Dogs and Chicks how to train them to get along (PICS)

[lakeontariochicks]

I've been reading these dogs and chickens threads, and it's great to see so much information coming through!
I think a lot depends on the personality of the dogs too.
I have 2 Golden Retrievers. Both are almost 3 years old.
Our female has gone pheasant hunting with hubby, so she has that instinct to chase a bird.
Our male is just a big ole baby, and my lapdog(all 95 lbs. of him)
Bonnie is very, very interested in our chicks in the brooder. With my supervision she will put her head right down in to the box, and sniff and sniff. The chicks are not scared of her.....yet. After all they are contained right now. If I take one out to hold, she dances all the over the place, and pushes it with her nose. I don't trust her for a second!
Bear, on the other hand, has never been pheasant hunting. Well, he did go once. That was his last time. He had no idea what to do.
He also puts his head in the box.....the one with my hens, but not the box that has my big old cornish x's. If I take one out, he runs out of the room. If I take the screen off the meaties box, he runs out of the room.
This morning he was laying in the yard, and a little bird was about a foot in front of his paws, looking for seed on the ground. He could have cared less. He was relaxed, and laid back.
Right now, I trust him. I am hoping that he will be a guard dog for them, when they get outside, but I am more worried about the hens hurting him, lol!!!

 

[kimb]

I just posted this in the "dog breed thread" because I noticed people asking there ... so here is my suggestion

*As for training: as was mentioned earlier ... There are a lot of different techniques used - I believe in "positive reinforcement" training (like clicker training)...

with any dog you are introducing to chickens ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have it on a leash - (have treats available to reward the dog any/every/all times it may have some form of "contact" (visual or physical) with the chickens. The idea is to reward the dog for offering an "ignoring" behavior towards the chickens. Make sure you have a REWARD cue also (if you clicker train - use the clicker and treat, if you don't say: "good" and treat) the idea is to "mark the behavior you want" as good ... the basis is that ALL dogs can learn from positive reinforcement, while only few dogs learn from deterrence (negative reinforcement) and some dogs even project the deterrent-illiciting behavior into a stronger dislike(even aggression) towards the object,person,place or thing that causes the "negative" effect on them ... so beating a dog because it chases, bites at, bites, catches or kills a chicken - could potentially create a greater "dislike" of the chicken, the chicken pen or the yard in which it was beaten and it can react negatively and more severely next time it encounters the chicken (and the behavior gets worse and worse after each beating).

In my opinion: walking around with your dog and correcting them for being "bad" doesn't truly work (unless the dog really isn't interested in eating your chickens) to TEACH the dog what you WANT it to do around the chickens... all you are doing is telling it what you don't want it to do ... and although this tends to work "ok" for humans - remember that dogs don't rationalize ... they don't assume/think that because you don't want them to bark, chase, or bite at the chickens *that you must mean* you WANT them to be nice ... even if sometimes this training works ... you're really training backwards in that your teaching your dog everything you don't want it to do to narrow down what it is you DO want it to do ... (just think about it).

If your chickens are in a pen at first (this is safest for them) ... walk out with your dog until it recognizes the chickens then STOP, allow it to look at them, study them - but NOT react to them. If the dog looks at the chickens, then looks at you, REWARD (with piece of a cookie, or a piece of kibble - something it likes) if the dog reacts - try to get it's attention (by a gentle tug, and ask for a behavior "sit" "down" etc. if the dog obeys - REWARD ... if the dog is still highly reactive, retreat to a place/point where the dog is no longer reactive, regain it's focus by asking for "heel", "down", "sit", "touch it" ... whatever you do to get focus ... wait a minute'ish (as long as the dog is still focused on you) and try again ... making sure to STOP before the previous place that you know is the "reactive zone" for the dog - ... make sure you stop before the dog reacts (if you can't sense this/ or can't tell) only walk 5' or so and then stop, see if the dog responds to your STOP (if so REWARD) if it reacts to the chickens and you can't regain focus in a second, retreat again - focus - reward - try again only 3' and "focus" ... a highly reactive dog is probably going to take a few days to get to the point that you can walk UP to the chickens, STOP and get the dog to ignore them and focus on you (I recommend short and positive training sessions) 10-15minutes at a time 2-3x a day ... For a dog that is less reactive that lets you walk right up to the chickens before it reacts - then be sure that when they offer to "ignore" the chickens you REWARD. . . the idea is "baby steps" ... keep progressing slowly until you can "walk through" your flock of chickens with your dog and keep its focus or in the least- have it "non-reactive" to the chickens ...By "reactive" I mean that heightened state that is or is the first step that gets them to that stage where they are in "prey drive mode" - they can "look"at the chickens... but if they "launch" at them, that would be a "reaction" ...

