Dog question

[GoodwinMaine]

It's not as horrible as it sounds. My husband and son both tried it BEFORE we put it on the dog. We also let our friend (her choice, her children) let her boys try it at my sister's house. The collar was set for a little chu palm mix, they were fine. It's a mild little zap if used correctly.

 

[Oregon Blues]

My opinion: a few zaps with a shock collar are preferable to being put to sleep for killing sheep or killing chickens. It beats being hit by a car or refusing to come when called and getting lost.

If a human abuses a shock collar, you can take that collar away and they will still be an abusive human. They can still kick and beat if they enjoy causing pain. It isn't the collar itself that is the problem.

 

[sourland]

My opinion: a few zaps with a shock collar are preferable to being put to sleep for killing sheep or killing chickens. It beats being hit by a car or refusing to come when called and getting lost.

If a human abuses a shock collar, you can take that collar away and they will still be an abusive human. They can still kick and beat if they enjoy causing pain. It isn't the collar itself that is the problem.

The main problem with shock collars is ignorant people using them incorrectly.

 

[dainerra]

The main problem with shock collars is ignorant people using them incorrectly.

The main problem with life in general is ignorant people.

Any tool can be abused. In dog training that could be a shock collar, a prong collar, a choke collar, or even an old flat buckle collar and leash.

 

[Happy Camper]

We already had a Labrador at home when we started having chickens... she sadly got inside our coop (she pulled the fencing from underneath one night) and killed a pullet. We re-built the fence and she wears a muzzle when she's let close to the coop... Some of them just don't learn as fast or learn at all...

 

[TXchickmum]

With regard to dogs and chickens, I'd say it depends heavily upon many things - and most of all the breed. I've known Great Pyrenees and Border Collies that have been great with poultry. (I wouldn't let my Yorkshire Terrier out with a chicken for a split second.) Some dogs herd, guard, and some hunt or retrieve. -depends.

 

[bigoledude]

Many hundreds of field trial champions have been trained with shock collars! You could get a miserable dog to obey to an extent. But, you will never reach CHAMPION status with an unhappy dog.

Have you ever seen how a mother dog applies discipline? Some here would enroll their momma dogs into sensitivity 101 courses.

That collar will let your dog know that hurting chickens is unacceptable. If you have time to interact with the chickens in the presence of the dog, that will reinforce the in the dogs mind, that chickens are FAMILY and not adversary.

That Border Collie will probably save the lives of your chickens several times over. At least it would here where we are crawling with predators looking for a quick-n-easy meal.

 

[CAjerseychick]

Sorry, but I understand that it is not safe to leave my Giant Schnauzer with the chickens EVER. She is trained. been to boot camp. 3 obedience classes with me and even used the shock collar for a Year (for recall only) and it is clear-- she guards, protects and walks the fence line for intruders, and catches and KILLS little wild things-- even though she sees that the chicks are "mine" in no way does she see chickens as Family-- she sees them as little tasty bits ..... I could never leave her alone with them unsupervised or off her chain (and she even did kill one when one her chain once....

 

[Firefighter Chick]

My apologies for this thread going off track so much. As with all dogs, they will need training to know what to do and what not to do. Be prepared for mistakes. As you have read, there have been success stories with border collies. I have one dog which I think is a border collie mix (he has short black hair with a white chest with black ticking) he is about 8 years old and a two year old yellow lab/mix. Both of them have been active dogs and neurotic if kept cooped up for too long. They are also very willing to please. Especially the younger lab, Daisy. They both know when they do something wrong. I used this to my benefit, as they are very smart. When they showed too much interest in chickens, chasing and barking, they were given a stern "no!" and they would stop, at least for a while. The process wasn't without heartache. They severely maimed one of my pullets which eventually died from her injuries. It was a learning process for me and i'm more the wiser today because of it. Prepare yourself for "learning" experiences and don't let yourself get too discouraged by mistakes. I, now, let my chickens free range with my dogs. My dogs even respect the kittens we got this spring. They just needed to know that the kittens were not to be toys and they're welcome on the farm. Everything else is fair game for extermination (predatory animals and other vermin). Our dogs have turned out to be quite the pets and they are loved by us. I wish you best of luck on your training adventure. As for your methods, there is plenty of literature available to you, stories on this site. There are plenty of good methods and, remember, each dog is different and has different needs. It's a shame that it too often becomes an argument. I wish you the best of luck.