Breaking Chicking Killing Dogs

[DiVon80]

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This is the same for me. I have a GSD w high prey drive. Prey drive is what they need to do the work they do. When he comes in during the day(he does the night shift) All the cats,birds and tiny old dogs come out and play. Its really hard to free range all to gether unless you have an LGD.

 

[Raising Reds]

I have two Labs. The older one is 14 and after some initial curiousity about the chickens has chosen to ignore them. I've seen the chickens follow her around the yard within a foot of her tail and she is totally nonplussed by them. I do occasionally leave her alone in the yard with the chickens for a few minutes while I run in to fetch something and don't worry about her.

I have a sixteen-week-old puppy who is very, very curious about the chickens. She does doggy play acting around them (going down on her front legs with her back legs straight while wagging her tail) and has also shown some stalking behavior. The chickens seem to be onto her act and will make a run at her, sometimes more than one chicken at a time. I'm pretty sure they've pecked her before. At any rate, when they run towards her, she runs away.

I don't leave the puppy out alone with the chickens.

I hope that by being exposed to the chickens and being slightly afraid of them, she will not turn predatory on them but I'm not sure. Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

[horsejody]

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Don't leave the puppy unsupervised with the chickens. The play bow means she is excited and wants to play. Sooner or later she will grab one (all in good fun) and the game will be on.

 

[Raising Reds]

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That is my exact fear and why I don't let her alone with them. Right now they seem perfectly capable of defending themselves. Once she gets larger though....

I've heard of chickens and dogs getting along well. My grandfather-in-law had a dog, cat and chicken that all slept together at night in the dog house.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Get a shock collar!

I absolutely love ours. We used to beat the dogs with the dead birds, but since I have tried the shock collar and it worked so easily and quickly we have completely switched to that.

Buy a shock collar that will reach from your house to your chicken coop if possible. Watch your dogs from the house, or a distance if the house is too far from the coop.

Everytime the dog wearing the collar shows "too" much interest in the chickens, WITHOUT warning shock them. Some people make the mistake and call or scold the dog before the shock. You must understand that this will only serve to connect your voice to the shock and it is IMPERATIVE that they associate the chickens with the shock, NOT YOU. Simply shock the dog everytime is runs at, stalks, barks, or chases a bird, EVEN if there is a fence seperating the birds from them. It is that predatory behavior towards the chickens that they MUST associate with the shock. I cannot stress that enough.

Before long, the most attention the dogs will give the chickens is a sideways glance from a distance.


When using a shock collar, you must make sure the collar fits correctly. Many times people just buy a cheapo shock collar from Walmart and then claim that it has no affect on their dog. Many times it is because the collar is too weak or ill-fitted. If your dogs have too long or too thick of a coat, you may have to consider shaving a patch of fur off their throat to get a good connection with the collar.

The reason shock collars work SOOOOO well, is because the dog has nothing to associate the pain with but the action they were doing at the time. The problem with beating a dog, is that there are too many variables to associate the pain with. They most often associate the pain from being "caught" by you, rather than what they did. They can associate the pain with the belt or hand, leading to a dog that may cower randomly because of this. This is why you MUST NOT call or scold the animal before you shock it.

I have used this method on not only dogs but horses. LOL We had a gelding that was actually charging people in the horse pasture. He never actually "attacked" but he would get close, had he actually attacked the kids, the horse would be dead. You couldn't go in the pasture without a long whip, it was all that kept him at bay. Well, I got sick of him charging and brought the dog shock collar out of the house and strapped it to the horse's neck(with haystring

). In this case, I wanted him to associate the pain with me. He charged, I said "back-up" when he failed to comply I nailed him with the highest setting. Two seconds later, he again came at me, again I said "back-up", again I nailed him on the highest setting. I had to do it a third time. Then the fourth, that horse backed up so fast he about tripped over himself. NEVER had another problem with him charging people in the pasture again. Now we can walk in our fields without having to carry a whip for protection. Why? Because the horse associated the pain with the failure to respond to the command "back-up". He didn't associate the pain with the whip or being fed. I didn't have to make him head or whip shy.

The same concept works for dogs as well. Animal training is all about associating pleasant or unpleasant responses to actions. An animal does something right, such as sits, they recieve praise or a treat. Your domestic dog acts predatory towards your other animals, they recieve an electric shock.

We are getting ready to purchase a new collar for our dogs. We have a new puppy, who absolutely adores chasing the geese. We yell and scold, but it has no affect until AFTER the geese are chased. Therefore she is associating it with "being caught" by us. With the shock collar, we'll put it on when we are out in the yard and nail her with a higher setting DURING the "chase".

Many people view the collars as inhumane. They are only inhumane if ill used. It is a tool, it is only as humane or inhumane as the person who uses it. A shock collar is not something to be used lightly. Do not shock your dog, for something trivial such as failing to sit when asked. We use our shock collar, to train the dogs to stay inside the fence, to come when called, and to control predatory behaviors.

All three of these behaviors are lifethreatening to a dog. If a dog escapes his fence at his whim, he will be struck by a car and maimed or killed. If a dog fails to come when called, he could be in danger if he decides to disobey the calls of his owner and chase that stray cat or coon. If you allow predatory behaviors in your animals, your chickens will suffer. Just read the Predators and Pests section and see what happens to dogs that are not trained to tolerate other animals.

-Kim