So far our two Standard Poodles (one of whom is very birdy -- but so far much better at ignoring the chickens than our other one!) are doing very well with Chicken Co-Habitating Basics, a 101 level course.
What we are doing right now is teaching the dogs that the chickens are the most boring things on the planet, and that there is absolutely no reward for them if the dogs have anything to do with the hens. What we *are* rewarding is when the dogs come to us and ask to play fetch (which they do by finding their ball and dropping it at our feet), when they ignore the chickens entirely and lay down in the coop's shade (we give lots of happy praise and petting), and when the two poodles see kids and dogs in the neighbor's yard across the way (its own reward, haha!). They get absolutely nothing when they try to interact with the chickens.
So far, it seems to be working quite well. Years before chickens were even thought or heard of in my world, I trained both of these dogs and the first thing I taught them, even before leash training or 'sit', was the 'Leave It' command. We live in an urban environment -- there are a TON of nasty things out there that smell fabulous to a dog, everything from leaked radiator fluid to poisonous meat to dead animals to used illegal stuff . . . the list goes on and on. 'Leave It' helps protect my dogs! When I say 'Leave it' they know they are immediately supposed to stop showing any interest in whatever they were sniffing, and if they've picked it up, they're supposed to drop it and let it lie.
I never thought that command would have benefits when Hubby and I brought home the chickens, but it was such a huge blessing in disguise. All I have to do is tell them to 'Leave it' when they show too much interest in the chickens (and, occasionally, coupled with a light touch to redirect their attention), and they know to leave the chickens alone.
There's also a distinct difference between natural submissive curiosity and The Predator -- I tolerate the former (poodles are smart dogs, and they want to get to know the chickens in order to bring the hens into their pack) but the latter attitude gets a swift reprimand and if they don't respond, a deeper reprimand and a touch, and if they STILL don't respond, I speak some Dog Language and remind the poodles that I am the Alpha B around here and that those birds are MINE, don't touch them. Only had to do that once though, in the last 72 hours. And they've only heard the Bad Dog word a few times. Mostly, 'Leave it' works.
Today both dogs totally, completely, 110% ignored the pullets, after only 72 hours of training. Willow (who is afraid of loud noises) spent the evening bonding with Hubby (this is his only day off in the week, and she misses him), flat on her back, getting tummy rubs, and Roxie (our birdy dog) was pining for her 'boyfriend' the German Shorthaired next door (we think they're on vacation, haven't seen them in a week).
What we do is train in short spurts. Dog goes out, pees, gets to play fetch, gets about 10 minutes of training (neither of them are puppies anymore and have fairly decent attention spans). Water break, more fetch, some quiet time in the shade. Another 10 minutes of training. More peeing, more petting, more play. 10 minutes of training. And so on. Dogs don't do well with extended training sessions, their brains just aren't wired that way.
We also train via a blend of shaping the behavior you want and positive reinforcement. Basically, we praise (and treat/reward, etc) the behavior we want that they do naturally, for instance, we began teaching them 'Ignore the chickens' by praising them *any* time they looked away from the chickens, no matter how small a movement, or when they focused on us, however briefly, etc etc. Once the dogs figured that out, it was easy from there to get them to actively ignore the chickens entirely, particularly with the 'Leave It' command, which they already knew. If we played fetch and the ball rolled near the coop, they got praise for focusing on the ball instead of the chickens, and so on.
It will probably take all summer and into next summer before we're comfortable letting the dogs and the chickens range the back yard together, even if this is a very positive and encouraging start.
It's a lot of effort, but the alternative just doesn't bear thinking about, at least for me. Our next door neighbor only gave her permission because she trusted that our dogs wouldn't bark at the chickens and keep her up all day -- she works nights -- so even if we weren't concerned about our dogs hurting our other pets, we would be training them anyway, because that's part of being a responsible dog/pet owner, so far as I'm concerned. We spent the entire spring breaking both dogs of their barking habit, and now they haven't barked at the hens a single time, even when they're out there alone and the birds are in their run.
Training is a huge investment, mostly of time, but of money too (if you use a clicker, or have to buy training treats, or something), but the rewards are really worth it.
Whitewater (who needs to get some pictures of the dogs lying along the coop in the shade, totally ignoring the hens)
