Cocker Spaniel Puppies attack chickens and ducks

[Lamaremybabies]

Puppies are naughty and everything is a game to them until they are taught what is acceptable and what is not, and you still have to keep reminding them every now and then! Our dog is now almost 5 years old and if you give her an inch she will take a mile. But she's a good dog because we are consistent.

I had no idea how much work a puppy was until we got one. Thankfully I had a grouchy old cat who put the fear of God into our pup when it came to animals smaller than herself! There are heaps of training websites and videos on YouTube so try out different techniques until you find what works for you and your pups. Good luck and keep up the training as that is what makes for a good dog.

Yes! I've actually found a trainer on YouTube and his techniques have so far worked pretty well so I'm hoping I can just keep on building off of what the know and what I know works. I can tell that one of the two just wants to play with the birds and that he isn't trying to hurt them but the other I don't think I'll be able to trust around them unless he's leashed. I suppose lots of consistent training and time will tell though. Also I read the article you tagged and it's fantastic! Than you so much.

 

[Lamaremybabies]

I have a cocker spaniel and chickens too. There is absolutely no way, short of intense aversion therapy (like shocking my dog for getting close to the chickens), that my dog would ever be trustworthy around fowl. And I'm not going to shock her because her breed is bred for bird hunting... to use aversion training to make my dog terrified of poultry, when every ounce of her DNA was designed to go after birds... well, that's cruelty IMO. So I keep them separate.

Yeah I've been purposely steering clear of shock collars and things like that because it's not fair to shock a dog for something that they were breed to do.

 

[TalkALittle]

Unless you have trained a dog using modern e collar methods you really can't speak to the "fairness" of the training. Modern e collar training with low-level stimulation isn't just "shocking" the dog for doing a behavior. It is not meant to instill fear in a dog and if the dog is fearful then the trainer is doing it completely wrong. If you take the time to properly condition the dog to the collar and use it to train and thoroughly proof the behavior you want, then it is actually one of the fairest ways to deliver a correction to a dog for non-compliance.

Here are 2 of my dogs around the chickens. Both trained with ecollars, neither are afraid of the chickens. In fact, they pretty much ignore the chickens. My old girl just follows them around waiting for poop to drop so she can eat it.

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm sorry I don't agree with - "why punish them for something they were bred for." Some people breed dogs to do horrible things. Yet people still buy them for pets. If they are not encouraged or forced to be bad they are quite capable of being good pets.
Cockers were not bred to tear birds apart. A puppy would chase anything unless you told it NO.

I raised Cockers for several years and none of mine would chase birds., and not even try to catch the occasional mouse that made me scream. They totally ignored them. One did grab a stray cat's tail and when the cat refused to move - he quickly let go. He had never seen a cat before. He didn't leave a mark on him- not even saliva. He was on lead, I had no idea there was a cat in a box I was throwing out.

Have to admit they all had "soft mouths" and didn't put dents in anything they picked up. Only chewed on nylabones. Most were natural retrievers and would bring balls or toys back and wait for them to be thrown again. In fact they taught me to throw the toys by dropping them at my feet .No matter how good a dog seems I would never allow any kind of dog loose with chickens or guineas or any other animals . I would always have any dog on lead until I saw they didn't intend to attack just to sniff and check them out.

Dog in question had never seen a cat (we are not cat lovers).Maybe they didn't have predator instincts because they were bred for show. But they made great pets as well and were more interested in their humans than even their kennel mates.

As a greeter on BYC for years I found out just how common it is for people to say their own dog or cat killed their chicks. They left the dog out forgetting chickens were loose, etc. Instead of trying to train the dog, they would just go out and buy more chicks. and then more chicks.

You also mention your pups were rescues. People tend to turn in dogs because they don't want to bother to train them and they get out of hand quickly. If I wanted two pets, I would never get two males - they compete with each other .

This is far too long. What I really wanted to say is you have to set limits for dogs like you do with kids. You don't set dog(or 2 dogs) loose to amuse themselves.
If you excuse them because of their HIGH PREY drive, they aren't the breed to have around chickens. I know you said they are not allowed in the house and that is probably a major reason. They don't have a chance to really bond with humans.

 

[ShrekDawg]

What do you mean by compete? Fighting? Or more subtle? Because I knew plenty who had multiple males, some unfixed, who all got along great

 

[centrarchid]

I have been using high prey drive dog breeds around chickens. German Pointers ere the most recent and employed as poultry guardians. Also used Coon Hounds, Dalmatians and others indirectly for same purpose. I avoided having more than one immature / yet to be trained dog with chickens at a time.

There is a time factor. Two years, before my dogs trustworthy when starting as pups. Keeping dogs off chickens will not conflict with hunting even game birds. You simply teach chickens are not in the target list.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Cockers are bred to flush birds & retrieve downed birds on command, not to kill. Young dogs or any dog will kill by "playing" with a chicken. I had two field bred English Springers that were Ok around birds, but one would still catch chipmunks & try to play with them after they were dead. Still had to remind them late into their golden years (13) not to chase my birds! Present 3 year old FB Springer is much too interested in my birds. I do not free range anymore because of a development behind me, but I am still working on her to sit calmly next to the pen without running & scaring the birds. I use an ecollar, but only ever have to use the sound on it, not the shock. I never let her out alone, even though my birds are caged. It will take lots of patience to train them, but it may be possible.

 

[kittycat1356]

I have a young German shep/ Aussie mix. Crazy high energy, loves running and chasing. I let him see the chickens and chicks daily, when he tries to lunge for them I yell at him and tell him no sternly. (Never lunges I don't let him show too much Interest) he has more interest in the cats than my birds. I have an E collar, I used it for barking issues, and would use it for scaring the crap out of him if he ever did try to take a chicken. It may be mean to make your dog fear chickens, but i look at it more as, it isn't a toy and can hurt you, so dont mess with them. (But he does pretty well with them so its unnecessary)

A good starting point would be, to get a stuffed animal, squeak it, make all kinds of exiting noises with it, and when your dogs try to get it, be angry with them. And when they calm down give them a treat. punish bad behavior, and reward good behavior, they will learn that being calm gets them a treat, and slowly work it up to live chickens.


Or electric fences work.