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

[chickfused]

I respect your opinion and advice @Geena. You are heard. I may choose a different path, but I am definitely taking your wisdom into account.

 

[Geena]

I respect your opinion and advice @Geena. You are heard. I may choose a different path, but I am definitely taking your wisdom into account.

Well, thank you! Sometimes we just have to play things by ear. If something is not working out just stop that and try another way. You're doing a great job with her. Don't sweat the small stuff and the minor setbacks, it will all work out in the end.

 

[chickfused]

Wonderful dog day. She got amped up a bit this morning, and she's definitely got something going with that one chicken, but otherwise, we did ok. We did some respectful flanking and herding even at chicken bedtime (on leash, slow walk). Need to play it by ear, as @Geena points out.

That being said, she is doing incredibly well. I had 100% recall off leash today at 10 yards! Apparently, dogs luuuuuuuurve freeze dried beef heart. I wasn't going to do it, but she did so well on the leash and seemed so motivated by this particular treat, that I figured I'd give it a single try. Well, that turned into two 5 minute off-leash sessions and it was a roaring success.

We did not work on heel today, but I am working on teaching sit, down as a compound command. It seems to be working. She's so smart, I want to challenge her a little bit, which may be why it's reading as "advanced".

Oh, and she figured out how to get treats out from under things, which bodes well for problem solving! She couldn't do it a week ago.

 

[chickfused]

Oh, and I flat out grabbed a chicken today to make it squawk and freak out to see what she'd do and she came RUNNING over to see what the hell was going on. She didn't snap at me, or the chicken, but she definitely would go running toward the commotion if a fox grabbed one. And that might be all it takes. The rooster/cat spat was much less dramatic.

She's also becoming alert to annoyed noises from the neighbors chickens, so I think she's learning their language a bit.

Edit: My mama hen's eggs are peeping! I anticipate disaster here TBH.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh, and I flat out grabbed a chicken today to make it squawk and freak out to see what she'd do and she came RUNNING over to see what the hell was going on. She didn't snap at me, or the chicken, but she definitely would go running toward the commotion if a fox grabbed one. And that might be all it takes. The rooster/cat spat was much less dramatic.

She's also becoming alert to annoyed noises from the neighbors chickens, so I think she's learning their language a bit.

Edit: My mama hen's eggs are peeping! I anticipate disaster here TBH.

Good luck with the hatch. Sounds like you might need it!

 

[chickfused]

Mama hen smashed her first baby. I think it must have pipped on the bottom because the egg was squashed flat and the broken pieces were on the bottom. There's at least two more peeping though, but no pips.

Edit: Some pips now, peeping away.

 

[chickfused]

We have a baby! And a continued very good dog. Very bitey tonight, but otherwise incredibly obedient and attuned.

 

[chickfused]

We have 2 babies and 2 live cheeping eggs. The other 2 eggs feel dead. I don't know how to explain it, but live eggs "fight back" a little bit and dead eggs feel light and like they have no will of their own. These last 2 don't feel right.

Copper, as I suspected, knew all the commands and ignored me when she felt like it. A few days of "you're on the leash and that's that" and freeze dried beef hearts have done the trick. We continue to have 100% recall. We have 100% sit. We have 100% down (with a hand gesture and the success rate is only about 20% if we do it without the full sequence of come, sit, down). We have 80% "bring it" and 80% drop it. Heel is going to be some time coming, but we're getting there.

She was super bitey today, but I realized something and would love advice. When she's bitey, she will let me pet the belly, but touching anywhere else on the dog results in a "not there" nip. I'm not sure why she does this, but I'd like to pet my dog normally. Does anyone understand what is happening? I can pet her all over the place when she's not bitey, no problem.

Oh, and today, I nervously observed her and the white chicken she's got problems with, without intervening. The chicken tried to go after her when there were treats, and she stood her ground and VERY gently nipped (almost a lick) at it's wing. The chicken backed down, and then went under her belly to start eating and everyone was just fine.

