Dog question

[lazyday]

I have 2 BC no problems very,very good around the chickens ( have saved them on 2 occasions from hawks). Please keep in mind that they are herding dogs and they just want to herd them. I did not train my BC and she just started herding on her own. I always know where the chickens are for she will lead me to where they are and has on numerous occasions helped me by getting them out of the brambles. BC as you may already have witness have strong eye contact. I have also have learned that they are sensitive to your actions only goal is pleasing you so I would be careful with the shock collar it usually doesn't take much to train them.
Enjoy your BC they are the most intelligent and loyal dog I have ever own.

 

[The Big Dog]

WOW !!!.....you use a "Shock Collar" ???........to train a family pet ??
Its what I always say "Some people should not have pets".
Having had maybe 55 or 60 working dogs on our 20,000acre farm in the last 30odd yrs I have never had to resort to a shock collar, What a terrible thing to use on a dog. Mayhaps you should do some research on them.
I am now retired to a few acres and freerange my little flock of 6 Light Sussex and 6 Australorps. My dog rounds up the birds every night and puts them in their respective pens. My dog is a massive 82kg "South African Boerboel", she was trained with love and patience. Not a Bloody electric collar.
Dont believe all the b/s that...."Its a herding instinct", you train a dog to herd when YOU tell it to, not when it wants to.

Shheeeze!

The Dog

 

[canesisters]

ouch


I use a 'shock collar' on my dog (a bc mix, by the way). He would NOT stay in the yard and loved to chase the logging trucks that sped down my road. He ignored the electric wire. He dug under the livestock wire. I took down the electric wire and put the underground invisible fence wire in the insulators. It took him all of 5 mins to learn that he must stay at least 4' away from the fence line. Dog is safe, peace is restored.

I've found that it's often a mis-step to criticize someone without knowing the whole story. Many people give just enough info to ask the question when posting. A few questions will often get a much more complete story.

 

[Nicole01]

I don't agree using pain to train an animal. Would you put the collar on yourself??? I also think its cruel, but I do know people use this as a training method.

We have two dogs. A game bird trained Golden Retriever and a herding breed Australian Shepherd. Both dogs were shown the chicks since the very first on arrived. I had trained the "leave it" command and told the dogs to leave the chicks alone. It worked out very well. Both dogs and chickens get along except my golden thinks they are dogs and can play. She is always doing the play bow trying to get the hens to play with her.

I never leave the dogs and chickens alone, but I do take the dogs outside all day with the chickens. I supervise all my free ranging and the dogs come with in case a predator tries to hurt my flock.

 

[Mattemma]

You ever try on one of those shock collars? Saw video of people doing it.I would never.I would not let the dog roam with the hens. I would suggest working on getting the dog to return to you and to sit when told. Not sure if either of those would work when the dog is in chicken attack mode. I have got my dogs away from the chicken area with those when they snuck into the run.

I don't let my dogs mess with the chickens at all.I have seen what they do to chew toys!

 

[dainerra]

correctly used, a shock collar doesn't necessarily involve pain. Actually, the way you test how to sit it is this - start out on 0. Increase settings 1 level at a time until you get a reaction that the dog notices the collar, such as a blink or an ear twitch. Anything more from the dog and it is too high! Hardly painful if used correctly. That is why it is a tool that should only be used with the help of a trainer experienced in how to use it and how to teach YOU how to use it. 90% of the people I know who use "shock" collars actually never use anything other than the vibrate feature anyway.

For training the dog, this is the method that I use and have used on several different breeds of dogs.

You already know that he is excited with the chicks. Find the closest distance that the dog first notices the birds in the brooder. This might be in another room if he is one to constantly glance at the door. Put your dog on leash and get some extra special treats that he only gets for this work - bacon, grilled chicken (no spices!), hot dog chunks, etc. When the dog glances toward the birds, say his name and "leave it" If he looks at you, give him a treat - if he doesn't, give a light pop on the leash (think tap on the shoulder). When he looks at you reward him.
You can also teach him "watch me" the same way. You can practice this at random times though out the day. If you have a couple extra minutes while you're watching TV or whatever, just say his name, pause, "watch me" When he makes eye contact, then reward him. You can also (if you get in the habit of keeping a small treat in your pockets) catch him looking towards you say "watch me" and then reward. Or just praise him verbally.

Once the dog is reliably paying attention to you and the birds at a distance, move a little bit closer. If he absolutely blows you off, you're too close. Just back up a bit and begin again. Eventually you will be right amongst the birds. You can then start at a distance or with a long line (20' leash or so) and work from there. I never ever leave my dogs/chickens loose unattended together.
I don't even trust Rayden
I don't mean I constantly hover over the dogs when they are out with the birds, but I am in the area and aware of what they are doing. Think of it as a small child. Even though you've taught them not to play with matches, would you leave them alone in the house with matches scattered all over the floor?

The most important part of the training is to set the dog up to succeed. Don't give him a chance to chase the birds. Don't give him a chance to disobey.

ETA: The best thing about teaching "leave it" is that it works for everything. Drop something on the floor and don't want the dogs to touch it? "leave it" See dog running toward a snake? "leave it" Lots of training and work, but it pays off!
Of course, some dogs just can't be trusted off-leash. Period. They are just too focused on the birds. In that case, just confine the dog when the birds are out.


ETA: and for those who said "would you use the collar on yourself"? Testing the collar on yourself, like the inside of your wrist, is actually recommended. Human skin is much more sensitive than your dog, especially since we don't have all of that fur. At the highest setting I use for my youngest GSD, it feels a bit sharper than a mosquito bite. For him, the most reaction I've ever gotten is an ear twitch.

 

[JayWhit]

After I got home from work this morning, as I was feeding the hens, I went to get the water bowl. One of the hens slipped out. As she was walking around the run, my dog spotted her. My BC just came up next to her and I nicely said "No Tasha", and she just laid down next to the hen. Not saying that it will always be like that, but it's a start. I love my BC and my BYC's!!

 

[JayWhit]

"Dog" I got the collar, which may be more properly termed "training collar", to get her to stop barking at every single thing at our house that we had just moved into. I treat my dog very well and she is never harmed. I've owned 2 BC's and other animals. My dog is well behaved and I haven't had to use the collar since I got her to stop barking non-stop. The collar I purchased had a "warning beep" on it. I set it on the lowest setting and started by just using the beep. At first she didn't pay attention to that. So I used the beep and one quick press of the stimulation. After that all I had to do was use the beeping noise. And yes I did try the setting for her on my arm. Sometimes people go overboard on reactions to other peoples training methods. Have a good day.

 

[Nicole01]

I did hear the collar is a useful tool if used correctly. It's just not for me.

My neighbor had a shock color to their shepherd on high and pressed on it for long period of time and it was really disheartening. I think in the wrong hands it's not good.

People use collars for electric fences as well. These fences work well when the dog is trained.

 

[Criskin]

I've only had my 2 year old BC a couple of months (adopted her from a kill shelter). When I first brought her home I started to get worried that she was someone's dog and tried to see if anyone anywhere in the area was missing her because she was either extremely intelligent or had been worked with quite a bit. I kind of suspect it was a bit of both. She likes to watch my chickens but I've never let her around them. Last week, though, one of my hens escaped. Maggie was inside with me at the time, and when I went out she very calmly helped me drive the hen back into the coop. She didn't run or act excited, she would just calmly mosey over and block the hen's path if it tried to slip away. I think I agree with the others in that I would never really trust her (or my lab mix) around the chickens unsupervised. I am now a lifelong BC fan, though!