Help! Hunting Dog suddenly will not leave the chickens alone

[FlockofMischief]

Hopefully I'll be able to get some good advice on my situation.
I have two dogs, both are trained to hunt (they're multi-purpose, they hunt birds, racoons, moles, rabbits, flies etc).
Naturally around the 4th my dogs go nuts because the fireworks sound like gunshots. They aren't scared, they get excited.
Well, my Black Mouth Cur, yesterday was out in the yard and the neighbors shot off fireworks which sent him into a frenzy and he quite literally busted through the coop fencing and got ahold of my beautiful Golden Laced Wyandotte, she didn't stand a chance.
Now we're extremely worried because he will NOT leave the chickens alone. He keeps pacing around the fence and fixating on them.
I've trained many dogs, but this one is dead set on getting back into the coop.
He never showed aggression previously. (We did lose a few when they were at 2weeks because he houdini'd his way out of his kennel and tried to play with the chickens. Came home to him nosing the dead ones and laying next to them.)
Anyone have advice on what to do with him? (Also he is trained on an electric collar when he's hunting so electric collars are out of the question since he sees his training collar as a sign that he's about to go hunting. And rehoming is not an option, he's a good dog and listens well. It's just those darn fireworks that seem to have flipped a switch)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would recommend the e collar for a correction, otherwise keep him penned. You could also run electric fencing around the coop which should stop it once he gets a good sap.

 

[Chickiemom25]

watching for replies.. I had a stupid chicken land in the fenced yard with my healer who killed it. Got the same problem.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I've not trained hunting dogs, so someone in that category will hopefully have precise answers for you.

However, I was involved with the Guide Dogs for the Blind program for about 15 years, and am not unfamiliar with training dogs.

Your first mistake, which you now realize, was allowing your dog in the yard during the 4th. Being a hunting dog, he heard the boom and went into hunting mode. The chickens were the obvious choice.

You have to break that connection of hunting and chickens now.

I would recommend keeping in kennel and away from the birds until after all the fireworks have stopped.

For training you will be placing the dog on leash with a training collar (which used to be called a choke chain, I prefer the "martingale" which is smooth collar with chain at just the front part) You don't need the evil ones with teeth, just a good size for his size. Make sure the choke chain is positioned correctly on his neck. The chain should form a "D." Slip the collar over the dog's neck such that the collar will fall loose naturally but pull tight when the side next to you is pulled taut....meaning when he is in the natural left heel position. The chain should be able to fall immediately loose after pulling up and letting go if placed correctly on the dog.

On a calm day, on leash (and training collar) walk him by the chicken fence. He will of course fixate or possibly lunge. Shout no, Leave it (quick and sharp). At the exact same time (timing is essential in all of this), give one very quick, down and up pull on the choke chain. It is similar to playing crack the whip or the motion to snap a towel. It is a quick snap and release. To the dog it feels like something just bit him. The dog usually will look to you confused. The moment he does you verbally praise him and give him a food reward (choose a kind that he adores but in small easy to gobble bites as you want him to feel a burst of flavor but not have to take time to eat it). If the dog doesn't respond and look to you after the first quick leash correction, follow a second with a quick pop. Almost all dogs at this point will look to you. The leash must be the unseeable "leash monster." You are always the bright happy person he loves the moment he looks to you.

Walk away from the chicken fence. Walk around the yard. Talk to your dog. Pet him. Walk around a bit. Then, walk back to the chicken fence. Watch your dog. If he again fixates on the birds, give a quick snap leash correction and "Leave It." Again reward as his gaze turns to you.

If he is a smart dog, he has got the idea now. look away from the chickens and look to you....I don't get bit I get a reward. Some dogs will yawn. Sit. Look at the chickens then look back to you. Give an immediate treat reward as the dog looks at you....gazing into your eyes.

Walk away from the chickens. Walk around the yard. Walk by the chickens. Watch your dog's reaction. If he has caught on, he will look to you as soon as he gets close to the area of the chickens. He is waiting for his instructions. Immediately "jackpot" reward him by giving him 2 or 3 treats and verbal praise.

If you feel he is still receptive and it would be beneficial, do the procedure one more time. If however, you feel he may be tiring and you don't want to push your luck (never good to do), you are done for the day. Always quit on a positive note. Never push a dog to the point of failure.

