cats and dogs.... NEED HELP

[questions543]

so 4 years ago my family rescued a dog and he is amazing.. Super well trained and learns quickly but is very stubborn even though he's now about to turn 12. He was used for hunting before we got him and can catch quails by himself because he's that good at what he does. However I don't want him killing our chickens and I don't think just showing them to him on a leash will stop him from hunting them. I really want to let the chickens in the garden so if anyone has any ideas on how to train a dog very well to stop him that would be great.

I'm also wondering if cats will take on bantams.

thanks

 

[mnferalkitty]

Cats will take on big chickens so I am sure they will take on bantams. As far as re-training a hunting type dog I have no clue on how to do that sorry

 

[teach1rusl]

My cats have never gone after even the tiniest of my bantams, although they've had "fun" with all of my chickens, by hiding and jumping out to startle them

Actually, taking your dog on a leash around your birds is a good idea. That by itself won't train him, but it's a step. Since your dog is well trained, I'll presume he knows the "leave it" command??? If not, then start teaching him now, with treats and such...then transfer that to your birds. Teaching your dog that the chickens are part of YOUR pack is important. These are not just any birds, they're your pack birds.

My retrievers were very easy to train around my birds, and my sister-in-law's hyper little jack russell learned quickly too (so that now when she comes to visit, her dog can run around the yard with no chicken issues other than poo eating).

I started by sitting in the run with my birds and dogs (I trained individually of course), requiring my dog to sit or lay down, my hand on the collar. Use whatever command you want to use - "leave it" or "gentle" or whatever, just always use the same command.

After a week or two (I trusted my male quicker than my female) of daily training, I moved on to the same thing, but just with the dog(s) on a short leash - still sat out in the run with everyone. Still required dogs to sit/down. After another week or two of daily training...

We moved on to me walking around beside my dog in the run, without the leash. You get the picture...

Then we moved on to walking around outside the run, with the birds free ranging.

Lastly, I'd have the dogs/chickens out, would act as if I was going about my business while scoping out the dog/chicken situation... Always use your command words if things look iffy.

My dogs will chase black birds and hawks from the nearby fields when they're swooping low or land nearby, but are wonderful with my chickens...

Train daily and consistantly...praise and correct.

 

[questions543]

thanks alot I will try the baby steps because he does know the leave it command... As for bantams my cats are crazy hunters... When one of my cats was in her prime she was catching around 2 birds a day! (that is intil we cat her cat bib!

) it actually immediatly stoppes her and now she gets one once a month! I Any ideas what to do about my cats?

 

[teach1rusl]

Two of my three cats are great mousers, and sadly, great birders too. But they don't bother my chickens, and I have seramas, the smallest breed of chicken (one of my little hens is 9 oz). I haven't trained my cats. I've simply handled my chickens around them a lot. When I've had chicks, I've sat with the chicks and let the cats watch - and of course given "AT-AT!!"s if they seemed too interested... I just know all of my animals know the difference between our pack critters vs. wild critters.

I travel with my dogs when I go "back home" to visit, and my brother keeps chickens. My dogs don't bother them either... My guess is if they encountered a wild chicken out in the fields or something, they probably would give chase though, because they will chase (not kill - just want to get a rise out of) the barn cats across the field if they venture our way, but they sleep with my cats and don't bother my family's cats when visiting back home????

 

[Kikiriki]

I have two dogs: one is an adopted farm dog and he liked to tease the cows and sheep once in a while, but never went after the chickens. I could tell immediately when I brought the chickens home he recognized the smell of them and he just walked away. My little German Shepherd, on the other hand could not keep her nose from the box. She watches them constantly, from outside the run, and likes to pounce towards them. She stays on high alert near them, never relaxing. i tried taking her in to the run on a short lead and she just would not sit and relax. I will never ever trust her with them, while on the other hand, the farm dog is like their chicken daddy! He will stay in their run, and when I let him in the chickens run to him and jump onto his back. He just stands there. When he lays down, they come nest in his flowing tail fur or curl up on his back.

I cant afford to lose a chicken. Thus, it is not worth it to me to test if the GS is trainable or not, so it is just not worth my time to try. When the chickens are out of the run, she is locked in the house. She also made a good test for the run security.

I will be interested to see how you fare, though, so please post your results!