Dog training help needed.

[harley96cube]

I posted about this in Pics and stories.

My 4 yr. old German Shepherd chased down and killed one of my new chickens at his first opportunity.

He has only been with us for weeks (rescue), and hasn't had much in way of training by us yet.
Normally, he listens well and comes when called, etc.

Once he took off after the chickens, he totally disregarded me and it wasn't until after he had caught and killed the rooster that he would listen.

I told him to kennel, which he did. I was then able to go get the dead chicken from him.

I need to have complete confidence that when his is told to do something (or not do something), that he will immediately do it.

If I can't, then he is much more of a liability than an asset.

As for the chickens safety, I have built another fence 5' high to keep him out, but I don't trust him when I am gone.
I will keep them segregated by any means necessary until such time as I am confident he is not going to kill more!

What is the best way to teach the dog that NO MATTER WHAT, when I say "Come" he should forget everything he is doing and immediately come to me?
Thanks!

 

[FourPawz]

Dogs are situational learners. In other words, a person might have total control over the dog in the area where it has been trained, but when taken to Petsmart, the dog may act as if it forgot everything it seems to know at home. In addition, you cannot rely that your dog is trained until you train it with distractions. Needless to say, a loose chicken is a far stronger distraction than anything else, so it takes a lot of training in many environments before a dog can be trusted, especially a dog you've only had for a few weeks.

You need to go back to square one. Don't take this dog off leash if there is any possible chance he can even alert to a chicken, much less chase and catch it.

 

[Drk_Wlf]

The best way is to teach come on a long lead like used for horses that way even if he doesn't listen you still have control. You just have to keep adding more and more distraction little by little. You would also benifit teaching him the leave-it take-it command, I am not sure on the specifics if you google it I am sure you can find it. I haven't had much luck with training the dogs I have now cause I don't have the time and all of them had behavioral issues before I took them in (which is why after my dogs are gone I am converting to a cat only household, u don't have to train cats!), being successful in dog training is all about patience, repitition and consitency. My mother's dog that I trained before I left home is the poster dog of obiedeince, but my dogs would kill my chickens if given the chance.... so I don't ever give them one.

 

[DawnM]

I agree with Drk_Wlf and would like to add that you can also keep him on a longer lead with you when you are around the chickens as well. This will let you be right there to stop him if he does something wrong and reward him when he does something right. If you only react when a dog does something wrong they still won't know what they are supposed to do. If he sees a chicken but doesn't react, tell him that's the behavior you expect. If you have only had him for a couple weeks and he is following commands so well at this point I have a lot of faith that he will turn out to be a wonderful dog. He just hasn't been taught how to behave around chickens yet. Luckily Shepherds aren't like hounds or terriers that go after animals out of instinct. He is just doing it because he thinks it's fun. If you train him come and leave it reliably, it won't be fun anymore and it should stop.

 

[herefordlovinglady]

Training to come is all well and good and is a valuable command. But I would tend to worry about the interest he has in the chickens. I used a petsafe training collar to train my dogs to not mess with the chickens, cows, etc. around our property. Work the first time. My dogs hangs out with me and the chickens all the time. doesn't chase the cows anymore either.

good luck hope it all works out for you.

 

[harley96cube]

I have a electric collar from a previous dog.
It worked wonders and seldom even buzzed the dog...he just listened.

I may try that in conjunction with come and other training. (collar for not messing with chickens, positive rewards for come and other obedience).
I'll formulate a plan with wife first, then all of us will be consistent and repetitive.

I'll let you know as the saga unfolds.

Thanks!