Keep the dog away from the chickens. He must never be out in the yard where he can fixate on the chickens or lunge at the fence. It is best if he is kept completely away from that area until he is trustworthy again.

Repeat the leash walk for a number of days. Often, on the second or third day, the first time they will fixate. If they do, leash correct, command "Leave It," and food reward the moment they look at you.

Smart dogs get the idea to simply look at you as they go by the chicken fence. Reward that with praise "Good Boy" and a food treat. Continue practicing this routine until the dog will always look to you whenever you are by the chicken pen. It isn't a matter of days or time spent but mastery of the skill you are looking for. Some dogs are quicker than others. It may take only two or three sessions....or many sessions. It shouldn't take weeks if you are doing things correctly. If it is taking a long time, you are doing something that is confusing the dog.

Now that you can walk by the chicken fence calmly, work on recall. Use a long drag line for this procedure. Practice in an area that is not near the chickens. Get him to come immediately upon your recall. (He likely has this down pretty good from his hunting routine, but you want verbal control rather than the shock collar). Once you've perfected a good recall, by calling, pulling on drag line, food treat, until he simply comes upon verbal command, you are ready to practice by the chickens. On drag line practice in the chicken area. If he even once gazes fixated at the chickens and ignores your "Leave It," you are done for the day. Go back to leash and training collar walk bys....preferably follow up the failed drag line with one leash/collar walk by to reinforce proper behavior.

Continue practicing until on drag line the dog is faithful to "Leave It" and come get my treat. In time the dog will become comfortable walking by the birds without needing to fixate as it is clear that is "Leave It" and not mine.

My Rattie now can run through the chickens, even smaller grow outs, and kill a rat without touching the feather of a bird. I can now leave him alone (with me supervising through the window at all time) to go out and "do his business" while chickens are free ranging. I can call him off the chicks in the brooding pen, however, I wouldn't trust him a second with a free fluffy chick running.

Rat kills just this last 2 months...10. Bird kills 0.

Let us know how you do. Good luck retraining your boy. Once you've got them hunting, you will have confusion errors periodically. Never. Ever. leave a hunting dog alone with chickens. The temptation can become too much. It only take one incidence, as you've experienced, to fixate that behavior in their mind. It takes a lot of training to remove it.

 

[centrarchid]

I have trained hunting dogs. Something is more than a little off with this situation.

Leash approach as indicated above would be immediate start. Get dog under control. I am not an advocate of using shocker collars although putting one on should not be a stimulus to go on random killing spree. If anything, dog would be inclined to go after whatever you typically hunt for. When we used hunting collars they were used to stop dog from doing something in particular when we had a good handle on what the dog was doing, such as "trashing" like when tracking rabbits or deer when preferred target was raccoon. We did not use collar for stopping interest in livestock because dogs had more exposure to those and we used other methods of breaking interest in those.

 

[TalkALittle]

How do you use the ecollar? Is it just for recall? Or do you use it to reinforce all commands?

Have you ever done any "crittering" with the collar before? Put the dog on leash and start a distance away from the coop. When she starts focusing on the chickens, either use the continuous button while dialing up the stim, or give a series of nicks at increasing stim while also applying slight tension on the lead backward. Don't give any verbal cue or sound. Your dog should yield to the leash pressure and turn away from the coop. Stop stimming, engage with and praise your dog and take note of the final level of stim. Repeat the procedure but start dialing up at a stim level closer to where you ended last time. You are teaching the dog what behavior turns the stim on (focusing on chickens) and how to turn it off (ignore chickens). When the dog is no longer trying to focus on the chickens at that distance, move closer. Repeat, gradually moving closer until you can be right next to the coop and the dog shows no interest in the chickens.

At some point (when you think the dog has got it) you stop giving leash guidance to check that the dog really knows to turn away from the chickens on its own and isn't just following the leash. Then you can move to a correction level stim. This means you don't dial up anymore but instead use that higher level stim right from the start. Then you let the dog drag the leash and then finally off-leash. You haven't said anything except praise the choice to turn away because this lesson isn't about following your commands, it's about the dog learning that focusing on chickens is no longer fun. Play with your dog or walk him around the chickens so he knows that he can be near them and that it's just the predatory focus that is now unpleasant to engage in. You'll still have to monitor the dog for a while and keep the collar on him until quite a while has passed without a single incidence and you are fairly certain that he won't engage in the behavior again.