FAMILY| PETS| FOOD
My Partner’s Dog’s Connection With Chicken
He had a long history with chicken starting with his rough upbringing
“Chicken, chick — en,” we used to tease him with this all the time. We had to be prepared though when Buck would run up and expect the treat. If you didn’t have chicken and you even said something close to the word, he’d either get a bit irritated or he’d just walk away sulking.
I usually had a treat for him though. We ate a lot of chicken when we lived at Mike’s dad’s house in 2018. We all knew that a good portion of our chicken would end up in Buck’s mouth. Even if he had already eaten his bowl of dog food, he’d still come running when chicken was around. He could sense the word, he could smell it, he knew what was up.
He had previously been raised as a young pup on a farm. The previous owners had been a bit abusive and neglectful of him. They chained him to a pole most of the day and he was there to be their guard dog. They also never took him on walks and rarely brought him inside. One time, he got off his chain and ate all of the chickens in the coop. That’s when his love got started. He’d acquired the taste for chicken and wanted more.
That’s when Mike came into the picture.
Buck was already five years old when he first met Mike. There was an instant connection. Mike said that Buck had a sense that Mike would be his guy. Mike always makes big dogs feel at ease when they’re around him. He had that effect on all of the dogs and animals he came across since Mike just has a big heart and a caregiver spirit.
After the chicken coop incident, the owners were ready to give him a different home. Mike came over and was interested, “I think he likes me. I want to take him home,” Mike said. “He’s yours, guy. Take him off of our hands. You look like you’ll give him a good home.”
I’m sure they cared.
They probably just didn’t know the first thing about raising animals and that showed. Buck seemed to be very flighty and finicky around other animals and people when he came back with Mike. The one thing that really calmed him down and made him feel safe, secure, and loved was chicken. The word, the food, live animals, all of those chicken things made Buck jump up to his feet.
Now that he’d found a stable home of people who cared for him and fed him chicken, Buck got to live for over a decade longer in his dad’s house and he always jumped at chicken but also at Mike and anything that smelled or felt like Mike (I got the tail end of a jumpy, affectionate dog many times).
Mike was his savior and rescue buddy and would come back to visit his friend. He got spoiled and got all the chicken he could eat. He never got chained in his new home. He got his well-needed walks every day, rain, shine, or snow.
Chicken wasn’t just a positive trigger for him. It was also a reprieve and his way of trying to cope and heal from his previously neglectful life. Buck loved his chicken and his chosen family. He is missed now. But I bet he’s in doggie heaven having an all-you-can-eat chicken buffet now.
