Training/Teaching a dog about chickens

[ghostwolf211]

It may sound cruel to some but I have a beagle that I actively use for hunting and I used a shock training collar to train him both for hunting and that the chickens are off limits....It worked great....He figured it out in about 20 minutes

 

[Annasg]

I do not underestimate my dogs. They have minds of their own. I trained them and was so proud of the training I gave them until I got chickens and it seems that all that training went right out the window. After all, they are animals and they know I am still gonna come back and feed them.

 

[meemnum1]

This post is AWESOME. Thank you for putting it up. I have an 80 lb pit. She chases my chickens and has killed three so far. The weird thing is that it's not a bloody mess...no feathers everywhere etc. She kinda scoops them up under her chest then falls on them like as if she's playing with them but she weighs so much they don't have a chance. I didn't think I could break her. She will also run up to the coop when I first let her out after I've been gone at work all day and jump on the wall of the coop to see them scatter. Then she'll look at me as I'm yelling at her like what..I just wanted to play....head cocked to the side all innocent looking. I don't know if this is typical of chicken chasers or chicken killers as I've only had chickens for about 6 mos now. The chickens aren't going anywhere and neither is the dog....guess I'll start working with her since now I see that not alll hope is lost.

 

[shmccarthy]

We've used a lot of shock collar training with one of our dogs. She is a 120lb Great Dane and she knows it. She really liked to roam and after only 2 or 3 shocks, she did not leave our property anymore. The collar had a "ringing tone" sound that we used before the shock and she knew that meant what she was currently doing was bad. She's too old to bother with the chickens as far as she feels now and would much rather try and play with the sleeping cat. As bearfoot did, we made sure we were out of sight when correcting her behavior using the collar. It worked really well because she was never able to make the connection that it was us, she just knew that the boundaries of our property were off limits and it didn't feel as good to wander anymore.

 

[lisamaree90]

I have a 9 yr old staffy & he got one of my girls when we first got them.. She didn't die but I disciplined him with a smack and some very harsh words he will never forget and he has been AMAZING since, even shows our girls affection & guards there coop

 

[HEChicken]

We had a lab once and we're NEVER able to convince him not to chase. I'm curious if other lab owners have had success

...For example, a husky is more likely to go after a chicken than say a chihuahua or other small dog.

Don't underestimate small dogs. In many cases, the small dogs are far worse than large dogs when it comes to chasing chickens. Keep in mind that many small dog breeds are terriers - dogs bred to hunt.

 

[wasntme]

I have 2 miniature Schnauzers. They are wonderful with my chickens. I raised my girls since they were little chicks and made sure my dogs were able to investigate and visit with the chicks. My female Schnauzer got the name "Little Miss Mama" because she was always so worried about "her" little chicks and would check on them constantly. If something was out of place with them (get out of their wooden box when they were tiny), she'd come get me. I was worried about my male Schnauzer because he's very protective over "his property." I gave the dogs chores to help out when the chicks were moved into a temporary coop outdoors. Once they were large enough to free range, the dogs would keep them from going too far away from the coop and kept a good eye on them. As for hawks and other predators, my male Schnauzer will actually bark and "chase" them away from our property, especially if I say "mean birdy." He also keeps squirrels away as well. As for the female, she puts them to bed in their coops - she rounds them up and walks them to their coops (I have 3 coops). Once they're in, if any of the chickens went into the wrong coop, she points. I then open up the coop and move the chickens into the correct one. It's usually my Buff Minorcas who go into coop 2 instead of 3. I think they enjoy being picked up and petted while I'm moving them to their own coop. I think it's their game. LOL I made my dogs get involved in rearing the chicks and they have been a blessing. I think the key is to allow them to investigate the chicks/chickens and discipline as they meet. Any bad character from the dogs they have to get disciplined and taught their limits right away. If you act nervous, the dogs will feed off of your anxiety so try to stay calm.

