Dogs and chickens

[chickens really]

Hello....Train, and train some more ...I have 5 Dogs...LGD , Golden retriever / Aussie and a Yorkie trained to herd Birds..Have a key word like OFF that your Dogs respond to instantly...Until it's responding never trust it...Have all basic commands in place and sit with the Puppy on a long lead as the Birds free range around you..Correct the pup as needed and praise when the pup gets the lesson right..
Best wishes!

 

[Moorwitch]

Ok, here goes. I am Mickey's wife. I am the one doing the training. I am having a hard time with it, as what I say, he undoes! LOL Not all the time, but some of it.
I am using "leave it" as her drop/stop words. I want to get that down before I start anything else. I do walk her around the yard on the leash. Showing her the bounderies. I also, with Mickey's help, let her off the leash to play with us there. We are working on basic commands for in the house, but I have to work on them when hubby is not home, as she is too excited when he is around. She sees me as the top dog, but him as a playmate LOL. I am working with her on not jumping on people, as we don't want her jumping on the grandkids, as some are smaller than her LOL.
She is food based right now, but there have been times, when I have to give other types of reprimands. I am thinking of having our niece do some obedience training, as that will help a lot, but I really don't want to send her there, as niece lives a couple of hours away and can't stay with us because of her job. So I am doing what I am able to.

 

[chickens really]

Ok, here goes. I am Mickey's wife. I am the one doing the training. I am having a hard time with it, as what I say, he undoes! LOL Not all the time, but some of it.
I am using "leave it" as her drop/stop words. I want to get that down before I start anything else. I do walk her around the yard on the leash. Showing her the bounderies. I also, with Mickey's help, let her off the leash to play with us there. We are working on basic commands for in the house, but I have to work on them when hubby is not home, as she is too excited when he is around. She sees me as the top dog, but him as a playmate LOL. I am working with her on not jumping on people, as we don't want her jumping on the grandkids, as some are smaller than her LOL.
She is food based right now, but there have been times, when I have to give other types of reprimands. I am thinking of having our niece do some obedience training, as that will help a lot, but I really don't want to send her there, as niece lives a couple of hours away and can't stay with us because of her job. So I am doing what I am able to.

Train your own puppy...It takes time...Have Hubby totally ignore her as she is training and around the Birds...Lots of time for playtime....I keep my puppies working about an hour a day and end on a good note...Sit and stay or down and stay..something thats "something" puppy can be proud of and then continue the next day...Soon they look after the Birds...

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Ok, here goes. I am Mickey's wife. I am the one doing the training. I am having a hard time with it, as what I say, he undoes! LOL Not all the time, but some of it.
I am using "leave it" as her drop/stop words. I want to get that down before I start anything else. I do walk her around the yard on the leash. Showing her the bounderies. I also, with Mickey's help, let her off the leash to play with us there. We are working on basic commands for in the house, but I have to work on them when hubby is not home, as she is too excited when he is around. She sees me as the top dog, but him as a playmate LOL. I am working with her on not jumping on people, as we don't want her jumping on the grandkids, as some are smaller than her LOL.
She is food based right now, but there have been times, when I have to give other types of reprimands. I am thinking of having our niece do some obedience training, as that will help a lot, but I really don't want to send her there, as niece lives a couple of hours away and can't stay with us because of her job. So I am doing what I am able to.

So, first step is you both have to get on the same page, and stay there. No more good cop/ bad cop or fun parent/ not fun parent. My husband was career military (now retired) so i totally understand how disruptive the ins and outs of the active duty person from the household can be for everyone and this, imo, makes being on the same page that much more important.
I would suggest you go out and leave the two of them alone together and he does some serious work with her. Also, a cue like the *work* leash that is put on specifically for training time so she knows no matter who is at the other end, the leash means it's serous time. Do some exercise at first to burn off a little energy, do some basic obedience to get her engaged and thinking and then work on the new skill a little...... you can end with play, but only after the work leash is off. Bee mindful of your/his energy so that work time is serious energy and fun/excited energy is for play time. Keep sessions age appropriate in length. Work on impulse control throughout the day....ie at meal times have her practice a sit/wait and then release her to eat, do a down/stay and roll a toy through her line of sight, etc. There are tons of ways it can be worked into normal daily stuff...just short on time to list them.

 

[aart]

ETA:What OGMare said^^^ (crosspost) haha!

All humans who live with dog need to be on the same page and using the same command words.

Humans often need more training than dog.

 

[chickens really]

ETA:What OGMare said^^^ (crosspost) haha!

All humans who live with dog need to be on the same page and using the same command words.

Humans often need more training than dog.

Awesome @aart
Your so right!

 

[Abriana]

I don't free range, but I have a collie who is GREAT with the chickens. I cannot say enough good things about him and the chickens together. I do let him in the pen sometimes and he lies down and lets the chickens come up to him. He really shows zero interest in them, save for the natural, curious sniffing. Once, my rooster got out and I was taking care of some things in the pen, and the dog was sitting right by the pen on the outside. I was thinking, "Oh no. Either Beau is going to rip Napoleon to shreds, or Napoleon is going to rip my puppy to shreds! There's not way I can get to them fast enough." Beau just sat down and turned his head in the other direction. Napoleon shrugged off the whole idea of attacking and ran around the outside of the fence to where all the hens were clustered. Collies are the top dogs that are good with chickens. I got mine from Wellsmere Collies in NY. Collies are the perfect chicken dog!

 

[orrpeople]

I agree with the "it takes a ton of training" method. I watched some Dog Whisperer episodes dealing particularly with chickens, and they really helped a lot! We have two Kelpie crosses who are now excellent with our birds. But it was a lot of work!

 

[Farmer In Training]

What we did for our curious puppy, (after he snuck into the chicken coop when I was not looking and killed one of our old seramas ) Was allow the chickens to free range when he was on a leash.We then did what others suggested, inching closer and closer until he didn't care about the chickens anymore. He eventually got bored of them since we enforced training every day, (and then play in the end and beginning for energy and listening purposes.) he is never allowed in the chicken coop, however, he is pretty good now with obeying around the chickens unless sniffing does not count If I were you, I would watch some ceaser mulan videos of dog training with chickens, thats what helped me!

 

[Suzi18]

I have a Standard Poodle and after 3 months of leash training he no longer follows the chickens around because he is interested in them....but because he loves to eat their poop. On the up side....we never have to worry about stepping in poop while walking in the yard. He's a beautiful dog but still just a dog....a beautiful,poop eating dog.