Bad dog!

[The Chickeneer]

My german shepered killed one of my rabbits

, what do I do, how do I teach her not to do it any more, thank you fot any information

 

[xchairity_casex]

what happend exactly? did the dog get it from a hutch or a cage? was the rabbit in the yard freely? was the rabbit in the house freely? first off if the rabbit was running around freely around the dog you should never ever allow a dog around a small pet unless your 100 percent posative you can trust the dog and even then no small pets should be left alone with a dog.

secodnly there are two methods of training im going to reccomend you can use either or none depending on what you feel comfortable doing.
some people donot like cesar millian and therfore donot like anything resembling his methods so if this is how you feel thats fine dont do use this method if you are comfortable then you can try it out.

having a rabbit in a cage on the ground put your dog in a choke chain and set them down next to the cage if the dog stares at the cage intently you want to give the dog a very quick jerk of the lead saying somthing such as "leave it" or "uhuh" whenever the dog starts to focus on the cage or the rabbit in the cage you jerk and give the command to leave it or whatever word youve chosen. your energy comes into play very heavily you must be very firm and direct with your actions mentally send your dog the message that you will not tolerate this behavior. whilee holding the lead pick the cage up if you can if the dog jumps at the cage or seems intent jerk again. when ifirst brought my dog Cesar into the house he had an obsession with vaccums when they were turned on he wanted to attack them this is the method i used and cured him of this very quickly of coarse i knew the right energy i needed to send to him though he now will lie quietly on the floor ignoreing me while i vaccum even if i get close to him he will get up and walk away.
if your dog is staying calm around the cage and not focusing on it anymore trying walking back and forth in frotn of the cage getting very close to it if he should happen to lung toward the cage jerk the lead and walk on. your jerk needs to be very quick not drawn out you need to release imedielty after you jerk it should take you no more then 2 seconds to jerk and release and release completly as in the lead is not held taught at all dont walk past the rabbit in the cage with a tight lead relax dont prepare yourself to jerk either otherwise your being tense.
unless i can work with a dog myself i donot ever reccomend allowing your dog and rabbit to be free together no matter how much work you put into your dog

the second method im goin to reccomend is put the rabbit in a cage on the ground keep the dog on lead get a baggie and fill it with yummy treats like hot dog,chicken,bits of steak, or bits of cheese keep it in your easy to reach pocket. take you dog over by the rabbit cage. ask your dog to sit if he sits give him a treat when he looks at the cage call his name when he looks at you treat him and ask him to "focus" or "look at me" the next time he looks at the cage get his attention when he looks at you hold the treat close to your eye and give him direct eye contact holding to the count or 3 while you say "focus" then treat. everytime that dog looks at the rabbit cage ask him to focus holding the treat close to your eye and giving direct eye contact holding for a few seconds then treating. once your dog starts to understand the way he gets a treat begin to count longer so if your counting 3 start count to 5 then to 7 then to 10 then work your way to 15 or 20. but make sure you work slowly if your dog still doesnt seem to understand the excersize after 5 minutes thats ok just keep the count short and the treats coming you want your dog to think "if i pay attention to my owner alot of good things happen" some dogs donot quite get the focus command right away while others get it right away my boy cesar is still haveing a bit of trouble understanding what it is i want from him sometimesit takes him a second of testing things like lifting his paw to see if i want him to shake or lieing down to see if thats what i want him to do.
once your dog is focusing on you to the count of 20 without breaking contact you can begin challenging him by taking him around more things like other dogs,traffic,people,small children,ect and asking him to "focus" give him sometime and you might even want to start back only going till the count of 3 or 5 and working your way back up to 20.

so you might be wondering how this last oen is going to keep your dog from going after bunnys again well ill tell you once your dog has masterd the focus command you can attempt (with you and another person) to let the bunny loose around the dog BUT keep the dog on lead at all times and keep the second person around and ready to grab the rabbit keep the rabbit atleast 8 feet away from teh dog at all times. while the rabbit is out begin asking your dog to focus if he can very very good if he cannot go back to square one. this training however is not a fix all as like i stated ebfore you should never ver leave your dog and rabbit alone together this is just a training designed to keep your dogs attention onto you and off the rabbit. by treating the dog everytime it ignores the rabbit you are conditioning it to do jsut that ignore the rabbit

i wish you the best of luck and im so very very sorry you lost you rabbit good luck!

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Quote:

 

[dainerra]

pretty good advice. Search the site for "teaching dogs to ignore chickens"

Step 1 is always the same: Supervise your dog!! If you know exactly where your dog is, then you know he isn't in trouble.