Only let your dog off leash once it no longer displays any desire to "react" to the chickens (you can often graduate from the regular leash to a 20' leash to allow your dog to have more roaming room - to see if it's going to react to the chickens if it's further away from you) ... and to give yourself a bit of a "catch rope" (I'd tie a few knots in the rope so that you can grip it better should you just let it drag on the ground) ... But for anytime your dog is going to have interaction with the chickens, Be sure to have treats to reward the good behavior...

DOGS WILL DO THAT WHICH GETS IT THE EASIEST REWARD IN THE QUICKEST AMOUNT OF TIME!

(if your dog is not food motivated AT ALL - for a reward, use it's favorite toy or what else you use to reward your dog... - please feel free to use "people food" as a reward ie hot dogs, string cheese, chicken... etc - these don't have to be huge pieces either - in fact I'd make them all about dime/nickle size so that if you want to "greatly reward" a behavior with 3 or 4 treats, your dog recognizes it gets quite a few treats for doing such things

)

Only you can tell how your dog is progressing - some dogs can't and won't ever be trusted around chickens or other prey animals ... some adapt but shouldn't still be left alone with them - and others treat them like a comrade or even others have the instinct to protect...

Good luck
And always remember it's always going to be on an individual dog-dog basis smile

Hope this helps - feel free to ask questions to clarify !

Maybe I'll try to make a video/picture thing to help visualize what I've typed here ... ... I'll keep you updated if I do.

 

[huntsman]

Cool -

I'm going to try this tomorrow, and we'll either have a well adjusted dog or chicken for dinner!

Thanks for the tips, kimb!

 

[bufforp89]

Not all poodles are bad with chickens. I have one who is about 6 months old and with some training has been fine. She is very sensitive to my speaking to her in a stern voice and that is all it has taken. I also take her out every morning when I feed and tie her to the fence. She can not be trusted with them without supervision though, just a few days ago when I was bringing in grocerys she slipped out the door and roughed up one of my cockrals.

 

[lilbabychickens:)]

I have a golden retriever. She is 5, and we got them 2 months ago. I made it clear they were MY babies, and that she was to have the same respect for them as everything else that is MINE. (ie food, items, etc) and to treat them like she does little kids. I just didn't tolerate it if she got excited or thought about chasing, and she got the point quick. Now, she protects them like they are everything else I own, and loves watching them like theyre TV or something. A friend of mine put one in her mouth when it was 2 days old and she spit it out unharmed. Granted, she is also certified at an international level as a therapy dog, so she is NOT a normal pet. She is also really strong on her bird instincts. She points naturally and retrieves too, and can pick up a filled waterballoons without popping them. SHe chases robins, ducks, etc, but NOT my chickens. I trust her 100%. Being a bird dog is NO excuse to act like that around chickens. With careful training and high expectations, any dog can be good. Just don't tolerate it. If a dog wouldn't do that to your kid, why should they act like that around your chickens?
Check her out at :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-the-Reading-Dog/116394501712929

 

[kimb]

so lilbabychickens... what would the owner of this particular dog so *should* it chase the chickens? ...

I do not see how it is helpful to say "don't tolerate" it... some dog's natural "prey" instinct is exactly that... and not projected onto other "prey-ish objects" like kids...

