Training/Teaching a dog about chickens

Flynn is only 4.5 months old. Look at how good he already is!



In the last photo here... he was only trying to sniff them... but this was at the point I said his name. He immediately heeled.

 
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Wish you could do some explalining to my dog...First off I spoiled her rotten, then I didn't socialize her immediately, then I wasn't consistent with her training, pretty much everything they tell you not to do I did....but I know it isn't her fault, the fault lays solely with me. She is a good girl and anxious to please, but like small children, they do need boundaries and consistency, two things I am not good at...
 
Gifa I need you to come train my dog....Is it true though that you "can't teach an old dog new tricks" because I don't think it is, i hope not, my girl is 7 this year or maybe 8, time gets away from me...but I have taken her to basic obedience classes. Here again though I'm not consistent so I can't hardly expect her to be....Still though your Flynn is a wonderful dog. and so handsome.
 
Ajax, the sheltie we lost this past fall, was 10 years old when we first introduced him to chickens. He'd never seen anything like them in his whole life... but he did great. So I'd say yes, it is possible to teach dogs new tricks.

My advice is to do a lot of leash training while your girls are out. You'll have him right there and tethered to you if he gets it between his fuzzy little ears to chase. This does a couple of things.

1. it establishes you as the rule maker and him the rule follower. If he chooses to break the rules... you've got him, and can correct him immediately with very little risk to your chickens.

2. it exposes both your dog and your chickens to each other. Sometimes it's just too much to ask a dog not to treat a chicken like prey when it is acting like prey... When we first introduced Flynn to the back yard... the chickens, despite having been around two other dogs were afraid of him... they were cautious and flighty.


But now, they are not afraid of him... and he is has learned that they are not to be chased or hunted. In fact today, it was nice enough outside that we had the girls out and about. At one point, I was sitting in a chair on the patio... hand feeding scratch grains to my chickens... while Flynn was laying at my feet. No troubles... he is 5 months old now... and we have established this behavior as the expected norm now... so... he will only become a better dog from here on out.
 
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