Greyhound Kills Chickens, Any Risk To House Cats?

[Guest kcdiesel]

Hi,

 

I currently have someone living with us who has a greyhound. Very sweet dog, almost cat like. She is a neutered female. She lived with us once before for about 6 months and got along well with the cats, in fact she was intimidated by the cats. (old cranky cats) One of them has chased her out of the house before.

 

We moved to rural area and the greyhound came to live with us again. We also have chickens at this new location. She managed to get a hold of two chickens so far, killing them. (Also has managed to chase a few deer) We didn't think she had it in her, she is easily frightened and intimidated. The cats are strictly indoor cats.

 

Do we need to worry about her around the cats now? Should we avoid leaving her loose in the house when we are not home?

 

Thanks in advance, I know little about dog behavior or greyhounds.

[Lilysmom]

most greyhounds that live with cats are fine with cats that are inside the house, however outside cats are totaly different and are fair game to chase/try to catch. Is the area secure that the greyhound has free roam (fenced in)? i think even the most laid back greyhound may attempt to chase a chicken. Deer on the other hand i think it depends on the prey drive of the greyhound (all have different prey drive hi to low). If the area is not fenced i would not allow the dog off leash. As for the house cats is it possible to put them in a secure room behind close doors when you are not home? Even if you were to muzzle your grey when gone they can still do damage muzzled or you could crate the greyhound when you are not home.

 

Good Luck!

[Guest IrskasMom]

Hello and Welcome to GT. I have a Greyhound and a Kitty. Inside my House ( as LilysMom said ) the Cat belongs to the House , outside the House it's a another Ballgame. How in the World can the Grey get to the Chicken , are they not fenced in and to the Deers ??? Is there not a Fence to prevent the Greyhound to get out the Yard ?? Greyhound are Hunters (Sighthound Group ) and will chase. Good Luck

[Guest kydie]

dogs, is dogs, is dogs all of mine would kill chickens,,, as they have not grown up with them,, as said above,,, outside cats are a whole lot different than inside cats,,, if you are concerned about your inside cats,,, just seperate the dog from the cats when leaving home,,, deer... yep,, yep,, yep,,, pray drive in a dog,,, no matter how timid they seem,,, will take over,,, and "they're off" snd welcome to G.T.

[Guest KennelMom]

chickens are different from cats. Heck, some of our cat safe greyhounds have killed possums, squirrels, birds and rabbits in the yard and are still fine with our cats.

 

I would *definitely* proceed with caution...keep her muzzled around the cat for a long while and don't leave them together unattended.

Edited August 26, 2010 by KennelMom

[Guest greybookends]

Hello and Welcome to GT. I have a Greyhound and a Kitty. Inside my House ( as LilysMom said ) the Cat belongs to the House , outside the House it's a another Ballgame. How in the World can the Grey get to the Chicken , are they not fenced in and to the Deers ??? Is there not a Fence to prevent the Greyhound to get out the Yard ?? Greyhound are Hunters (Sighthound Group ) and will chase. Good Luck

I have the same question. Are your chickens free roaming? If the hound has free run of the property and the yard is not fenced you are putting your hound at risk. A hound will chase a deer and can get lost in the woods or worse a deer will defend itself if it has to and could easily do serious damage or worse to your hound.

 

Inside cats and outside cats are 2 different ballgames. However if your are concerned I would find a way to keep them separate if I wasn't at home to supervise.

[JAJ2010]

My timid one is the one who stalks squirrels! They both know our indoor kitties are much higher than them on the totem pole, but I would not trust them loose with any small dog, cat, bird (RIP little baby bird), squirrel, etc OUTSIDE. Once it's outside it's fair chomping game! I bet my two would chase deer if loose in a situation where they could. What greyhound doesn't like a good run? No clue if they would actually do anything other than body slam them if they caught up.

Edited August 26, 2010 by JAJ2010

[Guest Houndstown]

I think even my 9 year old, sweet as honey, cat safe boy would kill a chicken or a rabbit outside. I think 90% of greys can distinguish between friend and snack.

[OwnedBySummer]

Oh, ya, inside and outside critters are two completely different things. Here's a suggestion for your inside kitty's... especially if you don't want to muzzle the dog or enclose the cats... pull your armchairs and couches and dressers away from the walls. Just enough so the kitty's can fit behind and the houndie can't. It will give the cats lots of places to use to run away from the dog and to hide in.

[Guest DoofBert]

I agree inside critters and outsde critters are two differenet types of critters. However, speaking from experience, we fostered a 'chicken eater' hound and always kept him separate from the crazy catz when we were not able to supervise. (Just as a precaution!)