Charity's training is right on, except you don't want to start anywhere near the rabbit. You leave the bunny in his usual hutch and go JUST close enough that the dog notices "oh look, bunny!" Start from there. Then, after the dog is reliable at that distance and focuses on you then move closer. If the dog blows you off and focuses on the bunny, back up a few steps. ALWAYS give treats in the beginning. Huge "OMG I can't believe mom is going to let me eat this!!" treats like hot dogs/raw hamburger. And use it ONLY when training this.

It's also a good idea to train "leave it" in other situations as well. Good for when you drop meds on the floor and puppy wants to grab them. Or the dog wants to chase the cat. Or the chickens. Or.....

That said, not every dog CAN be trusted around small furry bunnies. It's just a fact of life that some have too strong a prey drive. Go back to step 1.

I don't even trust my dogs alone with the bunnies when I'm not there.

ETA: always ALWAYS follow step 1. Chasing is a self-rewarding behavior. It's FUN!! So even one time of your dog being able to run up and scare the bunny in his cage is going to set the training back - it reminds him how fun it is. How long this takes will depend on the trainer, how much prey drive the dog has, and how consistent you are with the training. After 7 months, Singe the pup can be trusted off-leash and supervised around the chickens. He can't be trusted around the bunnies yet, but I haven't worked with him specifically to leave them alone. I just tell him "leave it" if he goes toward their hutch and call him back to me.

 

[secuono]

I would do it like chairity said. Except, get the dog as close to the rabbit you can easily see the instant he focuses on it, but far enough away that it won't freak the rabbit out and the dog won't be able to get to him before you react. You can use the choke collar or a regular loose collar. You can also get a riding crop and just smack his butt enough to get his attention every time he focuses.

I trust my Dober w/anything once he knows them. No pics w/him cuddling like dainerra's pic, but my dog doesn't like things touching him, lol, he just runs away going 'ewww, no touchies!!'.

But my other dog...heck no, not even supervised would I trust her. She is insanely fast and has a perfected death bite.

But we still need more info on what happened and the situation it was in.

 

[dainerra]

Secuono has a good point. if you start too close, the rabbit is going to freak out. That would just set the dog up for failure.

A side benefit of this whole enterprise is that it can help the rabbit not freak out at the sight of the dog. 9 out of 10 times, if the rabbit doesn't run, then a dog isn't going to chase it.

 

[navasima]

However you proceed, I would suggest that your goal be that the dog leave the chickens alone. They never need to play together nicely and snuggle. More realistic is the idea that your dog needs to not even think about thinking about the chickens.

I second dainerra that "leave it" is an excellent command regardless of the situation. For me - Come and Leave It are the top 2. They will help you avoid trouble a good 80% of the time.

Remember kico - trainers are like lawyers - ask 3 a question - get 5 opinions!

If there was a sure-fire method...we'd all have heard about it by now. That being said - you will see a common thread in most methods/suggestions presented - take it to heart. Experience is the best teacher. Those who know what they are doing (and IMHO there are plenty on this site) will present options and ask lots of questions. It's quite difficult to prescribe a hard and fast solution without meeting and watching the animal.

example: Personally, I don't go with treat training. I've had many success stories using other methods. Many people have had great success for many years with it.

 

[dainerra]

I use a combination approach to training. reward the positive (with treats when a behavior is first being taught) then treats are phased out as quickly as possible. Incorrect behavior is punished with a collar pop.

I think it's easier when a dog is being told what NOT to do as well as what TO do

 

[xchairity_casex]

yes i forget that other people are not me start out farther away but just enough where the dog can see the rabbit but not reach it. with me im an assertive person and usually go with a direct appraoch since it only takes me a short time of makeing a dog stop reacting but thats becuase i have a no-nosense appraoch and are very confedent while i train since ive done it so many times so when i ask a dog not to do somthing they respond quicker to me becuase im confedent with my signals and they can understand them easier then say someone who is just starting out in training and might not feel so confedent in what they are doing

i also agree with danerra i too like useing a combo appraoch and you can aswell. i like to give people choices as to what methods to use becuase differant dogs react to differant methods some dogs need a firm no-nosense appraoch while other dogs cant handle that and need a more fun happy appraoch and others still need a soft gentle and calm appraoch.

like my boy Cesar he needs a firm appraoch but i also have to reward him tremendously becuase although he is stubborn he is also sensative and if you dont reward him tremendouly he mopes and acts very very hurt and doesnt respond as well the next time. so now when i discipline him and tell him no he lowers his head for a second then imediatly after comes over to me wiggle waggle waiting for me to praise him for listening.
my sisters dog need a bit of excitment in order to listen shes too sensative for a firm appraoch as she becomes fearful and avoids the eprson who was firm with her for therest of the day so when discplineingh her you just have to re-direct her attention happiily if you want her to get off the couch you call her to you if you want her to get out of the garbage you ask her to sit.

ps danerra your dog and bunny rabbit are sooo lovely!