Dog is killing chickens.

[NewlyHatchedEgg]

I used to volunteer at an animal shelter, and I am not a fan of the shock collar. Honestly, your dog should not be allowed outside unless she is on a leash. Teach her stay, leave it and come. Once she has learned those commands well, then attempt to walk her near the chickens while she is on the leash. If she is showing too much interest in the chickens, tug the leash (pulling her away from them), make a loud sharp noise (this works, but it might startle your chickens causing them run which will trigger your dog's prey drive. Only do it if your chickens are fine with loud abrupt noises), or flick your finger on her nose. If she is food oriented be sure to have a bag of treats on hand to award good behavior. In the mean time, can you improve your coop to keep the chickens safe? Really drill in the command 'leave it' into her. The problem is that since she already killed some of your chickens is that she might continue doing so, not because she 'has the taste for blood', but because it's fun. She is probably bored and think it is a game. Puppies have boundless energy, try to curb that energy by taking her on long walks or by playing with her and teaching her it is okay to rip the stuffing out of a toy. Continue to train her. This is a very stubborn breed, and you may need to fence off the chickens if she won't listen to you or if you cannot trust her without being beside her. Good luck, it is not impossible to have dogs and chickens coexisting. My dog is great with the chickens. She is a terrier mix, so she is much smaller than your dog. She has a strong prey drive and is pretty stubborn to boot, thankfully she is intelligent and very food motivated. She'll chase my neighbor's cats, squirrels, lizards, doves and scrub jays that enter onto my property, she even killed a gopher once, but she won't touch my chickens or pet cats.

 

[Folly's place]

I have used shock collars on my field dogs; It's just a much longer leash if used correctly as a training aid. Mary

 

[NewlyHatchedEgg]

I've seen dogs that have had bad behaviors corrected through shock collars, and I have seen dogs become more aggressive and lash out in fear because of shock collars. And the clinic I volunteered for have had dogs (usually small breeds) come in with burns from improper shock collar usage. In this situation, it sounds like a 6 month old puppy who is not receiving adequate obedience training and is not getting enough mental and physical stimulation. All of which can be fixed through persistent training on the owner's part. Shock collars can be an effective, harmless tool to train your dog, but in my humble opinion they are unnecessary if you are willing to put in the time and effort to train a dog properly. I'm no expert at dog training, but I've worked under some amazing dog trainers/handlers/behaviorists that use positive reinforcement. It's pretty spectacular to see a dog ready to be euthanized for bad behavior end up being certified as a service dog or therapy dog and watching that dog that was so destructive that it chewed through the sheet rock go on to win second place in our state's agility contest and excel at fly ball competitions. I mean no disrespect, but I just want to inform others of some of the consequences that I have seen sprout up from improper use of the shock collars. I've seen a lot of dogs with behavior problems that have been exasperated from the use of a shock collar.

 

[islandgirl82]

Basic commands are a must (Sit, Down, Stay) regardless of the breed. A shock collar along with other "tools" used for training should never be relied on as a sole means of obedience training. There will be times where they're either not on hand or they malfunction so it's not wise to be dependent upon them. Your dog needs to learn to respect you and that won't necessarily happen overnight but keep it consistant. It will take time and patience.

As for your chicks escaping their coop/run, what type of wire does your run have? Is it covered? Are their holes around the perimeter? You may want to have another look at your set up and reinforce areas that could use it. You've established that your dog is not trustworthy around your chicks but if they're able to get out, they become fair game to any predator, not just your dog.

 

[centrarchid]

Work on control of dog. Current age is a big challenge to your efforts. For the next year to year and a half simply be satisfied with keeping the attacks on birds under control while under direct observation. Once puppy stage is complete that control effort invested now will help with the polishing process where you can get dog to leave birds alone. The dog's smarts needs to be entertained and that can be directing interest towards anything not chicken related. My dogs have blessing to chase all predators, rabbits and squirrels which serves as an excellent diversion. Failure to get dog's mind into something stimulating can result in destructive behaviors. I assume you have adequate space for meeting your dog's athletic needs.

I use German Pointers as poultry guardians. They are smart with high prey drive. The prey drive can be redirected easily but the smarts part will require a lot of investment time-wise on your part. Focus your exchanges with parties that have been successful keeping dogs and chickens together. You can assume they get at least part of process correct and can relate to you what does and does not work.

 

[CrazyTalk]

I've seen dogs that have had bad behaviors corrected through shock collars, and I have seen dogs become more aggressive and lash out in fear because of shock collars. And the clinic I volunteered for have had dogs (usually small breeds) come in with burns from improper shock collar usage. .... I mean no disrespect, but I just want to inform others of some of the consequences that I have seen sprout up from improper use of the shock collars. I've seen a lot of dogs with behavior problems that have been exasperated from the use of a shock collar.

I've seen dogs with crushed tracheas and lacerated necks from people poorly using leashes and collars (even collars that aren't choke/etc). I've seen dogs with broken legs from leases (getting wrapped around while being used improperly)


Shock collars are tools. When used properly, they can be highly effective. When used improperly, they can be a dangerous mess - like pretty much any other tool.

 

[NewlyHatchedEgg]

You're absolutely right, I too have seen multiple dogs with collapsed tracheas and embedded collars due to improper collar use. I have also seen a dead dog who chocked themselves because their owner tied them to a tree. It really comes down to 'is the owner responsible'. All of these tools used to train/control an animal has the potential to be dangerous. I personally feel shock collars and chock collars should only be used as a last resort since they are devices which solely work through negative reinforcement. I'm not 100% against shock/chock collars, and I have seen them work. I just feel that if graeber decides to go that route, that they will need to learn how to use those products in a safe way.

 

[hennible]

I have been using positive reinforcement for a few weeks and I can not believe how fast it has worked. Treats along with more exercise have change all the bad bird behaviour for my pup. Now I just have to keep it up, the key is the exercise for him.

 

[seminolewind]

I would wonder if a shock collar would work on an Akita. It would be very hard for the collar to make contact with the skin unless you shave the neck.

For whatever is done, people should always assume that their dog will kill chickens. Chickens are unable to protect themselves against anything. They should be penned if there are other animals around.

All animals look at chickens as a tasty meal. They do need the help of their owners to keep safe. There are hundreds of things that harm chickens from predators to dogs to illness. An owner needs to try to make sure that these things don't happen. I know they do, I've had my share.