# Dog uses calf as live chew-toy...



## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

My dog gets hot spots really badly. If he has a sore he will lick himself raw and make a big wound. I'm thinking it starts with something very small (even just raw skin from her constant kisses) and becomes a big thing.

It could be some OCD thing and is something I would talk to Brandy's vet about.

Other than that I would just do what it takes to keep her away from the calves.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Sorry but any farm dog that chews on other animals should not be a farm dog. Can you imagine the pain those babies go through? It won't stop at those 2 either.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

Sounds like this dog should be done being a farm dog, at least whenever there are babies around. She must be a good dog and well-liked otherwise, or she'd have been rehomed or shot already at a lot of places. 

She's proven she's going to keep doing this behavior and is smart enough to sneak away and do it when she doesn't think she's going to be caught, which is dangerous for your livestock. This behavior isn't going to 'get better', though it may get worse and she gets more persistent or aggressive about the animals she is targeting. It would be better if she just killed them in a way- chewing on them while they're still alive is almost cruel, not that nature or dogs really know the meaning of the term.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

One day she will start killing those newborns. It seems some old instincts are kicking in. Many men don't like to have a female tell them what needs to be done and consequently will do nothing. Just let him know what the dog has done and leave it at that.


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

The owner of the calves doesn't mind that his dog is, quite basically, eating his calves?:shock: He went from licking, to nibbling, to actually eating the flesh off the leg. What does the man think comes next.:???:


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

that is abuse . animal cruelty . keep that dog away from the calves


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## Bellasmom (Jun 22, 2011)

I live in the country, we run cattle and horses. I get the whole "our dogs just run loose b/c we live in the country", BUT if you have a dog with a propensity towards harming livestock that dog should be gone or be locked up. My current dogs are in the house when I'm home or in a fenced run when I'm not. If I'm working outside they may be loose, but they know they they are expected to stay near me. Why does Brandy apparently still have free and unsupervised access to the calves?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Get rid of Brandy! He is addicted to this habit and *it's not right for another animal to suffer bc of it.* I had to break my dog "Rose" of 2 habits: chasing cars and attacking my chickens. Although she stopped chasing cars she _still_ wants to run after my (adult) DD's when they take a bike ride and chase my DH when he rides down the street on his ATV, and chase the horses, but the horses are blasse about it. I have to watch her like a hawk around my birds. They, fortunately are caged, but she still wants to chomp on them when I use a net to catch and move them. It's never gonna change, and *I cannot trust her to control this on her own.*
The other solutions will just make this dog miserable--crating, chain, housebound.
Sorry you have to go through this, BUT, dogs can become bad early. When I was looking for a companion for my excellent dog, "Xena" (GS/Collie, 1998-2008, RIP) I took on a dog "who needed space to run". HE couldn't be contained in the house, on a chain, in the basement or inside of a dog enclosure, AND every opportunity he could he would get loose, run for 3 days (precisely) then come back to eat. I took one year of this before I took him to a shelter, which he recognized. =/
The other experience Astonished me. I went to another shelter and picked up a 6mo GS, who still squatted to pee. I thought it might work out that Friday, but he tried to kill two of my cats, and attacked my horse, "Corporal" IN HIS STALL!!. I had to chain him up in another stall, and took him back to that shelter on Monday, in a crate. He had been ruined as a 6 month old!!
Rose has many fine qualities, so I tolerate the obsession to killing birds. My other dog, "Pyg" can be trusted with all of the other animals.
It might be the kindest thing to just put this dog down.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

That dog would have been shot the minute I found her gnawing on the calf. No excuse for an animal like that to be left alive around newborn farm animals. No guarantee she'd be safe as a regular pet either, as people have small animals that she might get into her head to chew up.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I agree with finding a new home with no other pets, but the OP does not own the dog.


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

LadyChevalier, could we get an update? 
What does your boss think about the situation?


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Wow, this is horribly sad ):

I would suggest keeping Brandy away from anything newborn... It doesn't sound like she currently poses a threat to any of the other animals.
That said... you wouldn't want it to get to that point, either :/

Def wanting an update, too...


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## LadyChevalier (Apr 19, 2013)

Thank you all for your advice. Both my boss and I absolutely hate to see Brandy hurting babies. But he is extremely attached to her, so i dont see him getting rid of her. She is his only companion besides the cows and me (when I'm working). Brandy replaced his last dog Sheba who died couple years ago due to old age, losing Sheba was hard on him. And after many months, when he asked me to find him a puppy, I brought brandy to him and he fell in love with her. So its kind of a difficult situation. Hence why I asked for advice on what can be done to stop Brandy besides a bullet... 

