help training dog

[TheMrsBird]

we have a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix who is usually sufficiently well behaved. Unfortunately, she has a bit of a prey drive. I had hoped it wouldn't be too much of an issue between the fact that she has adapted well to our other small animals (cats & a bunny) and the confinement of the chicken run. Unfortunately, she has been pawing at the run itself anytime the chickies are out there.

So-any tips/thoughts on changing that behavior? I would love to figure out how to convince her that the chickens are part of the family too but I'd settle for her just not constantly trying to make them into her dinner.

 

[MGG]

we have a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix who is usually sufficiently well behaved. Unfortunately, she has a bit of a prey drive. I had hoped it wouldn't be too much of an issue between the fact that she has adapted well to our other small animals (cats & a bunny) and the confinement of the chicken run. Unfortunately, she has been pawing at the run itself anytime the chickies are out there.

So-any tips/thoughts on changing that behavior? I would love to figure out how to convince her that the chickens are part of the family too but I'd settle for her just not constantly trying to make them into her dinner.

Well, I use a whip from the beginning. I don't beat them, but a good snap always gets the point across. I just got a puppy, a yellow lab, who is a very driven retriever. She knows the birds are mine though. When she was about 10 weeks old I put her on a cable and got out a chicken. I sat it down near her. She tried to grab it, and i ran after her with the whip. She didn't know she was on the cable. When she got to the end, I cracked her and yelled at her. Then I walked her back over by the chicken, say her down, and I petted the chicken. She sniffed it a lot, but left it alone. Then I got out the rest of the chickens and let her see all of them while saying "leave it". After a week or so of that she was safe to be around them off of the cable and has never gone after any of the birds since. She understands they're mine. Sometimes discipline is an act of love. You just have to know how to do it. I've taught her to respect me. If your dog knows you'll punish him (or her) for going after them and has some fear of you, he'll respect you and love you much more. Dogs need a pack leader, and that should always be their owner. They're constantly lookimg for guidance.

 

[RiverOtter]

Basic obedience training helps more than people think, because it teaches a dog to focus on YOU.

So, start with basic training. Then, when the dog is getting the concept that your voice is a thing that must be paid attention to, teach the command "Leave It"
Leave It means; take your attention away from whatever has it and focus on ME.

You teach this by putting the dog on a leash and bring her just close enough to the chickens she'll want to look at them. Yes, you are going to correct *looking*.

When she looks, you are going to say "Rover! Leave It!", snap the leash and turn and walk away. And when I say walk away, I mean GO, like you are late at the airport.
When she looks at you, you are going to praise and praise. Ten practice a couple of other things, like Down or Sit, or tricks, whatever. Then, you are going to walk her back to the chickens until she focuses on them, and repeat, until she understands the right response to chickens is to turn and look at you for instructions.

 

[TheMrsBird]

Basic obedience training helps more than people think, because it teaches a dog to focus on YOU.

So, start with basic training. Then, when the dog is getting the concept that your voice is a thing that must be paid attention to, teach the command "Leave It"
Leave It means; take your attention away from whatever has it and focus on ME.

You teach this by putting the dog on a leash and bring her just close enough to the chickens she'll want to look at them. Yes, you are going to correct *looking*.

When she looks, you are going to say "Rover! Leave It!", snap the leash and turn and walk away. And when I say walk away, I mean GO, like you are late at the airport.
When she looks at you, you are going to praise and praise. Ten practice a couple of other things, like Down or Sit, or tricks, whatever. Then, you are going to walk her back to the chickens until she focuses on them, and repeat, until she understands the right response to chickens is to turn and look at you for instructions.

This is what I was looking for. She has been trained (though we admittedly don't work with her as much as we should), but this will work well with the commands & basics she already has.

The big thing I was lost on was "how much attention on the chickens is too much" & if I'm reading you correctly, anything other than focused on us is too much. So that gives us a great starting point. Though instead of "leave it" hers is "off"-she knows that means to stop whatever she's doing & come focus on us because it was not what she was supposed to be doing...

 

[TheMrsBird]

I just didn't know if there was a different/better way to acclimate or train them with chickens since this is a bit different than stealing food off the counters or getting a bit too loud and aggressive with our FedEx delivery driver...though I guess to her they're all snacks...so maybe not that different.

 

[RiverOtter]

About timing: dogs are fairly transparent. If they're looking at something, they're thinking about that thing.
If their ears prick, they're thinking about chasing it.
If the muscles in their shoulders tense, they're about to chase it.

By the time they're actually chasing it, you've missed at least three chances to disrupt that chain of thought. And frankly, any correction you give then has to be strong enough to break through the adrenaline/excitement/focus of prey response - and that's pretty strong. My DDs dog midchase will not even flinch at a shock collar setting that would have her yelping and would be downright mean if DD used that same correction when the dog first turned her attention to the forbidden. (Can you tell I've been working with both of them?)

So, it's easier, more effective and even kinder to go old testament and punish impure thoughts. And if they're looking....

 

[BookThief]

There are many different ways to train a dog. I have been learning to become a balanced dog trainer myself and follow the work of Tom Davis, Jason Vasconi, among others. I was able to teach my pit bull mix with high prey drive to leave my chickens alone within a minute. But what you want depends on how comfortable you are using certain equipment. I do work on my dog's obedience quite a bit too, and I made sure my dog knows the "leave it" command very well. You could probably use a slip lead/slip collar, or a martin gale collar, set high up on the neck. I personally used a herm springer prong collar, since studies showed it to be the safest piece of training equipment. I walked my dog near the run, the moment my dog made the slightest move towards my chickens, I gave the "leave it" command and along with a very slight correction. He can now be in the run with me, no leash or collar on and he leaves the chickens alone. But good obedience is the key.

 

[tribalacres]

These are amazing tips. I just Got an Anatolian Shepherd for the farm and wow these tips are gonna help me. She’s six months old and we’ve had her for three days, and man, what a challenge but these are helpful. Thank you to the Original Poster for asking!