My Dog wants to eat my chickens. She has predator eyes for them.

jordanfmly

In the Brooder
5 Years
Oct 28, 2014
16
0
22
We have not had our chickens for very long, For now we cannot let all the animals mingle together. We have two large Huskies and one Poodle/pug. Our Little Dog loves to go with us to feed them, My Male Husky, does not seem amused by the chickens at all. Only if Our Female Husky is out will they all get very curious. I am concerned with our Female Husky, she whines to get to them, She wants outside all the time now, She just has this look as if She wants to eat them. Any advice on getting her to stop going nuts over these chickens. Would love to be able to let the chickens roam. I am not sure that will happen unless I keep my dog away. She is pretty intense right now with them. Not sure if it's b/c they are new, or if she indeed wants to eat them. I am thinking the later.
 
Muzzle (in necessary in your opinion for safety) and leash her so you have control and then reward with treats or clicks (however she was trained) for ignoring them. Do this until ignoring them become second nature. Though if she has a high prey drive, you may never be able to trust her loose around them.

Good luck!
 
Great Advice. We will leash her and see how she responds with them out and I will treat her for ignoring them. I am afraid she may just always look at them as Prey, But it is worth trying.. thanks again.
 
Good advice here. Your dogs will happily kill those birds, and your husky female will be leading the way. LOTS of training time with each dog individually, and very good fencing. I'd be surprised if you could ever have her safe with the chickens, and wish you luck over that. Mary
 
Huskies and chickens only usually mix well in the Huskies belly!
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Plan on keeping them seperated!

X2. Probably not a situation where your dogs and birds are ever going to be safe together. Tough breed to have around chickens, we had a couple in the past, won't have them again for that reason. I'd put a strand of hot wire at dog nose level around my pens too!
 
THanks.. I believe you all are right. Will have to keep them forever separated. I Love my huskies, so I will just have to keep them away. Do not want to risk it.
 
I agree it sounds like it's best to keep them separated. I will, however, point out that I have a 7/8 german shepherd 1/8 wolf who is very wolfish with very high prey drive and he has twice saved my chickens from predators. Once a coyote and once a stray dog. He is completely safe with them and was not raised with them. In fact, he was 7 when I got the pullets almost 2 years ago. It takes a LOT of training, but if you're the alpha, they get the message most of the time. It was several months of training before I "sort of" trusted him, but after almost a year, he's proven himself trustworthy. He even watches them as they eat bugs by his feet. (That's pretty funny to see)
 
I think the situation with three dogs is much more difficult than with one. The pack mind takes over and it will be much harder to keep the birds safe. My current dogs are very well fenced away from the flock, as they love chicken, and I haven't invested the time it would take to possibly make a difference. Puppies I've raised have been much easier! Mary
 

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