How do I safely introduce my dogs to the chickens?

[NTBugtraq]

So once you go into the coop she goes nuts? Has she ever shown any kind of separation anxiety before?

When I am in the coop, I don't exist, she's fixated on the chickens. I hope I make it clear, she is my ***** in any other situation, when I go tin the coop, she loses her mind and is fixated on chickens, not the loss of me.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Shaking from fear? Excitement?
Is she on a leash in the coop , you know the old she goes where you go training. Make it short so she's right at you feet , she maybe just so overly excited . If she has taken down other birds in the past I honestly don't see being able to train an 8 year old that these birds are off limit cause they get us money ???to my bichon a birds a bird and to try to stop her going after my chickens when she chases the robins??? Not going to happen.

Excitement. I don't take her in the coop anymore, I tried that several times, but she does not here me when she's shaking. I have tried commands that are way more than anything else she's heard, and it takes 4 or 5 to get her attention. She has never takena bird down before, cause her only other foes were Trumpeter Swans and Canada Geese. So I agree, I can't free range till she dies...which is sad enough.

 

[TalkALittle]

You need to work her at a level of stimulation where your verbal corrections do have an effect. That might be outside the coop in view of chickens or in the coop but with only one or two chickens. Over arousal isn't conducive to learning. Create a training session where she'll be right on the cusp of becoming aroused and work until you have the results you want there before upping the stimulus.

 

[splum]

My Doxie is completely untrustworthy. He too shakes and whines when he sees them but I have learned the hard way it's because he is a chicken killer. We just have to keep him inside when the chickens are out.

 

[NTBugtraq]

You need to work her at a level of stimulation where your verbal corrections do have an effect. That might be outside the coop in view of chickens or in the coop but with only one or two chickens. Over arousal isn't conducive to learning. Create a training session where she'll be right on the cusp of becoming aroused and work until you have the results you want there before upping the stimulus.

Well, actually, when I'm not in the coop the chickens are pretty docile, and Cleo isn't very stimulated (and often not stimulated at all). When I go in, say to feed the chickens, the chickens get all aroused moving away from me, towards food, etc...and then Cleo gets ridiculously excited. There really is just on, and off...I keep hoping she will just get over it, and maybe as I grow my flock to 100 layers, she'll overload one day...

 

[TalkALittle]

Could you possibly contain most of the chickens elsewhere and just work with a few in the coop in their feeding frenzy state?

 

[suebee]

Why bring her to the coop with you? I would free range just one chicken, preferably a fast one that you don't really like. Keep the dog on the leash and distract her if she zones into the chicken, such as verbal command of No or Leave It, then give her a favorite toy or treat if she stops zoning her brain on that chicken. I would never bring my dogs into the coop mainly because of the eggs they'd discover. They protect my free range flock outside of the coop only.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

We have 3 dogs. One stays at my in-laws house. He is a bird dog (German Short-Haired Pointer, double AKC registered WITH hunting experience.) and has lived there most of his life anyway. The two that live with us WILL kill a chicken and eat it. I have tried to work with them, but one of them is an idiot and the other is intelligent but STUBBORN!!! I finally gave up and started putting them in a pen during the times that I let the birds free-range. If I stay outside, I can tell the intelligent dog "No." and he leaves them alone... as long as I stay with them.

A few months ago, we moved the bird dog to our property due to weather issues. He stayed in the regular pen, because if I let him into the rest of the fenced yard, he and the other two dogs would fight. So a month with no free-ranging. His pen was right next to the coop and it drove him crazy. I asked my husband if he was sure our bird dog could handle being that close to the chickens and he said he would get used to it. Nope. He finally started trying to tear up the pen closest to the coop. This is a 90-110 pound dog (depending on if it is hunting season or not) with the jaw-pressure of a Pit Bull or Rhodesian Ridgeback. He made a hole in the pen the size of a cantaloupe. Back to the in-laws he went!!!