For instance: . . . my ACD LIVES with my chickens is VERY watchful if 'a' chick or batch of young chicks is segregated - she is very well aware of the difference between her "yard" chickens and the chickens in the fence, or the chickens in the brooder..... but just today , on our walk in the woods out to a dirt bike location (For my bf) she TOOK OFF! this is the most obedient dog ... ... ! you would ever come across! she made it 50' feet before she turned around .. . . in which I watched a HUGE !!!! wild turkey take off into the trees... ... - now was her intent to "harm" the turkey? ? ?doubtful . .. . . but did I "tolerate" her "disobedience" ... no! (even though - tis the season to be very wary, of TOM'S ! ! ! they can be VERY nasty - should the opportunity arise - I had one ATTACK my horse - ! because the hen and her turk-ettes were in the horse paddock and he was inquisitive . . . .

I'm not saying (as you say) that you should "excuse" dogs that may have a natural prey drive! ... I have a herding dog ... that just wants order! (and my flock certainly doesn't provide that for her! ) ...

....
...
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But what exactly do you mean?

 

[lilbabychickens:)]

I mean any dog with respect will not touch your chickens. I own a rabbit, which my dog will not touch. The rabbits in the yard, now those she can have all she wants. My chickens are my chickens, and thats that. Her instinct may be to pick up birds which is more than fine, and is in fact very useful out on the lake, but she can do that on her own time when she's out in the yard with the robins and such. Its a respect for YOUR things, not things in general per say.

 

[Biochick]

Two months ago I hatched my first chickens in 20 years. I was worried about my dogs also. We have 3 dogs, Tippy a 14 year old healer/aussie mix, Sadie a 9 year old healer/aussie mix, Yeahoo a 2 year old border collie / aussie. Sadie is the dominate dog all the way. When I took the chicks out of the incubator I showed Sadie a chick, let her smell it and lick it. I then held the chick up to my face and showed her that I love it and said mine. Over the weeks I let Sadie help with the chicks, held them to her and let her lick their faces and little fuzzy butts. She told the other dogs to stay away in her own way. First day the chicks were in the coop she jumped Tippy when she got to close. Yeahoo was smart enough to get the picture. Tippy won't even be in the same area now as the chickens.
Sadie is always with me helping ( eating chicken poo if I let her ) and watching. The chicks are 3 months old now and I've started free ranging them and I make sure Sadie is outside with them. We also have 5 cats, they aren't allowed near the chickens, Sadie will stop them from getting closer than she thinks is safe. I have noticed that the cats just aren't interested maybe there to big.

So far this has worked for us, Yeahoo walks right between the chickens with Sadie now. Tippy stays away won't even look at them.
My only concern now is the chickens have no fear of dogs now.

 

[jeremy]

I have a 2 1/2 month old Corgi puppy that I'm introducing to my birds. I've got grown hens and chicks that are about a month old. I'm slowly introducing him every day, with the younger chicks I hold him in my lap and wait for the babies to come to him. If he starts to get stressed or lunges towards the chicks I'll hold him back and redirect him, with a toy, etc. If he shows good behavior (basically no interest in the birds, L0L.) he gets a treat. So far there have been no accidents.

With the older birds it's be a bit more of a challenge. I've got a roo and he does not like the puppy. He starts crowing and puffing up right away when I bring the puppy around the chicken run. At fist then hens would go nuts, start flying all over and screaming. After a couple weeks though, keeping our distance, the hens calmed down. Each day I would come a bit closer to the run, keeping our puppy leashed of course. The hens have started to adjust and this morning we actually made it to the gate of the run without anybody getting all flighty and running off! I have not yet introduced him inside of their run. I don't know if this is something that I actually want to do, I don't want our puppy to get the idea that it's his domain to come and go as he pleases.

So far so good, no injuries and our puppy seems to be learning quickly.

 

[907chicken]

Ive made my dog a nervous wreck! She is a German Shorthair pointer trained to hunt birds! Now early on in training you teach a pointing Dog to never lunge after the birds. So poor dog sits there on point forever quivering and shaking. I have to constantly tell her to knock it off. Now I suppose when hunting season rolls around she will be ruined.

The other dog I have is a Beagle, trained to hunt rabbits. For the most part he has ignored the chickens, but occasionally he will get a goofy look in his eye if they start running from him. a quick tap to the butt usually snaps him out of it.