 

 

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I have cats and 3 hounds, as well as I cat test and foster for multiple groups. In my experience the chickens in the yard are looked at differently by a greyhound than a cat inside a home. My hounds are critter killers in the yard. 3 birds, 4 rabbits, an attempted skunk kill and a possum have all fallen victim to my boy Bart and Olive (my third girl Jesse is new and hasn't had her first kill yet). As I said above, they live with cats. They don't have any drive to chase/kill/play/eat the cats. Outside we have had a cat in the yard and luckily I was outside or it would have been killed also. Oh, and my boy Bart did kill a cat when he was in foster before he came to me so I can verify that greyhounds do differentiate between outside feral cats and inside cats. Don't let your cat outside though, it would probably be zapped if it was running around the yard.

[Guest kcdiesel]

most greyhounds that live with cats are fine with cats that are inside the house, however outside cats are totaly different and are fair game to chase/try to catch. Is the area secure that the greyhound has free roam (fenced in)? i think even the most laid back greyhound may attempt to chase a chicken. Deer on the other hand i think it depends on the prey drive of the greyhound (all have different prey drive hi to low). If the area is not fenced i would not allow the dog off leash. As for the house cats is it possible to put them in a secure room behind close doors when you are not home? Even if you were to muzzle your grey when gone they can still do damage muzzled or you could crate the greyhound when you are not home.

 

Good Luck!

 

Hi,

 

Well, the chickens do have a fenced in coup. We just purchased this place and inherited the chickens from the previous owner. She found a way in under a bad fence the first time, then the second time we discovered that they could fly up onto some old fence posts, then on over, and back again somehow. We are going to rebuild the chickencoop, but fixed all the issues with it we can find for now.

 

The greyhound is pretty lucky, she enjoys her runs, about 4 acres fenced in. Very beautiful to watch her run. I'll talk to my roommate, hopefully he won't be too offended about closing her up when we are not home. I'd lock the cats up, but there are 4 of them, so they are hard to find all at once.

 

I really appreciate the advice here, and thanks for the welcome!

[grey14me]

Greyhounds don't always do will closed up in a room, especially if they are used to free reign. You could try muzzling the greyhound. Or you could babygate it into a room and have the babygate a few inches off the ground so a cat could escape if it needed to...

[Guest greytexplorer]

 

 

 

I'd lock the cats up, but there are 4 of them, so they are hard to find all at once.

 

 

 

I have three cats---I know that desperate feeling!

 

 

~Pat

[Guest MyBoys]

Both of my boys are sweet and gentle,they are great with my toddler grandkids, they are great with anyone comming into the house and they LOVE people and other dogs, but I have to admit that if any critter comes in my yard they are fair game and chances are they don't make it out.

[GeorgeofNE]

I actually am going to disagree here.

 

My dog lives with 2 cats--there were 3, but one died at the age of 15. He has no interest in them. A cat OUTSIDE is a different story, just like a squirrel or the coyote we ran into.

 

Inside animals just are different than outside ones.

 

I would say if she never showed any interest in them, there's no reason to be concerned. Provide the cats with an escape area--for example, the room where their litter box is--put a gate in that doorway with some space at the bottom for them to run under, just in case. But I don't believe that just because this dog killed a chicken means her demeanor towards the cats will change.

 

I certainly don't pen up my dog or my cats, and they're home alone 5 days a week!

[Guest LindsaySF]

Cats are different from chickens, and inside is different from outside. Chances are he'll continue to be fine with the cats. I would separate them when you aren't home though, juuust in case. Good luck.

[AliWest]

My grey, Mensa, has killed his fair share of chickens, squirrels, rabbits and a possum. He lives inside with a crazy siameese cat. He has no interest in the cat even when the cat swats at him. But like others have said, outside cats are fair game.

[Brindles]

I agree with those who have said that inside cats are totally different from outdoor chickens. The cats will be viewed as part of the pack, but something about little critters running around outside triggers a switch for them and they go from pet to hunter before you can react.

 

That being said, I trained three greyhounds with very high prey drives to live in harmony with my chickens. And this is after Echo killed and ate one the first day I had them. Yes, eventually I did trust them 100% together unsupervised. It can be done.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/rmhogue#p/u/12/RZJqapY6kVQ

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Does the brindle in the video that is in the front hogging all the treats at the beginning have a roman nose?

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

When I had cats, I always liked having an escape route just for their peace of mind.. even though my dogs were extremely cat safe... I like the raised baby-gate technique.

 

I don't think that the greyhound killing a chicken would have any effect on her behavior with house cats at all.

 

With that much fenced in, I would definitely always be out with the dog when it runs... that's a lot of room to get in trouble with... also wondering what kind of fencing it is... if it is left-over barbed wire from previous owners I'd be scared the greyhound would be hurt on it.