Acclimating Pet Dogs? Can it be done?

"had them tied near the pen at first, and once they began ignoring the birds, began walking each of them when i free ranged the birds"
Exactly what I did and worked like magic---but, a couple times immediately afterward, he did 'catch' a bird in his paws and was sniffing it --while the bird was shreeking!!! He got a wallop for that--Bad Dog!!! Started going out with him and playing with him away from the birds. He has never hurt another bird, nor chased it. He even waits to them to get out of his way most of the time. He seems to understand they are pets too. not a toy.
I would say this all took about 6 months of going out with him around the hens. I got where I'd leave him alone with them longer periods of time, beginning with only a couple minutes, while still close. We are really pleased. He's just a dog-dog, mixed breed. I think he's happy too.
 
Ok I have German Shepherds who never go after my birds. The simple reason is is that they are trained to listen to me, so when I introduced the chickens they obeyed me when I gave the command "leave It". You should start by training the dog in basic obedience, sit, down, stay, so the dog learns to listen to you and do what you say. And when I mean obedience I mean you say the command one time and the dog responds, not 5 times, the dog has to respect you and you have to be able to stop them, and distract them if they are interested in the birds. I would only allow the dog near the chickens on a lead, and praise a lot when the dog ignores the birds, "good to leave it" and correct when they are focused on the birds, "leave it" lead correction, change the dogs attention. Use leave it all the time to reinforce it's meaning, not just around birds but what ever you want left alone. Leave it is the first thing my puppies learn because it could save their lives if they are messing with something that can hurt them. I had a male German Shepherd who got in a fight with a racoon in my horse pasture, all I could hear was the coon making that noise that sounds like the demons from hades, and the dog snarling. It was pitch black, I yelled Leave it, the noise stopped, I yelled come and the dog ran to me, unhurt, and a coon can really mess up a dog. Just trying to say that the command can save your chickens and your dog.
 
We have had a few dogs on our small farm that we tried to have protect our animals and have had mixed results.

-Our German Shepherd / Catahoula Leopard dog mix was a rescue. She was pretty skittish all around, and at first acted like she was not interested in the birds until we turned our back to her. She ended up killing and eating two birds. Once in the pasture She approached our leghorn roo who didn't run from her. The roo came at her and kicked and flapped, but instead of running away she opened her mouth to snap him up, luckily I was near by and yelled "LEAVE IT" and she went running in the opposite direction. She listened well when she knew we were watching or commanding her, but no rules once the parents were gone. We re-homed her.

-Our Pyrenees / Australian Shepherd Mix was slow to obey and would have been the worse poker dog ever. You could read his big lovable face like a billboard. When around the chickens he could not take his eyes off them and was the first dog to catch a bird. Luckily We caught him in the act and he released the bird into our hand. The bird sustained some flesh wounds and died later that night (we think from stress). We also re-homed him to a great family.

-We homed a Pyrenees we found on our county road and she never once acted aggressive towards the birds, only an occasional sniff or two. We never let her alone with them, but seemed way less interested in the birds than any other dog we have housed. She did bark like crazy at night though.

It seems like to me that the only dogs good around farm animals are:

Very obedient and understanding of their masters rules
Breeds which were/are bred to protect other animals
Dogs which have an overall "whatever" mindset when it comes to other animals

We are now getting a donkey to protect our pasture and barn from predators.
 
If the dog is exhibiting hunting instincts and you hold it near the prey and make it stare at what it wants, you are training it to kill. The dog is frustrated and the desire to get hold of the prey builds and builds.

To teach a dog to not bother chickens, you take it well away from the birds and you obedience train the dog. Walk on a leash, sit, down, stay, come, leave it, heel.

Once the dog understands and obeys commands, you start working where he can see the birds in the distance. If he looks at the birds, a firm "leave it'!" and " heel!". When the dog will ignore the birds, you work closer and closer. Every time he looks at the birds, you command "leave it" and continue to work. Closer and closer until you can walk right through the flock and the dog will "leave it". Keep working, and he will no longer look at the birds.

Praise praise praise every time he does it right.

Then a looser leash, looser and looser and tell him firmly leave it every time he looks at the birds. Start doing recalls right in the chicken pen, do all the obedience exercises the dog knows, right in the middle of the birds. Praise him for ignoring them, if he looks at them it is not only astern "leave it" but if he is looking, you need to move further away and keep working until you can get closer and have the dog still focus on you.

He will learn not to touch, but you must train him to not touch. You can't just hope he will read your mind and do as you are hoping.,
 
If the dog is exhibiting hunting instincts and you hold it near the prey and make it stare at what it wants, you are training it to kill. The dog is frustrated and the desire to get hold of the prey builds and builds.

To teach a dog to not bother chickens, you take it well away from the birds and you obedience train the dog. Walk on a leash, sit, down, stay, come, leave it, heel.

Once the dog understands and obeys commands, you start working where he can see the birds in the distance. If he looks at the birds, a firm "leave it'!" and " heel!". When the dog will ignore the birds, you work closer and closer. Every time he looks at the birds, you command "leave it" and continue to work. Closer and closer until you can walk right through the flock and the dog will "leave it". Keep working, and he will no longer look at the birds.

