Aaarrrgghhhh...my GP puppy turned predator!

[Cetawin]

Why are you blaming an untrained puppy? They must be trained for their job and at 6 months old she is barely 1/4 of the way to maturity and certainly not ready for Livestock guardian training, she has the attention span and retention of a gnat.

Have you ever owned a GP previously? They do not reach maturity until they are 2 years old. Your puppy probably killed the chicken trying to play with it because at 6 months old that is all she wants...to play.

Sadly, this is not the puppy's fault. I am sorry you lost your girl(s).

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

Quote:
I hope the same thing doesn't happen to me. I got my GP pup at six weeks and pretty much let her loose with the muscovy ducks 24/7. It's only been a month now, but she does show submissive behavior when around a hen with her young. Other times, though, she wants to play. That big paw will try to reach out and encourage a duckling to play with her. When I see that behavior I grab and shake her by the scruff of the neck while flipping her on to her back with a firm "No!" Then our eyes meet, and I do my best to give her "the look".

She's just a puppy, though, when all is said and done. She has toys, and I too will play a little rough with her to try and get that extra energy out.

 

[mikesbigroo]

might have been playing with it in her eyes and kinda over did it, at 6 mts i would try the shock collar and keep an extra eye on her and give it alittle jolt when getting to close to the birds, leaving her at a distance to protect

 

[suevit]

My daughter and her great dane (5 yrs) were visiting a friend where the neighbors chickens would come over. Jed would kill them if he caught them. They cured him by taking one of the chickens he killed and tied it to the electric fence. When he grabbed that one well lets just say he went running yelping and hid behind his mommy....no more dead chickens.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

She is perfect when I am around, listens great, hardly gazes at the ducks, geese and chickens. Today when I went inside the guy cleaning my stalls said she tore after the ducks and chased them into the pond, not once but twice. He yelled at her both times and she stopped. She KNOWS because she came back up front and went into her dog house, where she stayed most of the rest of the afternoon.

I was looking at shock collars on e-Bay.... any suggestions?? If that doesn't work she is going somewhere else. Shame because she is great with the horses and cats and doesn't bother baby chicks in the pen by her house. I guess she just enjoys the chase but I have enough predators, don't need another sneaky one.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

We have a 6 month old GP female as well. She does great with all the animals. DH got her mainly for the goats but she shows no interest in any of the chickens or ducks. She does have my golden retriever to play with maybe that is why. I wouldn't leave her alone with the chickens yet as she still is a puppy and has that play instinct but so far she is very good with all the animals here. She will follow DH into the duck pen but she doesn't really notice the ducks shes more interested in following him. I would give your puppy some more time. Let her go with you into the pens but do not let her go alone. JMHO Micki

 

[19hhbelgian]

We got dogtra collars for our guy and girls. They have a great range as far as how far away the dog can be from you and the collar still works. It also has the vibrate plus the shock. All we have to do is vibrate, and they know we mean business. Most of the time we just put the collar on them, and they are perfect angels

If you buy a cheap shock collar, that is exactly what you'll get... We went that route, then we spent the $ we should have in the first place, and the collars are still working perfectly after 4 years of use. Also, we now only put the collars on the dogs when we are off roading and are in the woods... That's how well they work

 

[johnwilly1962]

Quote:
Perfect information that I agree with. Being big dogs, people just don't realize they are still JUST puppies. Give her the time and training she needs, I bet she'll be the best dog ever. And sorry for your loss.

 

[zylechicks]

I agree with those who suggested a "shock collar." I know that some trainers disagree with the use of them but in our case, it has allowed us to keep our dogs and chickens. We used a collar on our young Vizsla (about 6 months old). Vizslas are bird hunters so she was wired to chase birds. Still is. She was stalking chickens right from the start and we knew that sooner or later she would kill one. I put the collar on her at a low level (you can completely control the electricity) and followed her around one day. She happened to take off after a hen, grabbing it by the tail, and i gave her a jolt. She dropped the bird, shook herself a bit, looked at the bird, and then trotted off. That was it. She now runs through the flock to chase down birds in the field but does not even think of considering our hens as something she will chase. if you have a dog you love and chickens to protect, consider this alternative before you give the dog away.

 

[deerman]

Quote: