[Dailydrool] My in-laws and their dogs and chickens. Again.

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

I got an e-mail from my in-laws earlier this week letting me know  
that their 14-year-old dog Sally died in her sleep last Friday. This  
was not a surprise. She was frail and losing her appetite when we  
last saw her in early August.

Last night I got an e-mail from my father-in-law telling me he's  
thinking about getting two ten-week-old Australian Shepherd/ 
Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppies from the local humane society, and  
what do I, being "the family's most knowledgeable" (his words), think  
about this particular mix. He says the guy they buy all their fowl  
from has two Aussies who don't bother his chickens.

This too has not been a surprise. When Ken and I were there in August  
he told us he was planning on getting two puppies after Sally died.  
His thought is that the puppies will grow up playing with each other  
and be so engrossed in each other that they'll leave my mother-in- 
law's free-range chickens alone. Ken and I couldn't get him to see  
that two dogs playing together can easily turn their attention to  
moving birds/prey and then act as a pack that moves and thinks with  
pack mentality.

He plans to keep his puppies in a pen first so they aren't themselves  
prey to the wildlife around the place. When they're adults he'll  
allow them free run of the property, which is maybe 30 or 40 acres in  
rural Arkansas. My father-in-law, as you'll probably remember from my  
previous anguished posts, has tried a variety of dog mixes, mostly  
hound, with the end result being killed chickens and the dogs being  
immediately taken to the pound while the feathers are still in their  
mouths.

Regardless of what my husband and I have said to him about setting a  
dog up for failure, etc., he's adamant about having a dog, and he's  
not going to change the way he keeps that dog. My mother-in-law isn't  
going to change the way she keeps her chickens. So the best we can do  
with this situation is try to steer him towards a breed that might be  
compatible with chickens and steer him away from a breed that will  
definitely slaughter them.

I've spent the afternoon exploring the web sites of rescue groups for  
both breeds in question and sending e-mails to some of the contacts.  
None of the contacts have been encouraging, telling me that both  
breeds will most likely look at the chickens with murder in their  
hearts. Does anyone have any breed or breed mix suggestions (off  
list) I can make to him? I know someone's suggested a bird dog, but  
I'm wondering if a bird dog would work because aren't they bred to go  
get birds and bring them back to the human? I can't see my mother-in- 
law putting up with a dog that wants to retrieve her chickens all day  
long.

It's a real dilemma. If only my in-laws would make some concessions  
so that the two very different species they favor could coexist more  
safely. I sure wish we could convince my father-in-law to go back to  
keeping caged budgies....

To make this basset related, I want to sing the praises of those  
rescue group web sites that dedicate a page to frequently-asked  
questions about the breed and other information that helps people  
decide if a breed is one they can peaceably live with. Whenever I  
need to know something about another breed, I always check out the  
various rescue groups around the country, and I feel I learn more  
from them than any place else I could go for information. These pages  
are so very, very helpful.

The AKC's web site, on the other hand, is of no help at all. It only  
sings the praises of a breed and doesn't identify possible behavioral  
sticking points or any of the health problems a breed may be prone  
to. For the basset the AKC web site mentions a "sweet, gentle  
disposition," a "short coat that requires minimal grooming," and a  
tendency to "actively follow scent while outside or on walks."  
Nothing about its propensity for shedding, drooling, or stubbornness,  
among other "difficult" traits. Nothing about needing to worry about  
bloat, glaucoma, and back problems, among other health issues.

Most of the dog breed books are the same--only the good stuff and  
nothing about the bad. Or what little about the bad they mention,  
they do so in such a way that the bad sounds cute and endearing  
instead of what it really is, which is obnoxious and maddening.

But many of the rescue group web sites give you the real scoop. For  
which I'm grateful. As for my in-laws, I remain in despair.

Elizabeth