I agree that you can have dogs and chickens live together peacefully, but the younger the dog when they are introduced, the better luck you will have. They have to understand from their own doggie perspective that the birds are part of their pack instead of a separate flock unto themselves. They have to see the birds as being under their protection just as much as you are, or it will NOT work. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks, but it is much easier to teach a new dog... everything!

 

[centrarchid]

I keep dogs and chickens together using the former as protection for the latter. Dogs (German Pointers) are expected to operate free-range with free-range chickens 24/7 without supervision. Getting to desired point is complicated, labor-intensive, and does not occur over a single training session. My starting point on dog side is usually pups but I have also started with adult dogs. Adult dogs are usually quicker to respond to training but they do not generally give the long-term flexibility desired when it comes to responding to commands and knowing their way around our property / poultry keeping areas. First introductions are between pup and single adult chicken (usually a rooster) that is very calm. Chicken is not held although dog is leashed. Holding a chicken, especially one that is trying to get away or otherwise showing signs of distress are not what I want dogs to see. Pup is reprimanded by me and sometimes rooster when pup acts inappropriately. Later pup is introduced to more adult chickens and young protected by a hen which is always done under supervision. Just because dog behaves properly around adults and chicks does not mean that will hold for juvenile chickens. You must vet / train dog for each chicken life-stage. I try to get as much contact time between dog and chickens as possible while giving dogs other interest upon which they can act out their aggression. Dogs are smart so idle minds can be more problematic. Starting from a pup, it takes me a solid 18 to 24 months to get dogs into desired working order before I can trust them with birds unsupervised. Fencing can be your friend but try to plan for when the fencing fails or you briefly want dog with chickens for protection of the chickens.

I am leaving out a lot of details, and have a lot more resources and motivation than most to make such work This is mostly a backyard forum but the backyard is poorly defined. By my measures even someone like myself with a couple hundred birds is still backyard as everything done more or less as a hobby. From that perspective I have similar levels of tolerance and flexibility in approach a person with only 6 birds and one dog has. I even keep on discrete flock made up of only five adults around the house free-range that presents many of the same challenges realized by many urban keepers of chickens. The birds around the house are handily the most difficult to deal with when it comes to dogs, especially when pups with not much to do.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Proper training and guidance....

When introducing a new dog to our chickens I use a shock collar. Never let the dog associate the control with the collar, they assume it's coming from the chickens and learn to leave them alone.

You must command train your dog on leash first, any dog that has bad habits on leash will be uncontrollable off leash. If you have to repeat yourself your dog needs more work.

Some of the timeframes listed here are very long and honestly just not true. I have never had a dog that wasn't house broken in 10 days or less, you can train a dog to do almost anything in a week. Yes that training needs reinforcing and much attention must be given in order to make that possible. 2 years is an unacceptable number as far as I'm concerned. I would never keep a dog that long that couldn't be left unattended. I understand everyone's situation and experience is different, we have been able to train protection dogs in far less time than that. My current dog is a German shorthair that's 11 months old, she's started working unattended with our chickens in mid April. That's right 8 months old! Not only does she guard the chickens, she also guards our children nothing gets by her she is an exceptional dog.

I think a term that's used far too much on these forums is prey drive.... It's almost always used out of context. A dog without it will not be effective. That's what keeps them alert and ready, how can you expect a dog to persue and or attack a predator without it? You can't it's a contradiction.

Dogs are far smarter they they get credit for, anything that ventures into our perimeter is in serious trouble. Yet she understands perfectly that chickens are off limits, she treats them and my kids about the same. Always watching.

Dogs need to be treated like dogs, not people. I think this is one of the biggest mistake people mistake while trying to train their dogs. If you are stern and swift with correction the dog will understand much faster, you also have to be extremely consistent anything else creates bad habits and that's going backwards.

You need a relatively good dog and very much discipline on your part to work with them. You also need to take the time and train them right, if you do that your dog will be a rockstar.