Has anyone trained their dog to find eggs?

[Wanaka]

Hi there

I like to let my hens out during the day (after noon), but often they haven't laid yet. One returns to the nesting box to lay but the others do not - I haven't found any egg stashes from this lot of hens but the previous ones were pretty keen on hiding them.

Has anyone ever trained their dog to find the eggs? I would think dogs would be capable if the right training was given.

 

[LBejaran]

Of our three dogs, two of them have been known to find eggs on their own. One is little mutt rat terrier, named Kimchi, that actually goes through loads of little low places. Sometimes, if she finds an egg during her adventures, she'll bring it out into the middle of the yard for us to find. Normally she'll do it when we're outside, but sometimes she'll get frustrated and decide to play with it by rolling it around and licking it.

Our other dog is a German Shepherd/Boxer mix, named Sandy. She's pretty tame and gentle about our animals, so she acts the same with the eggs. She'll sometimes happen upon them and bring it out into the yard.

What I find helps train your dogs to do that is allowing them to see that it is your egg. That means that you carry an egg around with you and introduce them to it. It's like teaching them how to fetch. If you throw a ball for them, expect that dog to bring it back. Maybe leave an egg out in the yard for your dog to find and try and get them to bring it to you. When they bring it back, give them another treat. Never give them the egg as a treat, or they'll just decide to eat it themselves and you'll never get anymore eggs, haha!

There was one time Sandy found an egg and accidentally broke it. She proceeded to eat it and when I saw what she was doing, I ran after her. She got a good scolding and hasn't eaten an egg since. She's found one since, however, and left it all slobbery outside my bedroom window, heehee! Kimchi is much smaller, though, so she just likes to play with it like it's a toy.

I wish you luck on trying to teach your dogs how to fetch some eggs. It's always fund to make a game out of teaching them!

 

[Wanaka]

Thanks for that

Our dog is a Border Collie and is rather afraid of the hens! Although he sometimes helps round them up as long as they don't turn and face him. What made me think of the idea is that our dog is on light duties at the moment (no running) so I've been trying to think of some activities to keep him occupied.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[LBejaran]

It's definitely a job a border collie would excel at. My dogs never really took to training other than the basic sit/stay/lay-down commands, but luckily their breeds made up for it. This goes especially for the rat terrier, Kimchi. She started finding them on her own and has saved us loads of time. She'll guide us to wear she found the egg and hop around in excitement when we tell her "Good job!". It's the cutest thing I've ever seen, haha!