How to TRAIN A DOG to NOT chase chickens? HELP! asap

[chickenbarn-gal]

to cut to the chase, I'm getting baby chicks soon. Well, about 10 months ago I got a Labrador puppy. She has now grown and is quite behaved. But just yesterday we went to our friends house (who has baby chicks) and LUCY (dog) got ahold of a baby chick and almost ate it! It started running around and she chased it. We finally cought her, put her on the floor and she dropped the baby chick (about 2 months old) (The chick is fine now) she didn't eat the chick, t=she just thought it was fun and chased it around like it was a game. but now I'm scared, what if she chases and anciently kills my chicks that i will buy?

Is anybody here a dog trainer? How can I train my dog to NOT

CHASE CHICKENS?

:

please help asap!

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

My dog almost killed a neighbor's chicken when she was one. So when I got my own chickens I worked with her every day until she learned to view the chickens as something other than prey. I raised the babies in the house and I taught my dog:

1. Look away if I hold a chicken up to her face.
2. Never stare at the chickens.
3. Never, ever try to play with or lick the chickens.
4. Never play rough with her sister around the chickens. (It scares them...they run...bad idea!)

In the begining she was only allowed the lie down around the chickens...never stand up and tower over them. She is a hunting dog...she just had to learn not to hunt chicken!

And it seems to have worked....not only is she submissive around the chickens, but at times they are border line dominant over her! Even the baby chickens view her as no threat. This year's brood:

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Just wanted to post an update on this. I used the same technique to train my new puppy that I used to retrain my older dog who had gone after and almost killed a neighbor's chicken. Her prey drive is not like a husky. I would say it is medium high. She chases just about anything that moves (except for the chickens) but is responsive if you tell her to come.

I started off the first day she came home at 8 weeks in the chicken pen teaching her not to stare at the chickens. Every time she fixated on them I moved her head gently and said no. The more aggressive chickens actually confronted her and pecked her when she stared at them!



A week later we started training with the baby chickens in the house. First just with the cage open and correcting her every time she stared at them. Then I brought one out. She had to lie down only, don't touch the baby and don't stare. She was VERY interested...so I just kept at it...stare, correction, over and over.



After a week of that I started with touching her with the baby chickens. All I expected was for her not to stare at them and no licking or biting the chicken ever! She now is starting to understand that she should relax around the chickens NOT be excited.



When she was four months the baby chickens moved outside and she was ready to be let loose with the chickens. Prior to this she was tied in the chicken pen while I fed. She learned that if she relaxed the chickens would come to her...and she liked that. Let loose she did very well...but because she is a puppy she does get playful and in silly moods. When she acts goofy with the chickens I say "No" and she gets tied up in the pen until I am done feeding. She understands that excitement around the chickens means she loses her freedom. No yelling or anything on my part....just hook the leash on her and that's her consequence...loss of freedom.



By 5 months she was totally at home with the chickens. Still some goofiness once in a while, but no serious chasing of the chickens. The silver laced Wyandettes are the chickens she wants to play with. Why, I don't know? They do follow her around. Spock the rooster ignores her. She eats all the leftover squash and watermelons. Silly puppy! If she does get goofy now I don't tie her up. I make her lie down and stay for a minute. If she does it again then she has to leave the pen. She understands...if I hear a squawking chicken, I say, "Hey, what's that". If the puppy did it she will actually go over to the pen door and stand there with a very sad expression on her face because she knows she goofed up.






The main key for my puppy was to control her excitement around the chickens. I taught her the chickens were not prey and then I make sure to not let her get crazy excited around them. So far...things are good!

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Quote:
It took a little while! No staring was first. But raising the peeps inside was very important because most dogs do have better inside behavior! So even if you can just bring a chicken in the house for a hour a day...in a cage of course...I would think that would work too.

1. Only allow the dog next to the chicken inside when they are lying down and not whining and carrying on. They may not be ready to lie down quietly next to the cage at first. So start from a distance where the dog will behave. My dog was so excited we started in the hallway for the first week. Gradually we moved into the room and near the cage....but we only went closer when there was no whining and carrying on. I didn't use treats to motivate her. I used the fact that she wanted more than anything else to be close to those chickens!

2. I first let my dog stare at the chickens for a second or two. Then I said, "Hey"! (Or you could say NO!...whatever word takes a dogs attention away from the thing they are fixated on.) The important thing is to say it when the dog is making eye contact with a chicken. Timing is everything. If there is no word that works you can touch them too. On the shoulder works well for my dogs.

