Dogs and chickens meet

Today we tried to let our dogs out 1 by 1 to see how they would do with the chickens being out of the coop. Out of the 4 dogs (3 yorkies and a lab) two yorkies tried to chase them down. The oldest yorkie who is 10 followed them around at a safe distance. When they would turn to come by where she was she would run off. Now for the lab...she did GREAT! She literally could have cared less. My husband threw her ball by them she didn't even pay attention to them. Our RIR came up to her and pecked her on the nose and she just laid there.

Don't underestimate the dogs. My doxie just attacked one of my girls after he slipped past my daughter.

I'm a mess! Worried about the chicken-cleaned the puncture wound with hydrogen peroxide and water, then applied antibiotic ointment. Have both of the girls back in the basement for safe keeping.

Now I need to figure out how not to be mad at the dog.

Dogs are predators, and chickens are dinner. ANY dog needs to be taught that his own birds are NOT to be chased or killed; it's not automatic. The dog will just learn to be a more efficient chicken killer, unless you spend the training time, and on leash supervision. Mary

Folly's place said:

Dogs are predators, and chickens are dinner. ANY dog needs to be taught that his own birds are NOT to be chased or killed; it's not automatic. The dog will just learn to be a more efficient chicken killer, unless you spend the training time, and on leash supervision. Mary

Click to expand...

Completely agree with this.


Dogs should be introduced to the chickens in very controlled situations, on leash. It's a lot easier to train a dog to avoid the chickens when it's first encounter isn't the pleasure of chasing or eating one.

Dogs enjoy chasing things, so just letting him chase a little bit, even if he doesn't hurt the chicken, is reinforcing the behavior.

CrazyTalk said:

Completely agree with this.


Dogs should be introduced to the chickens in very controlled situations, on leash. It's a lot easier to train a dog to avoid the chickens when it's first encounter isn't the pleasure of chasing or eating one.

Dogs enjoy chasing things, so just letting him chase a little bit, even if he doesn't hurt the chicken, is reinforcing the behavior.

Click to expand...

X3!!

I did "intro" sessions with my dogs and the chickens. To start, each dog was tightly held on a leash while I held a chick and "showed" them to my dog. If they stayed calm and only sniffed, they were rewarded. If they got excited, barked, or lunged (and of course eventually they did) then they were immediately corrected. We did this over and over again for weeks until I was satisfied they could move on to the next "step" in training. That was off the leash where they were either allowed to see them through the mesh of the run, or off-leash next to me when I was handling the chickens. Again - rewarded for calm, corrected if they got excited or too interested. To my dogs' credit, by that time they understood what was expected behaved accordingly.

Two of my girls have progressed to being able to be trusted around the chickens with me there (such as walking with them in the yard). They stay calm around the chickens and are also excellent about responding to corrections from a distance. Those two I think will eventually be trusted to be with the chickens unsupervised (WAY down the road).

The third dog is a lab/whippet mix and will NEVER be trusted around the chickens unsupervised, and that's just because I know my dog. I'm not even sure if she will ever be trusted off leash around them. Chasing prey is highly instinctive in whippets. Even though she is trained, that doesn't mean I can ever fully trust her. You just have to know your dogs and know their limitations.