How to train young dog not to eat chickens?

[MC Doodle]

Greetings all, first I must apologize for this question actually being more applicable to a dog training website than a chicken forum, but I have used this website to answer so many previous questions before, I just hope someone will have encountered a similar problem and has found solutions!
Anyways; I have a small farm with free ranging chickens and ducks. Three months ago, I brought home a little mixed breed puppy as a companion for my guard dog, Luka. I was so happy to see she had absolutely no interest in any of our many animals we keep i.e chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats... The exception being that she and the cat are in love and spend most days cuddling and wrestling.
All was fine for three months! I would leave the animals free ranging when I went off the farm and come home to no trouble. Then one day we come home to the feathery remains of a young Mascovy duck, completely devoured. And she, chewing on the gizzard. Well... I tried to tell myself stories. Maybe a fox came, killed it and ran? Or an eagle? A stray dog perhaps? But after the second... now third time. She has been caught in the act. She kills quickly and quietly. She doesn't mess around chasing anyone. She gets calmly very close to the flock, which somehow has no fear of her and BAM! And she quickly eats the whole bird.
Before and even now, she never ever chased any animal. She never even gave them a considering look . After the first event, we always made sure to lock the birds up in their pen before leaving her alone on the farm. But now she has been bold enough to do it carefully right under our noses.
She is a mixed breed dog. Maybe some german shephard and 100 other things.
Our senior dog, Luka, is also a mix. She had some chasing problems in her puppyhood, and even managed to kill a rabbit. But with a lot of training and discipline, she has never done so again. She also didnt eat the rabbit... she only had the desire to chase, which seems a very common instinct for most dogs.
I am just so perplexed as to what to do, when the puppy(named Poppy) wont display this killing nature in front of us, so we can't be there to reprimand her. And she has no interest in the birds every other day. She really does it to feed herself! But we always make sure she has food available.
Hope someone has had a similar story and could give some advise, I would really appreciate it!

In the photos, she is the smaller light brown dog. And these are the ducks she is slowly picking off.

 

[Peaches Lee]

For now, I would supervise her outside and leashed walks only--I wouldn't want to risk my flock anymore. Not sure if this is something that can be untrained since she associates your birds with food.

She looks like a Malinois mix to me, which are known for being super high drive dogs that enjoy and thrive off of intense training and sports. And once bored, can become destructive.

If you are so inclined, you may wish to seek the counsel of a dog trainer or behaviorist.

Good luck!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Greetings all, first I must apologize for this question actually being more applicable to a dog training website than a chicken forum, but I have used this website to answer so many previous questions before, I just hope someone will have encountered a similar problem and has found solutions!
Anyways; I have a small farm with free ranging chickens and ducks. Three months ago, I brought home a little mixed breed puppy as a companion for my guard dog, Luka. I was so happy to see she had absolutely no interest in any of our many animals we keep i.e chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats... The exception being that she and the cat are in love and spend most days cuddling and wrestling.
All was fine for three months! I would leave the animals free ranging when I went off the farm and come home to no trouble. Then one day we come home to the feathery remains of a young Mascovy duck, completely devoured. And she, chewing on the gizzard. Well... I tried to tell myself stories. Maybe a fox came, killed it and ran? Or an eagle? A stray dog perhaps? But after the second... now third time. She has been caught in the act. She kills quickly and quietly. She doesn't mess around chasing anyone. She gets calmly very close to the flock, which somehow has no fear of her and BAM! And she quickly eats the whole bird.
Before and even now, she never ever chased any animal. She never even gave them a considering look . After the first event, we always made sure to lock the birds up in their pen before leaving her alone on the farm. But now she has been bold enough to do it carefully right under our noses.
She is a mixed breed dog. Maybe some german shephard and 100 other things.
Our senior dog, Luka, is also a mix. She had some chasing problems in her puppyhood, and even managed to kill a rabbit. But with a lot of training and discipline, she has never done so again. She also didnt eat the rabbit... she only had the desire to chase, which seems a very common instinct for most dogs.
I am just so perplexed as to what to do, when the puppy(named Poppy) wont display this killing nature in front of us, so we can't be there to reprimand her. And she has no interest in the birds every other day. She really does it to feed herself! But we always make sure she has food available.
Hope someone has had a similar story and could give some advise, I would really appreciate it!

In the photos, she is the smaller light brown dog. And these are the ducks she is slowly picking off.

Establish a boundary, a leave it command. Lots of positive reinforcement, use treats, toys, praise, whenever she obeys the commands and turns from them to you. Start with her leashed until she is perfect at it. And once it is mastered, she may, may, be able to be trusted to an extent. But personally I would not trust her unsupervised, though, ever. After taking multiple birds and recognising them as a source of food, it isnt worth the risk.

Im no dog trainer, but I have three and they successfully follow the command now--I dont trust them with my ducks--but they leave squirels and pigeons etc. (even though they have caught and eaten them before training, they now know not to).

 

[MC Doodle]

For now, I would supervise her outside and leashed walks only--I wouldn't want to risk my flock anymore. Not sure if this is something that can be untrained since she associates your birds with food.

