Brother letting pup chase poultry

[cluckingheck]

So, I have an issue that I’m not sure if I’m blowing it out of proportion or not. My brother has a blue heeler pup that he’s letting chase my chickens and ducks. I told him not to but he claims he’s training her to be a cattle dog ( we also raise them ), but I don’t think using the chickens is a good idea. Especially when he’s not teaching her any commands, he just lets her chase them. To me, she’s chasing them to chase them and she’s going to end up catching and killing them because she thinks it’s fun. I yell at her when she goes after them but she continues to do it and my brother is encouraging it.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Chickens and poultry are not cattle and she isn't learning anything besides to run faster so she can catch them.

If he wants a cattle dog, he needs to train one, not let one loose to chase whatever she wants

 

[Geena]

Thing that sucks is my mom is on my brother’s side and he’s “training” her. I told her he should be using the cattle, then. Like, I know what someone’s pet dog can do to their chickens. I’ve seen enough posts on here with pictures.

Sorry you and your chickens are having to deal with that, you are definitely not blowing things out of proportion. It's difficult to give you any training advice since it's not your dog and you don't seem to have much say in the matter.

One thing you might want to bring up to your family is that chickens should never be used to train a dog to herd, because chickens don't herd, they scatter and the puppy will develop very bad habits that will be extremely difficult to train out of him.

Herding is NOT chasing, it's gathering together and moving animals in a specific way to a certain area. If all he learns to do is chase, then he will only chase and scatter the cattle around as well. The exact opposite of what you want him to do.

Most importantly the pup should have all his basic training, (stay, down, sit, come, leave it etc) down pat before he is introduced to any animal for herding purposes. You can't possibly teach him what you want him to do if he's running around out of control.

 

[EverythingDucks]

Poultry should absolutely not be used for training a cattle dog.

The only thing the dog is learning is that it is ok to chase poultry. Which I can guarantee is going to end up badly.

I do not have any experience training dogs for this sort of thing but I know this is certainly not how it's done. I suggest your brother stop doing this immediately and so some proper research on training these type of dogs.
The puppy needs guidance, rules, and slow steps with close supervision. Letting the dog run loose and chase your chickens and ducks is not in any way how it should be done.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

Make him an offer.
If he is under sixteen, you'll buy a rattan cane and train him to be a British school boy of the eighteenth century.
If he is over 16, you'll train him to be one of the stunt men who played a bad guy in a Bruce Willis movie.

Just kidding.

Just tell him to quit while he is ahead. Otherwise I give it two weeks tops before one of them is badly hurt.

 

[cluckingheck]

Sorry you and your chickens are having to deal with that, you are definitely not blowing things out of proportion. It's difficult to give you any training advice since it's not your dog and you don't seem to have much say in the matter.

One thing you might want to bring up to your family is that chickens should never be used to train a dog to herd, because chickens don't herd, they scatter and the puppy will develop very bad habits that will be extremely difficult to train out of him.

Herding is NOT chasing, it's gathering together and moving animals in a specific way to a certain area. If all he learns to do is chase, then he will only chase and scatter the cattle around as well. The exact opposite of what you want him to do.

Most importantly the pup should have all his basic training, (stay, down, sit, come, leave it etc) down pat before he is introduced to any animal for herding purposes. You can't possibly teach him what you want him to do if he's running around out of control.

Yeah, I think my brother just thinks it’s funny and he’s using training as an excuse. I have noticed that if she’s so far away from you, she won’t listen at all. If she’s close, she’ll actually somewhat listen. I think the only thing she knows is to ( mostly ) come to her name & sit but that’s it. My dad is on my side about the whole situation, thankfully. I think that’s because he’s a sucker for the chickens too and my silkie, Pumpkin, is his little buddy ( his words, lol ).

I was able to bring it up to my mom and I mentioned what you said about chickens scatter instead of herd together. She seemed to agree with me more than she had yesterday, but I also went through this site looking for pictures of what dogs do to chickens and showed them to her. I’m not playing around with this shit, if she doesn’t knock it off I’m putting a shock collar on her and my brother can suck it.

I know it seems like I have to answer to my mom but my brother and I are both in our 20s. I mean, I do still have to listen to her but she doesn’t seem to quite grasp just how bad letting a pup chase chickens and ducks is. Though, she also doesn’t care a whole lot about the chickens anyways.

 

[cluckingheck]

Poultry should absolutely not be used for training a cattle dog.

The only thing the dog is learning is that it is ok to chase poultry. Which I can guarantee is going to end up badly.

I do not have any experience training dogs for this sort of thing but I know this is certainly not how it's done. I suggest your brother stop doing this immediately and so some proper research on training these type of dogs.
The puppy needs guidance, rules, and slow steps with close supervision. Letting the dog run loose and chase your chickens and ducks is not in any way how it should be done.

Thing that sucks is my mom is on my brother’s side and he’s “training” her. I told her he should be using the cattle, then. Like, I know what someone’s pet dog can do to their chickens. I’ve seen enough posts on here with pictures.

 

[Knellie]

Sorry you and your chickens are having to deal with that, you are definitely not blowing things out of proportion. It's difficult to give you any training advice since it's not your dog and you don't seem to have much say in the matter.

One thing you might want to bring up to your family is that chickens should never be used to train a dog to herd, because chickens don't herd, they scatter and the puppy will develop very bad habits that will be extremely difficult to train out of him.

Herding is NOT chasing, it's gathering together and moving animals in a specific way to a certain area. If all he learns to do is chase, then he will only chase and scatter the cattle around as well. The exact opposite of what you want him to do.

Most importantly the pup should have all his basic training, (stay, down, sit, come, leave it etc) down pat before he is introduced to any animal for herding purposes. You can't possibly teach him what you want him to do if he's running around out of control.

Really good suggestions. I had to quit free-ranging because of irresponsible neighbors’ dogs but having to deal with family members in the same house is a whole other mess.

 

[Painted Calls]

@Geena

 

[cluckingheck]

Chickens and poultry are not cattle and she isn't learning anything besides to run faster so she can catch them.

If he wants a cattle dog, he needs to train one, not let one loose to chase whatever she wants

Yeah. That’s what I was telling him. He let her outside to use the bathroom yesterday and while he was inside, she’s out there chasing my chickens and ducks. I had to run out and grab her because he wasn’t doing anything about it. We’ve never used a dog with our cattle, so nobody really knows how to train her but I felt like my chickens shouldn’t be used.