an easy meal with little expenditure of energy. Ever see the natgeo clips of hyena walking nonchalantly amongst napping heatebeast? The hyena will do that so's not to alarm the sleeping prey animals, and then suddenly....bam! Dinner is captured and eaten alive without the exhausting chase. Yur dog is no different than the hyena as far as instinct goes.

My question is why she was allowed to attack 2 small dogs on 2 separate occasions and then was still left alone with another small animal? Am I correct to assume that they were left together in a pen and the dog house Millie was sleeping in is inside this pen? 

I am sorry.  You need to take your emotions out of this and think about what is best for the dog, a living thing.

Your home and knowledge is not what is best.  There is no "fixing" this.  Your dog is not a bad dog; it is just doing what is in it's nature.  GSDs are a prey driven breed.   Please find her a new home before the decision is taken out of your hands.

Leyna just needs to be separated from other animals. You don't have to get rid of the dog unless no one can get passed the event, and see her as a dog following her nature versus malicious act to kill pet goat...if family can get past that than you just have to keep her separate from other animals when you are not around.

Jenni did bring up a good point about other small dogs, although i know small dogs can be terrors, you are responsible for your dog and teaching her to ignore ankle biters, good trainer would be very helpful...

Some people forget that you came here for understanding and advice not a lecture of what you should have done before you knew it could have happened....

Glad you are looking for answers, and hope you understand that your dog did what her nature dictates. Not all dogs are like that, some will live in peace with other small animals all their life, others have higher drive, instinct, etc. Live and learn. 

When i had my 1st dog we had a rabbit, dog used to lick rabbit, play with him, sleep with him...i think we had a good blissful 6 months, i was very surprised by this relationship, didnt think it was possible, had no warning signs, well one day we came home to a dead bunny...now we could have blown this out of proportion and rehomed dog, and kept in isolation, instead we admitted that it was our fault and from that day on safety/prevention/common sense were 1st, our feelings and heart second.

I hope you understand that this event did not change your dog, but how this event changed you will effect outcome for your dog....

Sorry for your loss.

I would have put it in gentler terms, but I too think vk4gsd.

Sounds to me like a territorial issue, Leyna wanted in "her" dog house and won the battle.

She was just being a dog.

"...Leyna is my baby..."

Well no, she's a dog.

Agree with the others.  And IMO the attitude you show through the above expression is

almost certainly a part of the problem.  You have a big, working-purpose, breed

of dog and yet you may be treating her like a lap dog.  My guess is that if you had

taken this into account and got help with properly training her in the first place, you

might never have got to this point.   Dogs follow their own natures when there is lack

of control and leadership (not 'mothering') from their human.

may have been a bit harsh but I am dealing this daily as farmers here have hit upon the wonderful idea that they can actually make some real money by subdividing their farms and selling if off to the "tree-change" market of city folk who want the farm experience and get every species of animal all put together on 5 acres all at the same time and have no idea how to manage them. always ends badly for all the animals.

not saying the OP is like this but it struck a chord with me.

 

i blame Disneyland.

Don´t tell me Disneyland is not real...