Free ranging pros and cons?

[Beekissed]

A good dog out there all the time would prevent that.

 

[ShanandGem]

A good dog out there all the time would prevent that.

I have a dog who is aces at keeping the yard free of EVERYTHING, but that includes chickens. I send him out to do his duty and then he goes in the house while the birds are out. He almost had his life ended when I caught him trying to tear through chicken wire for the third murderous attempt and now he doesn't so much as look at them but I don't trust him.

 

[ampho]

True do you have a ready trained dog for me? My lab passed and I work too much to train a dog right now

 

[Beekissed]

True do you have a ready trained dog for me? My lab passed and I work too much to train a dog right now

Wish I could loan you one, I have two but I need them both. A person could make a killin' if they started training pound pups for chicken duty and started marketing them, couldn't they?

 

[centrarchid]

Cost too much to train. It takes a lot more effort than to use same dogs to protect sheep or goats the dogs are bred for. I might be able to break even if given a couple thousand dollars per dog when ready at 2 years of age.

 

[Beekissed]

Cost too much to train. It takes a lot more effort than to use same dogs to protect sheep or goats the dogs are bred for. I might be able to break even if given a couple thousand dollars per dog when ready at 2 years of age.

I've trained two pups for chickens so far and each took about 20 min. of training on chickens while living with them on free range all the while...no separation, fully ranging together. Neither has offered to even chase a chicken since that initial training, one is now 10 yrs old and the other just turned one year. Two other adult dogs didn't even require training on chickens, though one had never been around a chicken in his life. They just left them alone and did their job.

Can't imagine what costs were involved other than dog food.

 

[centrarchid]

I done a lot of dogs over decades so getting a handle on how costs can vary. Recent efforts recorded in part on this site. Initial dog / pup cost most variable but still at least $100 even when acquired from a shelter. Then you have veterinary costs which can be greatly reduced by doing yourself by acquiring most vaccines from farm supply store. Shelters can cover much of the vaccination costs so that is good. I can get by by with only 20 minutes interaction time with dog although that must be repeated daily over extended periods of time. Desired end point is to have dogs with free-range chickens 24/7 but they must be vetted under variable circumstances and often with additional training effort. Starting with an adult dog needs a year to get dog trained to do more than not simply kill chickens, you might also want dog to protect site and be able to to bypass barriers intended to stop predators or stock. To get the well trained dog into place that consistently learns how to do a range of activities inclusing communicating with you, then you start with a pup and that takes a good 2 years. I cost me a couple hundred dollars per year at least to feed a dog. Best dogs in end do kill a chicken or two in the early stages so that adds a little cost. Some dogs can be trained not to kill chickens quickly but you do not know who they are until they have been vetted and they must be done singly at first. That means a kennel to contain other dogs where mine cost more than $500 each (4 units). You would want to have multiple dog a varied levels of training to see which dogs will follow lead of a trouble making pup or even stray. Then you time is worth something as well.

To sell dogs for such a purpose, they need to be consistent even when not being watched. This especially true when a change in owners hands and location occurs. The changes, especially with smart dogs, can cause dog to test trained behavior boundaries.

 

[aart]

Quote: I'm sure that's an exception rather than the usual.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm sure that's an exception rather than the usual.

Well, I know I'm not an exceptional dog trainer and I seriously doubt I've stumbled upon the only four exceptional dogs over the years. Could be it's just that simple....choose a breed that's easy to train and set out to train it, without treating them like a human, and I'm guessing anyone could have similar results.

 

[centrarchid]

As soon as you talk about training dogs for others you are in a much tougher realm than breaking them in for yourself. I can get my dogs to aid in defending my flock and even flocks of a couple close neighbors but once we get off reservation / dog's home range, the dog's relationship with poultry / livestock is much less predictable. My best dogs I have no problem with loading into a truck to get them into a new situation elsewhere. That is exactly the situation you are putting a dog into that is trained by one party to be subsequently kept by another party in a new location.

My approach to whole deal would be to make so that if I trained 10 dogs for others, 9 would get rave reviews with tenth killing chickens and causing me to take dog back. Costing would have to take that into account as that tenth dog would require additional investment and may never make in a situation with free-ranging poultry. Reputation would be something consistently at back of mind and that will come from feed back from others rather than my ability to sell my approach by actions of my own mouth alone with nothing to back it up.