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

[chickfused]

I can't really do a dog door, but I'm keeping her in my office which isn't much bigger than her barn area. Sometimes we get all the way to the door outside and she loses it right at the threshold. I'll see where we're at in a few days. I can reliably predict when she needs to poo, so it's just pee and the floor's waterproof. A quick mop and we're back to normal. The bad part is when she drags her houseline through the puddle.

 

[NatJ]

Sometimes we get all the way to the door outside and she loses it right at the threshold.

If that's a regular issue, carrying her might help. Puppies seem less likely to pee when being carried. (I know it's good for them to practice walking to the door on their own feet, so it can be a judgement call about which is more important-- puppy practices walking to the door, or puppy gets all the way outside before peeing.)

I can reliably predict when she needs to poo, so it's just pee and the floor's waterproof. A quick mop and we're back to normal. The bad part is when she drags her houseline through the puddle.

Waterproof floors are wonderful

 

[chickfused]

She can hold it, she just doesn't realize she needs to I think. If I stop her mid-pee at the threshold, she finishes up outside after a few minutes.

Also, whyyyyy? Why does it love cat poop so much???

 

[Aunt Angus]

She can hold it, she just doesn't realize she needs to I think. If I stop her mid-pee at the threshold, she finishes up outside after a few minutes.

Also, whyyyyy? Why does it love cat poop so much???

I don't understand their fascination with it, either. Kills me! Our cat box is in our utility room, and I had to make a cat door to keep the dog from going in there and helping herself. My dog is small (14 lbs) and one of my cats is huge (28 lbs). We raised up the cat door because my dog is very low to the ground, but the cat has to squeeeeeze through it.

 

[chickfused]

Took Copper out visiting today to the local junkyard (we're friends with the owners). She met lots of people and saw lots of big scary equipment, and did really well!

She has started jumping for attention, but we're working on stopping that. She's learning 'stay' too.

This dog is so weird y'all. I almost don't have to use commands with her. (Of course, she's in a regression phase right now and isn't really minding them very well anyway. Unless I have beef heart. I'm told this is normal.) But she's GLUED to my body language, constantly watching my face and hands, she's sooo attuned. She's using context nearly entirely to figure out what I want and to do it over really paying attention to what I'm asking for. Like I know she knows at least some of the commands, but she seems to be preferring to use context?

IE: I haven't had to teach her stay as a command per se. I just have been teaching her sit at the door, then I hold up my hand and look her in the eyes, and then I step through the door and invite her through. I had to show her this exactly 5 times without a single "stay" ever uttered. She also figured out load-in/load-out of the vehicle all on her own, just by watching me for cues and responding to the lightest touch of leash. Tonight I sat her at the barn gate and had to go inside and do some stuff I didn't want company on. So I shut it with her on the other side and asked her to sit nicely. 5 minutes later, I come out, and she's in exactly the same position, waiting for me attentively.

She's also becoming rather lap doggy and snuggly when she's not in landshark mode. She safely dozed whilst getting petted in Mom's lap for 20 minutes today and they both enjoyed the hell out of that. I have no idea how that's going to work when she's 40+ pounds...

Fed her mealworms with the chickens, but her chicken-snaps are getting too close to chicken heads to be safe anymore, she's just getting too big. ( I swear the puppy I woke up to this morning was bigger than the one I put to bed last night?) Probably going to put an end to shared treat times until she has more self control.

If anyone has mind games that working dogs love, please share! I think I need to keep her brain working more to develop what appears to be great potential.

 

[chickfused]

Chased the hell out of a chicken today. One had flown the coop and I didn't know. Not a good event, but she didn't actually make contact with it (she could have).

I also finally showed her a baby chicken and she totally wanted to eat it. No questions about it. Thing was practically drooling

 

[chickfused]

She's getting so good. Recall, even when she doesn't want to ("Sigh. OK Mom..."), is very good, but not 100% yet. Also, I see her fighting her own instincts a lot now to jump, bite, etc. She's not very proficient yet, but you can see it happening about 25% of the time. Mom is overjoyed that she can interact with the dog some now, and just has to be careful during first greetings when Copper gets really excited to see her. Voluntary crating is improving too. And "leave it".

Took Copper to a big gathering last night for a gas pipeline safety training (she needs more male exposure and general crowd work), and she was very scared, but got lots of pets and lots of exposure. (And shared a smoked pork chop with me.) It was at a big resort/meeting hall, with acres and acres of grounds, so we spent some time exploring too. Going to have to go sit outside the feed store or grocery store for a while I think this weekend (there's a bench) and then maybe we'll go to a little local national park for a hike. She loooves to go walking.

She hung out with the chickens (including the one she chased the hell out of yesterday) quite peacefully this morning.

Edit: I don't know what the trigger was, but it feels like that day the city business happened she changed, literally overnight. Maybe she had some time to think about things? Or maybe she's just growing up. She's starting to look like a young lady vs. a puppy.

 

[chickfused]

Today she met the plumber and his wife. She was too fearful around them, and I worry that she needs more socialization. Going to do some intense work on that this weekend. I've bought bags of treats.

She also got very aggressive with me tonight, bared teeth and snarling and biting and all. Unfortunately, it happened when she was off leash, so I couldn't get her to timeout safely. She had been playing for like an hour at the top of her ability. Zoomies on steroids. Eventually I got her distracted enough with a firm 'no' to get the leash on her with not much effort and no actual bites, and took her to bed. She made a beeline for the bed and went right in it.

I know she was overstimulated and wanted to lay where she was when she got aggressive, because she was tired as hell and wanted to be left alone. I needed her to do so in her bed though so I could go make dinner and feed my family. But touch aggression at that level has to stop. I'm waiting on responses from a couple of trainers/puppy class operators in my area. Hopefully we'll find someone who can help us get her sorted before she's a dog, and not a puppy.

Otherwise, a good dog day. Shared food with chickens, no snapping (I didn't plan this, but the chickens raided her dog bowl).

And mama hen's babies are getting their tails and starting to flit about. Copper actually looked at them today, and did not exhibit "food!" signs, but I wasn't about to let her get very close. One snap, and that's all she wrote. Anyway, they're sooo cute.

Lastly, another one of my pullets put the egg factory online today, but I don't know who! This is good, because I was completely out of layers after some fox losses, broodiness and an unexpected early retirement. I had to buy eggs for the first time in nearly a year.

 

[chickfused]

Puppy trainer coming for onsite consult next week so he can see her behavior and help us all learn to communicate better.

Copper was, as usual, alternately an angel and a devil today. At one point she crawled into my lap (when I was sitting on the ground, she's not allowed up on things) and fell asleep and was so sweet and kissy. And then other times...notsomuch.

We went on a long hike today, and it was so interesting. I let her lead the way home --- with her nose! She didn't miss a step and we'd gone at least a mile into the forest on no beaten path.

 

[chickfused]

Took Copper to the grocery store today where she mets lots of people and saw lots of things and heard lots of scary noises and she sniffed the hell out of the floor by the deli in the grocery store.

Also, the chickens were in their coop making distressed noises, and I went in and found a bunch of them in a circle freaking out inside. Copper was with me. She went _barreling_ through them and snapped up a mouse! No hesitation at all. Explains why she wanted to go after the babies. And she'll apparently be rat/mouse control when she's older. Who knew?

I got her a dog size squeaky slipper at the grocery store, and she's just going nuts making it squeak like the mouse did.