cooingdove
Crowing
Oh my giddy aunt, the number of people who can't train dogs!
The last 11 dogs I've had (I keep dogs by the pack, currently have 3) of various breeds, some rescues, some from pups, I trained them ALL to be fine with chickens. My only fail was a pointer who had lived feral for at least a year, and even then, he learned to let the chickens be, but killed a goat - poor old fellow would have starved to death long before I got him at about 4-5 years old if he hadn't hunted and fed himself, and that's not the type of dog most folks are likely to run across. My dogs have come home anywhere between the ages of 5 weeks and 13 years, and the breeds have run the gamut.
And when I say chickens, I mean free-range, everywhere.
Hunting breeds? Bird dogs? Those are the easiest. Seriously. (Herding breeds are the next easiest) They can't hunt if they go all foolish over everything with feathers, they need to learn to look for THIS bird, and ignore all others. So the trick is to praise them for scenting anything else - just pick something, anything. My golden used to sleep with the kid's pet duck, point and chase pheasants in the woods and earn his retrieving praise by dropping laundry in the hamper. My beagle quickly learned that not only chickens were off-limits, but so were rabbits in hutches. He was still happy because rabbits on the ground were his.
Three steps;
1) Exercise! A tired dog is a sleeping dog and a sleeping dog is a good dog. A walk around the block does not cut it. If your dog does not nap within 15 minutes of coming inside, it has not counted as exercise from the dog's view. Get out there, it's good for your mental and physical health too.
2) Training! Enroll in an obedience class. Yeah, you can still find them - you have to stay the length of a leash (6 feet) away from everyone anyway. Buy this book (used): https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Talk-Tra...ywords=Dog+talk&qid=1609659578&s=books&sr=1-1
3) Supervision! Get the dog a flat buckle collar and a standard, 6' leash. Now, take the collar, put it through the handle of the leash, and then put the collar on the dog. Then, take the leash clip and clip it to the belt-loop of your jeans. It's annoying, inconvenient and takes some getting used to, but have the discipline to learn to live with it (after the first week it's easy!) and your dog will be housebroken, trained and bonded to you in record time. Because they're not getting away with squat while they're attached to you, and you're learning them too.
You absolutely CAN have dogs and chickens.
very helpful!!
I just adopted a new Dog and I will try all those things, thanks!