Praise praise praise every time he does it right.

Then a looser leash, looser and looser and tell him firmly leave it every time he looks at the birds. Start doing recalls right in the chicken pen, do all the obedience exercises the dog knows, right in the middle of the birds. Praise him for ignoring them, if he looks at them it is not only astern "leave it" but if he is looking, you need to move further away and keep working until you can get closer and have the dog still focus on you.

He will learn not to touch, but you must train him to not touch. You can't just hope he will read your mind and do as you are hoping.,
Thanks for these tips :) I have an LGD in training, and she's doing well with ignoring the birds now after working with her and a trainer. I really need to get her to come back when called. Running is the only issue we are having right now.

So her not returning when we call is a major disrespect IMO. I need to kick this habit in the butt.
 
Some dogs with a high prey drive just are never going to be trust worthy. Not every dog is capable of being a good livestock safe dog. Sound basic training is a must. If the dog is well trained and is obedient to you, even when very excited, then you probably have a good chance of training the dog that the birds must be left alone. If not, and the dog just ignores you when it's in prey drive, then you have your work cut out for you.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that grown chickens have any defense against a dog who is intent on killing. They don't.

For best results, make sure your birds have a safe place to live while you are working with the dog. I have had dogs that could be trained to leave the birds alone and I have had dogs that were never trustworthy despite all my efforts. Even with my good ranch dogs I still have my chickens in a safe place not accessible to the dogs when I'm not around.
 
Numerous dogs for hunting and house over the past 55 years. Until we got the e collar we were doing things the hard way. Think of it as a 500' leash that is worn all day, not just at training time. You still have to train your dog, but it sure is a lot easier, and even if the dog has a "high prey/chase instinct" a tickle at his neck gets his attention and distracts him. Just be sure to pick an ecollar designed for your job and read the instructions!
 
For my interest, the relationship between dogs and poultry is more than simply co-existence. I enjoy (sarcasm) dogs that have had a range of training curves with respect to poultry / livestock. My dogs are consistently of breeds with high interest in hunting and otherwise very active as such seem to be more flexible in their uses. Best dogs have always shown too much interest in beginning and never learn to ignore birds, especially when birds are giving alarm calls. Dogs learn, sometimes by abusing chickens themselves, when birds are in trouble based on vocalizations birds make. As dogs learn not to harass chickens, they remain intensely interested in chickens making a ruckus and with time they associate such with baddies (predators) I want dogs to deal with. The dogs enjoy going after predators and receive encouragement for it when I am present to do so. By time dogs are allowed to run unattended with birds they have reached a point on learning curve that enables them to know where and what types of threats are involved based largely on what birds are saying which speeds and ensures appropriateness of what dogs do in response. Same dogs also learn to operate under my direction which is currently most frequently through use of flashlight beam to direct patrolling of areas with poultry. Dogs can still exercise hunting drive when we go out after squirrels or rabbits which is fun for dogs and I. Biggest problem with this system is it takes more time and effort to get to point where predator management is to desired level without my intervention. Getting them chicken-safe is usually pretty easy but if too easy a deadhead dog which will watch a fox come through without challenging it is more likely.
 
:goodpost:

we train all our dogs the same way, we run towards the chickens when they start their alarm calls (this of course after your dog can stroll around the chickens without noticing them). After a while it does become a habit to them to stand up to attention when they hear the chooks squawking. They're still allowed to hunt anything that don't belong here and they can also tell the difference between our cat and strays.
I believe age does matter but not really to a degree that you can't retrain the dogs. We adopted a year old pit earlier on and she's ok to free run with the other animals now.
They patrol the area every night with me and live outside in summer close to the chook house.
 
For my interest, the relationship between dogs and poultry is more than simply co-existence. I enjoy (sarcasm) dogs that have had a range of training curves with respect to poultry / livestock. My dogs are consistently of breeds with high interest in hunting and otherwise very active as such seem to be more flexible in their uses. Best dogs have always shown too much interest in beginning and never learn to ignore birds, especially when birds are giving alarm calls. Dogs learn, sometimes by abusing chickens themselves, when birds are in trouble based on vocalizations birds make. As dogs learn not to harass chickens, they remain intensely interested in chickens making a ruckus and with time they associate such with baddies (predators) I want dogs to deal with. The dogs enjoy going after predators and receive encouragement for it when I am present to do so. By time dogs are allowed to run unattended with birds they have reached a point on learning curve that enables them to know where and what types of threats are involved based largely on what birds are saying which speeds and ensures appropriateness of what dogs do in response. Same dogs also learn to operate under my direction which is currently most frequently through use of flashlight beam to direct patrolling of areas with poultry. Dogs can still exercise hunting drive when we go out after squirrels or rabbits which is fun for dogs and I. Biggest problem with this system is it takes more time and effort to get to point where predator management is to desired level without my intervention. Getting them chicken-safe is usually pretty easy but if too easy a deadhead dog which will watch a fox come through without challenging it is more likely.
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Do you lose birds in the training process due to dogs?
 

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