My latest training is to have Bailee (my female) find eggs. My Buff Minorcas just began laying eggs. Everytime I go to get one, Bailee is there with me. I allow her to sniff the egg and I keep repeating the word egg to her, this way when they're free ranging and lay an egg, I can send Bailee out to find them. She understands the word "find" so she's all good there. She just needs a constant nagging from me as to what an egg is. LOL She's only 2 days in from when my chickens began to lay but I figure about 1-2 weeks she'll have it down. Persistence is the key! I think many dogs are territorial and when you introduce something new into their turf they don't like it - big or small dogs. It takes time but keeping your dogs trained and aware of their limitations around the chickens can happen. Just stick with it!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I too, think any dog can be trained to be safe with birds. I started out last summer with a "bird hunting" yellow lab and 9 chicks. We showed her the chicks when we first brought them home. She began to quiver with nervous hunting energy. Tail stock straight and pointing toward the brooder. She was "Birdie" on our new fluff balls. With this energy and a few near misses for nips on the chicks with the kids. We just removed her from the birds in each of those situations. She was not allowed near the chicks with that sort of energy. As the birds free ranged through the summer, she watched and spent the summer in the house. Seperation was our tactic. We then at a certain point at about 8 weeks determined which chickens were calm to be handled and started presenting them to her while she was on a leash. She was allowed to smell...but if she licked her lips with nervous energy she was removed from the bird and the scenario after a sharp jerk of her leash. While with the chicken we told her, "Niiiiice. Niiiiiice. or Noooo. Noooo." never shouting it or mad just firm and calm. Keeping the energy level down. We started really getting into it one week at about 12 weeks of age (the birds) and finally with encouragement from my father in law ...I let her go in the yard with my birds. Oh gosh...I so didn't want to. I fully respected the fact that she was a hunting dog and that hunting birds was an instinct and actually was her "dog job." But as FIL said, "She's fine. She's fine." And she was.

So then came the test later in the fall. Did I ruin DH's hunting dog? Nope. She hunted like a champ and knew the difference. Thank God, as I'm sure I would have been in some hot water.

I've taken in many episodes of the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Channel. There is much information to be gleaned from those shows. The intricacies of training a dog come down to a set pattern:

Be the Boss. Or the Alpha.
Exercise your dog to set their brain straight. It bonds them to you all the more. And they'll mind you much better too.
Calm and firm energy with your dog.
Training - Discipline
Rewarding and Loving

In that order.

I agree there are some special cases and no personality of dog is the same. Some breed specificities. Some easier to train than others. But I think sometimes most often than not-- folks don't want to put in the time or don't have the time to commit to this sort of training and that's where the fail is.


I wish you all luck with your Pooches and Chooks.

 

[happyfrenchman]

I think having smart dogs helps alot... I have two very smart dogs, one naturally took to the chickens when they were chicks.... he loves babies. My other dog had more hunting instinct.... had to be redirected a couple of times for egg stealing... but now I would trust her with the smallest chicks... My first dog loves the chicks... he hovers over them and is very protective of chicks.... The rooster? It is funny to watch how he works the rooster. He asserts himself on the rooster in a way that is funny to see.... he will "accidentally" run right at it and it better move...The rooster tried to get bad with him once and got steamrolled...never hurt the rooster.... just ruffled it's feathers.... As for the hens... He shows more interest in the hens but overall I feel he could take or leave the hens. They accept him among without flinching...sometimes when he is at a full gallop. I think they can tell that he is very protective of everyone and everything he considers part of the pack. (flock?)





He goes broody when there are chicks on the scene. If there are chicks in the brooder, we have to go check on them every time we go out the door, he is heading to the garage....if I let them loose I will go away and when I come back he has them climbing all over him like he is a chicken jungle gym..

 

[DoubleCreekFarm]

We have 2 dogs and 12 hens. One of the dogs is an older rat terrier mix and the other is a 7 month old chow, lab, pit and who knows what else mix. Neither one of them has ever been around or even seen a chicken until we got these. How we trained ours to the chickens is we started with them on a retractable leash to start. A quick jerk back if they did anything they shouldn't with them. The rat terrier mix is totally trust worthy with them. He goes out in the yard with them all the time, totally unsupervised now. They even come up to him when he is trying to do his business and pick at him. One is determined to get the one white hair off his back. LOL. We are still in the process of training the puppy but he is doing great. It has been about a week. Using the same retractable leash. At first he was on a short leash but today he was allowed full run, on leash, with us watching. He was in with the birds with no problem. He even had one come running up to him, neck feathers puffed out. They stared at each other for a few seconds but he didn't offer to do anything. We are not ready to let him off leash yet but it is coming. Hope that helped.