Introducing Beaux

[baymule]

Love that breed, Bay....I've only ever heard good things about them. My niece had one and he was a great dog. They make excellent farm dogs and critter gitters.

That Trip is such a trip!!! What a good dog he has turned out to be and I'm glad he's helping to train your pup for you.

Both dogs are very beautiful and so are your grandgirls, even more so. Of course, they must take that after you.

Beaux...or Beau is my middle son's middle name.

You are right, Trip is a trip! He and Beaux are making friends, it is so funny to watch them.

Thanks, we think our grand daughters are pretty special.

The kids named him with a nod to the Louisiana Cajun French spelling, hence the x ending.

 

[framing fowl]

TSC is great for dogs! Hurray for Beaux doing good.

DH works at a TSC. Sometimes he comes home and tells me funny people stories but he tells me mostly dog stories. And there has been a few cat stories, a few pig stories, 1 goat story, and 1 chicken story.

 

[baymule]

I like a place that lets pets in. Loews also allows pets inside.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

a few pig stories,

That's it - I'm gonna take a pig to TSC!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Bay, Beaux is beautiful. I got on here the other day, and read all the posts, and got side tracked looking for the name of a town in Louisiana that i thought was Beaux Bridge. It wasn't. It was Breaux Bridge, the "Crawfish Capital of the World." Fabulous little town in Louisiana where I had the best Cajun food of my life. My son and i were on a trip, and stopped there for lunch at a little place that had a huge red crayfish out front made up of welded pieces of junk. The restaurant was tiny and none of the tables or chairs matched, and they were all painted different colors. The walls and ceiling were completely covered with signs and sayings. We had planned to eat later in New Orleans so we just ordered a sampler plate to share. WOW!! The sampler plate filled us both up, and was some of the best food I've ever eaten in my life. Shrimp, crab, crayfish, and alligator tail in every bite. I'd gladly drive way out of my way to go back. I'll probably always think of that now when I see Beaux's name. Great name for a really beautiful dog. (And I'm really sorry about Parker. I'm not sure i posted that either. I have a lot of squirrels in my life...)

 

[baymule]

Breaux Bridge is where the country singer Hunter Hayes is from. He played in the Pizza parlor in town. The people of the town got behind him and bought him musical instruments to help him. He started performing at an early age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Hayes

I am glad that you enjoyed your trip.

 

[baymule]

This morning I looked outside and saw Beaux happily chewing on a plastic water bottle. Good Beaux, he can chew up all the water bottles he wants. He likes to chew plastic. We have had several talks about chewing up the grandkids plastic outside toys. One, by one, then a new one gets left outside and since Momma hasn't said NO to that one, he chews on it. LOL

I was folding clothes and looked outside again. Beaux had a brown lump. Not good. I quickly put on my shoes, grabbed a rolled up newspaper, and went outside. It was Chic-Chic, a sweet little hen that I favored. Of course it wasn't the crippled rooster or the 3 hens that have quit laying and are yard ornaments.

I caught Beaux by the collar and dragged him to Chic-Chic. I was furious. I yelled, scolded, yelled some more. I beat him with the newspaper from head to tail. I was so mad, I picked up Chic-Chic and lambasted him with her, screaming at him the whole time. I busted her open, beating him with her (and had to give him a bath). My husband said I yelled, scolded and whipped Beaux with the newspaper for about 30 minutes. I sat down between Chic-Chic and Beaux and talked to him quietly. I told him how much I liked my chicken, how disappointed I was in him, what a bad thing he had done. Then I walked to the end of the leash, called him to me, told him to sit and petted him. I did this over and over. He was by now a VERY contrite pup who wanted me to not be mad any more. I gave him a bath and got him clean. I walked him back to Chic-Chic and talked to him some more. I finally walked him to the house and put him in the kennel he sleeps in.

He has been in the kennel all day. I have taken him out to potty on the leash several times. He is a very subdued dog. Even with the door open, he chooses to stay in the kennel. In a Good Cop/Bad Cop scenario, my husband has lavished attention on Beaux which he gladly received, but went back to his kennel.

I took Chic-Chic's body to the back of our place and tossed her over the fence. I hate waste and figure dead chickens should be a meal for wildlife around here. Other animals have to eat too, so be it a buzzard, fox, possum or whatever, I would rather feed them a meal than dig a hole and dump a dead chicken in it. Walking back to the house, I was going over things, trying to figure out where I went wrong.

I scolded when Beaux pounced on Roo-Roo, the crippled yard rooster. I let him know in no uncertain terms, the he was not to play With Roo-Roo. He got the message. Same thing with Dottie and her two sidekicks. I dragged him to them and fussed after he ran through them several times, making them run and flutter. he got that message too. BUT I never told him that Chic-Chic was off limits. Thinking on his terms, Momma said I can't play with those other chickens, but she said NOTHING about THIS one! And so he had a fun time with her, only to play with her to death. So am I going to have to introduce him to every single chicken on this place, one by one and explain to him that he cannot play with them? Sigh.....

I am not surprised by Beaux killing a chicken. He is a hunting dog. His breed runs down cattle and brings them in to be worked. His breed runs feral hogs for hunters. His breed is fierce, strong willed, independent and everything you want in a farm/ranch dog. He already is a fantastic farm dog. He is brilliant smart, he learns. I made this an event he will NEVER forget-ever.