She looks like a Malinois mix to me, which are known for being super high drive dogs that enjoy and thrive off of intense training and sports. And once bored, can become destructive.

If you are so inclined, you may wish to seek the counsel of a dog trainer or behaviorist.

Good luck!

Thank you Peaches Lee,
Yes, it seems very hard to un-train this. It is just so sad because either she will have to be confined in one way or another, or I will have to stop free ranging the birds... I was hoping that she would be able to keep herself well entertained running around and playing with the other dog and our cat. Many days in the week we are with her all day because we work on the farm full time.
The people I got her from didn't know the breed that she was mixed with, but she really resembles the Malinois now that I am looking at it! She has absolutely no aggression towards anything ever, except when she eats a duck... Ugh.

Anyways, thanks again. I will look into any trainers I may have in my area and explore some options of containment.

 

[MC Doodle]

Establish a boundary, a leave it command. Lots of positive reinforcement, use treats, toys, praise, whenever she obeys the commands and turns from them to you. Start with her leashed until she is perfect at it. And once it is mastered, she may, may, be able to be trusted to an extent. But personally I would not trust her unsupervised, though, ever. After taking multiple birds and recognising them as a source of food, it isnt worth the risk.

Im no dog trainer, but I have three and they successfully follow the command now--I dont trust them with my ducks--but they leave squirels and pigeons etc. (even though they have caught and eaten them before training, they now know not to).

Greetings BelovedBirds,
The thing is, she never looks, chases, even gives a quick considering glance at the birds when we are watching. So it is very hard to catch her in the act. It is just on occasion, and not always, when we look away, or leave for a bit that the trouble begins. And always only one bird at a time. The ducks have NO fear of her! She is so smart and sneaky. When the most recent duck was taken down, she was walking among them, calmly, then suddenly took one quick snap at the neck, and done. Dead. And the other ducks had no idea. Didn't even see their friend drop dead! Crazy.
It is really hopeful to hear that you have managed to train yours up to be trusted around most small animals though... I will really have to do some intensive training, or consider re-homing. Even though it breaks my heart... she is the sweetest dog in the world, but this blood thirst just baffles me a little.
Thank you for your time and advice. I will first try the intensive training.

 

[centrarchid]

@MC Doodle, your pup does like my English Shepherds do when at similar age. I keep up interactions but only while supervised. The pup(s) are penned so they are around chickens at all times although onot always able to get at them. Each day the pup is released for supervised interactions with the chickens. A lot more to it although not good to share unless you are really vested in getting pup to be good around chickens. I have six dogs with chickens, five of which are now good without supervision.

My pups eat what they kill although I prefer, they do not do so immediately. They also consume what they have stolen from predators.

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

Lots of supervision and if seen doing it maybe a shock collar. I've got a Bernese Mountain dog and a Great White Pyrenees. The Bernese wont eat chickens but the Pyrenees will. We had to quarantine him to a pasture cuz he just wouldnt stop

 

[MC Doodle]

@MC Doodle, your pup does like my English Shepherds do when at similar age. I keep up interactions but only while supervised. The pup(s) are penned so they are around chickens at all times although onot always able to get at them. Each day the pup is released for supervised interactions with the chickens. A lot more to it although not good to share unless you are really vested in getting pup to be good around chickens. I have six dogs with chickens, five of which are now good without supervision.

My pups eat what they kill although I prefer, they do not do so immediately. They also consume what they have stolen from predators.

Thanks for the response centrarchid,
Since the beginning, she is kept near the bird run, since I have these dogs for protecting them against foxes. They have a dog house and run that borders the coop and can see them constantly. And when I first introduced her to the chickens, ducks and rabbits with no fence in between. I sat there and supervised her every move for over an hour and repeated this quite a few times. This is how I trained our older dog and it worked with occasional slip ups, now at 3 years old, she is a super star. This dog, Poppy, shows little to no interest in any of the animals when people are around. It is when we are distracted or gone for a little while that the trouble begins. I am just so sad to think that I may have to keep her fenced... Our farm is surrounded by abandoned land that the doggies can run around and explore all day! But still, seems not to be enough after all this.
But what really stumps me is the secret killing, with no chase or anything.
On one hand I hear what you say, it is way better to kill and eat than leave it for waste! But I just wish it wasn't our ducks that she is killing!

 

[MC Doodle]

Lots of supervision and if seen doing it maybe a shock collar. I've got a Bernese Mountain dog and a Great White Pyrenees. The Bernese wont eat chickens but the Pyrenees will. We had to quarantine him to a pasture cuz he just wouldnt stop

Aww man...
I was considering the zap collar idea. I think I would have to hide in a bush and observe for a lot of time till she felt that she was alone and zap the moment I thought she was thinking naughty thoughts.
A lot of people are telling me that this blood thirst is just so hard to break... Sad to hear But dogs are dogs in the end and duck is delicious.
Thanks for your input!

 

[centrarchid]

I've been through you fun. My best dogs have done what your worst is doing now.