My dog is an egg eater, how do I make him stop?

[roamingchick]

My dog found an egg one of my new hens left on the ground which he ate! Since then he grabs any egg he can get access to, is there a way to make him stop?

 

[BBQJOE]

There are very few options...

 

[mimsy]

I'm not sure how big your dog is, but mine would eat the eggs if they could get into the coop. The girls door is too small for his big butt.

 

[roamingchick]

Right now I am taking the approach of just doing all I can to keep him away from the eggs, however its hard when a new girl lays somewhere besides the box. I just hope he doesn't try to eat more then the eggs. He is always supervised around chicks and birds, Id hate to treat him like other predators and lock him away from chickens all together but it may quickly come to that.

 

[Folly's place]

Separation is the answer. Mary

 

[donrae]

Dogs can (usually) be easily trained not to touch/eat food that's accessible. I don't think it would be any different to train him not to eat an egg he found than not to eat off the counter, or eat from your plate if you're on the sofa, things like that. Leave a bait egg out where he has access to it and reprimand him for showing interest in it. Do that consistently and it should break him. If not, separate.

 

[roamingchick]

Not sure why I didn't think of it this way, my dog is young less then six months he's been housebroken, trained to sit not beg, not to bother food not in dish or given to him, simple commands like stay come down gentle drop it, he also has learned to not touch my chicks, and never bark scare or chase the chickens, so your right perhaps he needs to be trained to not eat eggs that are not his!

 

[TalkALittle]

Personally, I'd train this using an e-collar. If the dog knows the correction comes from you then he'll learn to leave eggs alone when you're around but will know it's safe to eat them when you're not there.

If the correction "comes from the egg" then he'll come to learn that eating eggs is an unpleasant experience whether you're there or not. Put the collar on him a couple times a day for a couple of days but leave it turned OFF. On the third day turn it on and put it on him. Put an egg out as bait in full view of a window. Let him out and watch from the window. When he sniffs or goes to eat the egg stim him with the collar at a fairly high setting. You'll likely only have to do it twice before he realizes that the egg isn't worth it. Call him inside and go out and collect the egg. Let him outside and play with him in that area of the yard. Bring him back inside, put the egg in another location, and repeat the lesson in an hour or two. Again, it will likely only take one or two stims if he even tries at all. Over the next couple days limit his access to eggs only to times where you are watching and ready to correct. After the original two times you can be outside with him when you stim him, but show no sign that it is coming from you. Don't raise your hand with the remote. Don't reprimand him. Don't console him after. I guarantee it will work.

**extra steps should be taken if your dog is already trained to an electric perimeter fence if you want to employ this method.

ETA: I wouldn't use this method on a pup less than 6 months. For young pups, management of the pup and environment are necessary.

 

[roamingchick]

An e collar I am assuming electric collar? Are they expensive?

 

[TalkALittle]

Just edited my post as I re-read that your pup is less than 6 months. Would use a collar on a pup older than 6 months.

Yes, remote electronic collar. The good ones can be pricey. I recommend E-collar Technologies Mini Educator to my clients. They run about $175 online and offer the most consistent performance and stimulation out there with nice features of you plan on using it for other training.

For general avoidance training, you can get away with a cheaper collar though. The stim levels on the cheap collars jump much more drastically than the good collars. But with avoidance training you aren't using it at low levels anyway. You want to correct at a pretty high level right away and for it to feel very uncomfortable for the dog so they make the association very quickly that "eggs are bad". So you can use a cheaper collar that only opperates at those high levels. Just make sure the posts have good contact with your dog's neck. Proper fit is important. The collar should be tight so it doesn't slide around.