My dog chasing chickens. --solved!

[floridamel]

We have a 3.5 pound Miniature Pinscher, Kiwi, who is obsessed with our chickens, and we are trying desperately to calm her down around them. We let the chickens (we have 2) roam the backyard freely, and haven't been letting Kiwi out when the chickens are out, but obviously this is not a good long-term solution. She is usually a fairly calm, well-behaved dog, so a behavior problem with her is new to us. Given her size, I don't think she could hurt the chickens, but she does chase them if she gets out, and it freaks them out, so we need it to stop.

I have tried some solutions that I've found online but they seem more for cases where the dog is not completely obsessed. She is really crazy over them. She sits at the back door staring at them all day. I have tried taking her out back on a leash to train her, and she whines and pulls the whole time despite my attempts to control it. I have tried a spray bottle, and the dog whisperer's "pssst" thing with no success. I really have no clue where to even start with her at this point.

 

[grasjm36]

hahaha ........pssst........, yea thats a joke.

This past weekend my puppy killed my poor little silky

I was devastated beyond belief. I've been trying SO HARD to train her but to no avail. UGH!

I need help too! We bought her because she is a border collie/ mcnabb mix and should be a good farm dog.

 

[bantybev]

Someone with more experience will come along soon, I hope, but until then...there have been a lot of posts on the subject of dogs vs chickens. Some people have naturally mellow dogs who coexist with their flock just fine. But....from what I have read (and I am no expert) you may just have a dog with a very high "prey drive" and have to keep them seperate. A lot of opinions on the subject on here, as I said. I personally wouldn't trust most dogs around my chickens. I'd love to free range my flock, but I know that is just asking for trouble where I live.
Sorry I am not very encouraging

Maybe, hopefully, you will be one of the lucky ones to train your dog to leave the chickens alone.

Good Luck!

 

[floridamel]

bantybev - I did look through the forum for posts about this but none have solved my problem. I used some of the suggestions for my other dog, a Greyhound, who was mildly interested in the chickens at first. After a little bit of work, she could now care less about them (they walk under her legs and everything). But, the Minpin is another story! We live in Tampa and don't have to worry about predators, so all would be perfect if we could get Kiwi to stop bothering them.

grasjm - sorry to hear about your Silky! Hopefully someone will have some advice for us.

 

[cobrien]

I am pretty good at training dogs, I have 2 who can be trusted with chickens, but to be honest in your case I would seek help from a professional trainer. It doesn't have to be expensive - most animal shelters offer group classes. The classes won't necessarily cover chicken manners, BUT what you need is a solid foundation of basic obedience, which requires learning the language of dogs. It is more subtle than I ever imagined and I have learned everything I know from my group classes.

my limited experience with minpins is that they are a bit stubborn, somewhat like a terrior in personality (? maybe I'm wrong here), adding to my feeling that a trainer is the best bet. I kind of lucked out with my dogs, they responded very well to simple direction with the chickens.

Basic obedience classes or private sessions if you can afford it will help you teach your dog "leave it". If you think about it, anyone with a dog has times when they want their dog to "leave it" - walking past a nice steaming pile of garbage or poo for example! so you can learn what you need in my opinion. Also, the trainers make themselves available for specific questions the participants have, which can be a huge help.

Until then / or if this just doesn't work for you, I would definitely keep the dog on a leash around the chickens and think about ways that you can get him to behave with positive reinforcement. If he is motivated by treats or toys, this can work. When he starts to get distracted by chickens, say sit, when he sits give him a treat. Work on basic obedience around the chickens -- A LOT. Take the dog with you to do chicken chores, but it is very important to keep him leashed so that he can't make mistakes. No chasing, no muzzling, no barking, etc. at the chickens.

If dog is too crazy about chickens to accomplish this, then you should start the basic obedience stuff without the chickens around until you perfect at least "sit" on a leash. "leave it" is another important one that will help you work towards having him off leash.

Once you have basic obedience on leash down around chickens, you can carefully experiment with off leash.

good luck!

 

[floridamel]

Thanks, cobrien, those are some helpful suggestions. The crazy thing about Kiwi is that she has mastered basic obedience (thus, when we got the chickens, I thought she wouldn't be a problem). She knows sit, stay, come, lay down, leave it, etc. and does those things very well, and I have never had a behavior problem with her before. But, when she sees the chickens, it all flies out the window!

I have been trying to take her into the backyard on a leash and making her sit and stay. I've had some (little) success with actually getting her to do this, but her eyes are on the chickens the whole time, and though she is sitting, she is shaking with excitement. I am not sure if I should reward her while she is still focused on them like this.

I will try taking her out on the leash for short trips while I do some of the chicken chores, and hopefully if I can be persistent (at least more than she is) then doing this repeatedly will help. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Shared Acres]

Maybe she needs a friend and sees them as a playmate but she plays too rough?

Maybe try a muzzle?

I don't know, my lab just never cared about the chickens.


Before we moved on the farm she chased ducks but when we moved out here, we yelled at her once and she no longer did it. Wish I could help more.

 

[floridamel]

Haha Shared Acres, that is what we thought at first, but when we let her near one, we realized she was snapping at it! She is so small, she can't bite very hard, but I still don't want her chasing the poor chickens.

 

[mdbokc]

There was/is a thread where a fellow who trained dogs discussed using the electric shock collar. The key was not to give the dog the shock via the collar when the dog begins to move aggressively towards the chickens; then it's too late from his perspective. Rather, it was close observation without the dog knowing he was being observed. Then when the dog even looked at the chickens with interest, it got zapped while thinking about them. But since the owner/trainer was not necessarily there from the dog's point of view, each dog was trained to adhere to this sort of behavior even while the owner/trainer was absent. (Remember, the training took place largely without the person directly and verbally intervening from the dog's viewpoint.)

In other words, the dogs learned that even thinking about getting after a chicken resulted in a nasty, throw me on the ground jolt. And he didn't mess around with a low shock first and then slowly build up power until the dog's comfort level was breached. He nailed it hard each and every time so that even thinking about the chicken chase was to be avoided at all costs from the dog's viewpoint. Worked, worked quickly and end of story. Others that tried it got the same positive results.

 

[floridamel]

Unfortunately they do not make any type of remote controlled collar for a dog that small. Yep, I've checked!