She also likes to go out in the yard where she can see all the people, and all the chickens and chew her chewy and watch everything at about 40 feet away.

 

[NatJ]

Copper, as I suspected, knew all the commands and ignored me when she felt like it. A few days of "you're on the leash and that's that" and freeze dried beef hearts have done the trick.

She might not have known the commands as well as you think.

An experience with a dog I had:
He seemed really smart, learning many new commands almost immediately. But then he would only do them sometimes, or would do the wrong thing.

I eventually realized he was guessing from context, and not listening to the actual word. So when I gave a command (any command, or any single word in the right tone of voice), his reaction depended on the situation. If I stood in the kitchen holding food, he would sit, and if I didn't give the food he would lie down. If I stood at the front door, he would wait for permission to go through the door. If I was playing tug-of-war, he would let go of the toy. If I was walking across the room, he would move out of the way.

No, he was not deaf. He did eventually learn to distinguish individual words. But I had to work in one place, like in the kitchen holding food, with several different words until he realized that each word had a different meaning. Then I had to work on those same words in a different room, or when not holding food, or in otherwise different contexts. He did eventually learn that the specific word was the command he was supposed to obey, regardless of context, but it took quite a while to get there!

I have read of some other dogs that need to be taught each command in one room, and another room, and the back yard, and the front yard, and the pet store, and so on for quite a few places before they realize that it means the same thing in ALL places! (Supposedly, this is more common with the first few commands, and then the dog starts to get the point that all commands work this way.)

I've also had one dog that caught on very quickly and easily, so I never had to think about teaching a command in different places or about commands getting mixed up, so obviously this varies a great deal from one dog to another.

I don't know for sure about your puppy, but she might be recognizing those words as commands only in a certain context, and not yet realize that they are meant to apply in other situations too.

Whether she was disobedient or genuinely confused, I think you chose the right strategy to work on either one: more practice in a situation where you have more control and can be sure she does the right thing!

We continue to have 100% recall. We have 100% sit. We have 100% down (with a hand gesture and the success rate is only about 20% if we do it without the full sequence of come, sit, down). We have 80% "bring it" and 80% drop it. Heel is going to be some time coming, but we're getting there.

Sounds like good progress

She was super bitey today, but I realized something and would love advice. When she's bitey, she will let me pet the belly, but touching anywhere else on the dog results in a "not there" nip. I'm not sure why she does this, but I'd like to pet my dog normally. Does anyone understand what is happening? I can pet her all over the place when she's not bitey, no problem.

Unfortunately, I don't really know. Maybe it has something to do with play behavior vs. dominant or submissive behavior? Or maybe belly rubs feel so good she wants them even when she doesn't want any other touching? (I'm just throwing out guesses here.)

Oh, and today, I nervously observed her and the white chicken she's got problems with, without intervening. The chicken tried to go after her when there were treats, and she stood her ground and VERY gently nipped (almost a lick) at it's wing. The chicken backed down, and then went under her belly to start eating and everyone was just fine.

She also likes to go out in the yard where she can see all the people, and all the chickens and chew her chewy and watch everything at about 40 feet away.

Those sound good to me!

 

[chickfused]

I eventually realized he was guessing from context, and not listening to the actual word.

Fascinating. Something to keep in mind. I know the hand gestures are important to her, but I've seen multiple training things that says that's just fine and will help them learn over time, so not to worry about it. I _think_ she knows sit without context because I've been testing getting her to stop and sit while at a dead run (which actually works occasionally), and same for 'c'mere' because I realized I was confusing her while we were practicing "bring it". I was saying "bring it here" and she'd stop and come right back without getting the whatever. I realized if I just said "bring it" that didn't happen. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are things she's reading body language into or something. We've (by accident, not design) been doing commands in different places, so I think we're ok there. Super helpful! Thank you!

Edit: Oh, one other thing that makes me think she might know the words is that I've been practicing "sit" with her when she's in the down position and she immediately gets up. If I say "down" she stays down.

I should also note that she almost pees on command, which is convenient.