Getting a guardian puppy - any chicken<-->dog communicables I need to worry about?

[Paz]

Yes, for sure! At this age make sure it's all positive, no corrections at all for the recall. Start from two feet away if you need to, make it happy and fun. You want her to associate the recall with pleasant things only for the first few months.

Agree completely, unless you have a terrier, of course!
Don’t ever wait for six months of age to start something! That’s just wasting time and building shitty habits.

 

[chickfused]

She will be 10 weeks old tomorrow, and continues to be a joy.

 

[chickfused]

Annnnnd....last night she was a holy terror. Dog days y'all.

 

[chickfused]

 

[chickfused]

Let's see. Today we went to the store where she went inside and met ppl and got petted by lots of strangers. Then we went to the park and explored new things. Then we went home and company came (and also the garbage truck/men who played with dogs.) So far, we've only had 2 times where we had to be leashed around the birds. One bird is not putting up with her attempts to play at all, and she is learning respect. (I'm actually worried this bird may go for an eye, because it does not back down to a playing puppy, at all. But so far, so good.) She also learned that if she's very, very calm, she gets snacks from the people plates.

I've arranged a doggy play date for her next weekend with a friend's calm dogs so she can socialize to dogs.

PS: She has also figured out that if you stop walking on the leash, someone will try to teach you "Come!" and then you get treats. I'm not sure how to undo this, but it seems I've been trained effectively.

 

[chickfused]

Interesting development this morning. I was having my coffee and cigarette, and she was sitting next to me when suddenly she went on high alert, focused on a spot in the woods and started growling. Stayed seated next to me, but def ready to go if needed. This lasted for about 5 minutes and then she went back to normal. We later went past that spot on patrol, and she left a dog sausage exactly where she was staring. I wonder if the fox was there.

 

[chickfused]

Anyone have any recommendations for protective eyewear? One chicken is starting to stand up to her a lot, and I'd like to prevent potential eye damage. She weighs about 12-15 pounds now.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Interesting development this morning. I was having my coffee and cigarette, and she was sitting next to me when suddenly she went on high alert, focused on a spot in the woods and started growling. Stayed seated next to me, but def ready to go if needed. This lasted for about 5 minutes and then she went back to normal. We later went past that spot on patrol, and she left a dog sausage exactly where she was staring. I wonder if the fox was there.

She was definitely seeing something. Glad shes doing a little better.

 

[chickfused]

She was awful tonight. She's snapping and biting and ignoring commands and chasing chickens. I've done something wrong, and I need to figure it out and undo it fast.

 

[NatJ]

She was awful tonight. She's snapping and biting and ignoring commands and chasing chickens. I've done something wrong, and I need to figure it out and undo it fast.

I don't know for sure, but here are a few ideas:

Maybe she's over-tired or over-stimulated from all the things that were going on this past day or two?

Snapping and biting sometimes mean something hurts, so maybe she bit her tongue or something?

I assume you made sure she had her usual food and access to water, to rule out hunger and thirst as possible contributers.

She might just be having one of those days, like any other dog or person has, when it seems like a lot of things go wrong.

Of course you don't want to let her chase chickens or disobey, but I would be inclined to put her in a safe place and let her rest or nap, before worrying further. It might be a one-time thing, and just preventing bad behavior for a few hours might be enough to get through it.