3. At first my dog looked at me as soon as I said ,"Hey!", but then she looked back at the chickens, more quickly every time. She understood me but was making the choice to look back! So then as soon as she looked back I made her stand up, turn around and lie down facing away from the chickens. If she wouldn't stay without whining and carrying on then I walked her out of the room and we started all over again.

And that was pretty much it. We did this every day for a few weeks. When she stopped staring at the chickens and was content to just be close to them then I took them out of the cage with her in the room.

To get her to look away when I held them up to her face:

1. I made my dog lie down on her side next to the cage. Then I took the calmest peep and put it on her back. Of course she picked her head up. I said, "Hey!", and pushed her head back down. It only took a few times and she got it. First time my dog shook she was so excited.

It's like the dog has to allow the chicken to come into their space and not react at all. If that happens then the chicken feels safe with the dog. If a dog gets up then they are not ready for this. My dog had to be completely calm and submissive or the peep would panic. They know when something wants to eat them!

2. I did this with her every day for a week or so until she stopped reacting to the peeps walking on her at all. Then I took a peep out when she was lying down regular with her head up. When I held it up to her face she looked at it for a second. I said, "Hey!" and then she pulled her face away herself. She got it very quickly.

By now the peeps thought they were the dominant ones because they had been walking all over the dog for a week! So they looked her right in the eye....Bossy!

 

[FunkyFaith]

to cut to the chase, I'm getting baby chicks soon. Well, about 10 months ago I got a Labrador puppy. She has now grown and is quite behaved. But just yesterday we went to our friends house (who has baby chicks) and LUCY (dog) got ahold of a baby chick and almost ate it! It started running around and she chased it. We finally cought her, put her on the floor and she dropped the baby chick (about 2 months old) (The chick is fine now) she didn't eat the chick, t=she just thought it was fun and chased it around like it was a game. but now I'm scared, what if she chases and anciently kills my chicks that i will buy?

Is anybody here a dog trainer? How can I train my dog to NOT

CHASE CHICKENS?

:

please help asap!

Not sure if this will work, bit with our dog we put him on a leash. And made him lay down. Our chickens came up one my one to investigate, and we just pet our dog to calm him. One hen, a fiesty silkie came up and started nipping his tail, and he's a big dog. It took a while, but he eventually learned to be kind to them. Every once in a while he would chase them, but nevrr attack.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I would suggest kenneling your dog while the chicks are out. and leaving the chicks put up while the dog is out. Very rarely can you train a dog not to play with your chicks. It will be safer for all just to keep them apart.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I just recently got my dog (border collie) to be chicken friendly. What I did was, while the chickens were free-ranging in the yard I put my dog on a leash. I kept her close to me and made her lay down. Whenever a chick would come over I would tell her good girl. And pat her. And after doing this for a few days I finally trusted her enough to let her off the leash. One of my brahmas actually runs up to her and pecks her right on the nose! It is the funniest thing! My dog went from trying to bite the chickens to being the chickens best friend! Also, in my opinion no dog should be trusted alone with the chickens, you should always be cautious. Good luck!

 

[justuschickens59]

I did the same thing as Sunny - I put my 3 dogs on a leash and made them sit beside me while the chickens were out. I would give them a small treat (which I kept in my pocket) every time a chicken came near and they just stayed by me and ignored the chicken. I did this for 2 weeks. My dogs are all rescue dogs, so I am unsure of their breed. I have one part beagle/part terrier of some type, another part terrier/part something else, and my other dog I have absolutely no clue what she is.

Fast forward to four years or so later, my dogs have never even attempted to bother one of the chickens or chicks. They are all three extremely protective of the chickens and especially protective of chicks. One day I had 5 chicks still in the house in the brooder; the chicks were about 5 weeks old. I went to the store and was gone a couple of hours. When I came home, I opened the front door and the sight that greeted me was 3 dogs and 3 chicks running around the living room.. The other 2 chicks were still in the brooder. Apparently, the 3 chicks managed to fly out of the brooder and were running around the house with the dogs.

I trust my dogs 100% alone with my chickens. It can be done with a little time and patience.

 

[ShannonR]

You get exactly the behavior you accept in your dogs. I think some firm boundaries are in order here. Don't let your dog own you, it works the other way around lol.

 

[Sarahal88]

My rooster trained my dog not to chase chickens real quick.