Brandy is a great dog besides this. She is obedient (knows come, sit, lie down, stay etc), shes super friendly, doesnt bark at a cars or strangers, doesnt run- she stays home or stays with us when we are working, she doesnt chase cows unless we tell her to (even then, getting kicked in the face a couple times she is hesitant to do it), she is great with all our barn cats (kittens too), great with other dogs (big or small) and she is good with my horses when she comes over. 

The ONLY time she has shown aggressive behavior is with the neighbors giant St. Benard who has a long history of coming onto our farm and MAULING our last dog almost to death, repeatedly, and who had also attacked my horse and I when we were riding on my boss's property, and so when he charges onto our property, barking and snarling, coming to attack Brandy, she stands up for herself- something he never had happen to him, and drives him back into his yard, where then she leaves him alone and comes back to our side of the property. 

And she is GOOD with calves. Just these two calves we have has a problem with her, one from a year ago, and one recent one. We have had 30 some babies between/after these and not once has she shown any interest or tried to nibble on any of these. 

The thing is when I have caught her "chewing" on the babies, she was licking on them like she was cleaning their wounds... only she was making it worse. This last calf came into the barn covered in placenta slime... and the mother and other cows refused to clean it. My guess is she was cleaning him up and got carried away. She doesnt attack them or gnaw on them, she licks and nibbles. 

With this recent baby, the bandage could have slipped down on its own given that the elbow is a hard place to bandage and the calf liked to thrash around. Not that I am defending Brandy, I throttled her a good one when i saw her. We removed the calf to my house and he is doing really well, no sign of infection, wound is healing, his hind leg is getting stronger, and he has one hell of an appetite. Since then we have had 2 other babies born and she has not gone near them. 

We are keeping closer tabs on her and are going to invest in a stronger shock collar since the last one was not a very good one, basically was just a tickle instead of an actual shock. Its just difficult because, she is not a vicious or mean dog, I dont even think she realizes she's hurting the babies. It would be one thing if she was attacking and mauling babies to kill them and doing it for fun but she isnt, and trust me if it were the case then she would have gotten the bullet a long time ago. Its just not an easy situation right now.


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## LadyChevalier (Apr 19, 2013)

Here couple more pics. of brandy.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I hadn't thought about a shock collar. Hope that this works out well. =D


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

She's cute! (is that her daddy? I don't see him getting rid of her either!)

I wouldn't think of shock collars working for this situation. Esp since you don't catch her half the time. What do you use it for?

I still don't think it should be that difficult to keep her away from calves. If her only issue is with calves don't let her near the calves.


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## LadyChevalier (Apr 19, 2013)

Yogiwick said:


> She's cute! (is that her daddy? I don't see him getting rid of her either!)
> 
> I wouldn't think of shock collars working for this situation. Esp since you don't catch her half the time. What do you use it for?
> 
> I still don't think it should be that difficult to keep her away from calves. If her only issue is with calves don't let her near the calves.


Yes that's my boss napping with his little girl. They have such a sweet bond. And to be honest, I am very much attached to Brandy too. I am not a dog person, mostly because I never "click" with dogs like I do horses or cats. But its different with Brandy, she has a know-it-all personality but shes also very quirky... she still chases her tail like its the funnest thing ever. Shes fun to play with and can be quite the snuggle bug. Thats why its extremely disappointing she has developed this... habit (I say this lightly since its not an everyday occurrence). 

I have been talking with my boss and we're thinking of setting up a pen with mesh/square panels for new born calves. At least a temporary pen until they are stronger and are more mobile. Thus Brandy wont be able to get in and lick on them if they are still covered with slime. It should also keep babies safe while we are not around to keep an eye on her and babies. 

As for a shock collar, you are probably right. Since we are not always able to see if she is around the babies it might not work as well as it would... I had used our last shock collar to stop her from licking the milk foam off the calves mouths.Then it was only a firm no on the occasion I did see her licking on them, and now she doesnt even come around them during feeding time.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Aww... that's such a sweet picture ;-;


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Sounds like a good plan.

It's better this way before something happens where you are forced to get rid of her.

While I am not anti shock collar for the right situation this does not seem like the right situation. It's like clicker training except negative instead of positive. The point is the timing needs to be perfect. If you're only using one for these issues I would skip it.


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