Dogs and chickens

[blackdog79]

Gary, I would say yes actually that the dog's life is more important. That's just how I am. I love my birds, as do my kids, but at the end of the day they are livestock that produce eggs for me and sleep in a coup outside. My dogs are part of my family, and I will train them to be good family members. The worst thing I could do for her is give up without even trying. I can replace hens for $2 each, yeah it sounds horrible but it's the way it is. I don't want her eating chickens for sure, that it's where the training comes inn.

 

[TalkALittle]

Talk, been reading through article you posted and have learned much. I kinda went off recommendation of local trainer, and my wallet. I will try a sequence of beep warning followed by low stim and see how it works.

I would not beep at all. You want the stim directly linked to the behavior, not linked to the beep. It's not "think about chasing but if I hear a beep I will get a consequence". It's "think about chasing and there will be a consequence".

Remember, you may not always be there to administer a beep warning. It is very easy to create a dog that will push just enough to get them a beep at which point they will back down. You want a dog that won't bother pushing.

If you think about it, if the dog is doing a behavior that warrants a warning, that behavior is the very thing you want to eliminate so you should be correcting it.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Gary, I would say yes actually that the dog's life is more important. That's just how I am. I love my birds, as do my kids, but at the end of the day they are livestock that produce eggs for me and sleep in a coup outside. My dogs are part of my family, and I will train them to be good family members. The worst thing I could do for her is give up without even trying. I can replace hens for $2 each, yeah it sounds horrible but it's the way it is. I don't want her eating chickens for sure, that it's where the training comes inn.

Well then there you have it.

Good luck

Gary

 

[blackdog79]

Update on this whole situation. Got the collar in the mail yesterday and started training with it today. Not sure if it's correct or not but I decided on using beep for positive reinforcement and shock for correction. Started by going over basic commands near the coop with birds safely contained inside, using beep as reinforcement before giving training treat. Brought pup inside and let birds get comfortable free ranging for a bit then brought her back outside. Continued drilling come, sit and stay with chickens as a distraction. She actually did pretty well for her first time. Upped the ante a bit then and had my daughter carry a hen around, that got her going a bit but honestly only had to administer a few shocks followed by a leave it command and a treat. All in all I'd say it was a successful first day of training. I doubt I'll ever be able to allow her unattended with the flock, but I'm hopeful that I will be able to allow them out under supervision.

 

[TalkALittle]

Great that things are going well. I'd spend a little longer doing the drills with her until you are getting nice prompt response to your commands. Give her plenty of repetitions to teach her how to respond to the stimulation and what behaviors turn it on and off. Then start upping the distractions to include the chickens. Remember, "walk before run" applies to dog training too.

 

[blackdog79]

I won't push her past comfort level, was just curious to see where it was. As soon as she stopped listening to commands and started going after the birds we stopped for the night. I went to set her up for success not failure. I know this has become more dog training post and less chicken related, but it's been a huge help.

 

[christwodog]

Sounds like you will make progress with the pit. I have a rottie rescue now with a very strong prey drive. She killed my favorite hen, Daisy, about 2 months ago. We were very upset with Sadie (rottie) and she knew that! She didn't eat for four days after the incident. She avoided the chickens at all costs when I would leash walk her in the yard if the chickens free ranging. She still shows some interest, but we are trying to curb that. We will never be able to trust her with the chickens, so we just have to be extra careful when they are free. My other rottie rescue, who passed away several years ago, loved all animals and birds, like she was their surrogate mom. Never harmed anything in her whole life. I believe it just depends on the individual dog, even with breeds like ours. I am glad to hear you're not giving up on the dog! Good luck with the training!

 

[blackdog79]

I have been rescuing dogs for the last 20 years, I mostly gravitate towards the "dangerous" breeds, not to be masculine but they need the most help. My oldest of the bunch is a 13 year old rottie that helped me through divorce from my first wife, she loves the chickens and will sit by the brooder and just watch them flap around. she will even shoo off the pit if she gets to into the peeps.They are such gentle giants if they are trained properly.

 

[christwodog]

Lucky to get 13 years out of a rottie! Yes, I agree these breeds do get passed over at the shelter most often. Or even worse, dumped off...my current rottie was an emaciated dumped off dog. Now she's on a diet!

 

[wild chick]

Blackdog and Talkalittle I'm so glad to see this good conversation. Too many people think ecollars are cruel, but the really cruel thing is not to try to correct a behavior that will turn into a death sentence for the dog. We have a Dutch Shepherd, and I've never seen a higher prey drive in any dog.. When we got a shipment of day old chicks she was 1 1/2 years old and been through obedience (she got her Good Citizen award) but she is just so high drive, some of her recall had to be done with an ecollar. So she was already familiar with it. When we let her look at the baby chicks from the doorway of the coop a few days later, we were prepared. Sure enough, she was so excited to see that tub full of moving squeeking fluffballs she was shaking and her teeth were chattering. All it took was one zap while she was looking at them with thoughts of chasing/catching and it was the end of the story. She wouldn't even LOOK at them for a week. When they got bigger and came out of the coop into the run, she would literally look the other way. That was last summer. They free range and she will run around them, through them, jump over them on her way somewhere else. They are part of the pack and she knows it. So glad you are taking the time with your pit to correct this. Sometimes you really can't, but at least you're trying. I admire that.