Our dog broke his chain (again) and got one of the chickens on Wednesday. Now his life's mission is to get the rest of our scrawny little flock.
Last winter we (a.k.a. Marc) had 5 hens and a rooster. Their run collapsed last spring from the snow. And 3 of the hens went missing. For the past 7 or 8 months they have been strutting around free range, tantalizing the dog.
Now our dog is a Pharaoh hound so he is FAST and his manners have much to be desired (which is partly my fault but we won't go there today). Generally when he gets out he hightails it to the neighbors house to visit their little pugs. I've always wondered why he never chased the chickens before. Since he has a heyday barking at them from the living room window. Well needless to say he will be ignore them no more.
Fast Forward to Wednesday. I let the dog out and we get down to business with school. Because the 2 boys have flu shots in the afternoon. Everything seems normal Roo's barking every so often....nothing out to the ordinary. Marc wakes up and goes in to take a shower. After which he he hears the dog barking outside the bathroom window which is odd since his tie out is out back. He looks out the window and there's Roo all puffed up and proud of himself dancing around a chicken carcass he severely mangled. We clean up the mess, catch the dog (which was surprisingly easy since he came right in). And i sigh a sigh of relief that I now have one less bird to dig up my newly plainted tulip bulbs.Now comes Thursday morning.
I wake up to workout for an hour before the kids get up and I have to get 1 child on the bus and the other 2 loaded to go work at my mom's daycare for 2 days straight. Roo starts begging to go out in the pouring rain. So i think okay I'll just quickly take him out and then come back in and get to business. Since it's pouring rain I decide to use this really long training lead I picked up at the $1 store (1st mistake), Well we go out the front door and Roo spots Dr. Holstein (the rooster) perched atop the grill. Roo goes tearing off after him, the clasp on the leash instantly pulls apart sending the half I'm holding into my forearm leaving a gash and a very large, painful bruise. Now Roo has no trouble catching the chicken but looses him with all the commotion of me yelling and the roaster squirming. Dr. Holstein being a smart little rooster darts behind me where Roo knows better than to come near. So Roo ends up turns the other way and runs full speed down the road and the rooster runs off to hide. Now another thing Roo loves to do when he gets loose is to run full speed by who ever is trying to catch him as if to say "come on you know you can't catch me". So the remainder of my "workout" Marc ( who also was woken up by the commotion) and i spent chasing the dog up and down our road in the pouring rain. After about a half hour he tired of the chase game and decided to just walk up to the front door to be let in. OY! What a way to start the day.
Today i went out and bought a chain that is supposed to be able to hold a Mastiff. Tomorrow I'm buying a chain leash and a harness. I've threatened my children that if they let the dog out there will be serious consequences. So if Roo can break through those lines of defence he deserves a chicken dinner.