As I write this, he is still in his kennel. It may take a few days for him to bounce back, he has a lot to think about. I left the newspaper right where Chic-Chic died, with a brick to weight it down. I will return Beaux to the scene of the crime over the next few days. I will not use the newspaper on him again, but will calmly explain to him why he cannot play with the chickens. I kept a few of her feathers to remind him. Every day is a training day, I hope we don't have any more like this. I am pretty sure he got the message. I need to go pet him again and reinforce that he is loved and that I am not mad at him anymore.

A funny-Trip went under the porch. He wanted no part of what Beaux was getting. But he cautiously approached, easing closer and closer to Chic-Chic. When he stretched out to sniff her, I whacked her with the paper and Trip took off like he'd been shot. Later, we were working on the Pig Palace, getting it ready for a new pig, Trip came to see what we were doing. He clearly wanted to come see me, but was afraid that he was in trouble too. I called him to me and loved him. We put tools up in the Mule and Trip put his front paws on the Mule, wanting in it with me. Our neighbor called Trip, slapped the passenger seat and Trip jumped up. He squeezed his big 'ol self up on the seat, drooling on my face, happy, and rode with me to the shed to put away the tools. Reassured, he went on his way. ​

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Beaux - don't mess with the chickens dude! You are gonna catch hell for sure! I'll bet you made a good impression on him and hopefully he learned his lesson! Catahoula's can definitely be a challenge. A friend of mine used to raise and show them, along with working them. Most of them she could let run the place around all her other farm animals - UNTIL - she brought in a new stud dog. He never learned, no matter how many times he got the same kind of lesson Beaux got...she got a shock collar for him and it still didn't change his mind. Worst part - most of his pups were the same way... I hope Beaux remembers today and remembers it well. If anybody can change his mind I think it'll be you!

 

[baymule]

Beaux. He killed 2 more chickens day before yesterday, another one this morning and even dug under a portable coop, snagged a laying hen and I found her under the portable building. I can't get to her, she is probably injured. Trip told on Beaux day before yesterday, he was laying in a "sploot" position between Dottie, a 5 year old Silver Laced Wyandotte and a black hen. Trip was showing them to me. Beaux got in trouble.

We let Beaux out last night, we think that he nabbed Roo-Roo then,a crippled rooster that was free in the yard. This morning, DH let Beaux out when he got up. Later, Beaux came up on the porch, ready to come in. I let him in, he came to me, cowered down and peed on my foot, then ran to his kennel. DH said, he's done something bad, better go look. I did and found Roo-Roo, the crippled rooster that I just couldn't bring myself to kill. I went back to the house, clipped a leash on Beaux and we went to go visit Roo-Roo. DH was mad, blamed himself for letting Beaux out, but Roo-Roo was already stiff.

Trip had his priorities straight, he was in the sheep lot. While his buddy Beaux was on a play-with-chickens spree, he was guarding the sheep. I saw the hole under the coop and a hen was missing. Trip jumped out of the sheep lot, I was looking for the hen and asked Trip where she was. DH was walking around looking for her, Trip laid down by the portable building, telling me where she was. DH went for a flashlight and sure enough, I caught the glisten of her eye. I just can't reach her. I hope she comes out this evening.

So the upshot is, Beaux goes on a tie out cable from now on. We took him to Tractor Supply, fitted him with a harness collar so he doesn't choke himself, got a cable and a rod that pushes in the ground with a swivel on top. We have a shady spot where he won't twist around a tree.

In TSC, a couple admired Beaux and said they had a Louisiana Catahoula and Texas Blue Lacy cross that was worse than Beaux. Their dog went after the poultry, goats, tried to kill everything on the place. They showed us a picture of a gorgeous dog, blue merle with blue eyes. They said she was finally settling down, but that it had been a wild one for 2 1/2 years. What a mix of two breeds! Two cattle/hog dog breeds, both developed out of a need for a tough dog that could take what was thrown at it and still round up the cattle and hogs. Texas and Louisiana were pretty darn wild 100 years ago and so were the livestock. Only a bad a$$ dog could do what they had to do.

We have been down this road before. I am encouraged that Beaux came to me, knowing that he did wrong. That at least is a step in the right direction. It is my fault for having retired yard chickens in the first place, but digging under the coop I place as Beaux's fault. He will have to go on the cable when we can't be outside with him. There were times when Trip and Paris were on a cable, they didn't like it, but it was necessary at the time. I thought that Beaux got the message, but it is going to take more than that. It is going to take a lot of time, positive reinforcement and training.

I have 6 guinea chicks on the porch that I am planning on being loose in the yard. That might not happen.

And Trip......after Beaux was shown the bodies of Dottie and the black hen, read the riot act and scolded...….I guess Trip figured that all that good meat shouldn't go to waste, because he picked up Dottie. He was walking around with her. He had done his part, showed them to me, kept a respectful distance while Beaux got in trouble, why shouldn't he have a chicken dinner? LOL LOL I took Dottie from him, picked up the other hen and took them to the back.

This morning, I was going to get Roo-Roo, when I saw a contractor crew on the pipeline, mowing. Since we have a gate across the pipeline, they won't come in. I ran to let them in before they left and they mowed our part of the pipeline, which saved us having to do it. I went back to get Roo-Roo and he was gone. I looked under the porch at Trip, but he wasn't telling me where he put the chicken. I hope it is not under the porch. That's all I need, a rooster decomposing to a sufficient point of rottenness for a dog to consume. Blech.

 

[sumi]

So sorry to hear of your losses and troubles, bay This is the big reason I'm hesitant to get a mature dog, though I got offered two lovely dogs recently. I simply can not and will not risk my chickens, they mean too much to me. Bless you for having the patience and heart to train Beaux and teach him what not to do.