How can I train my dog not to chase my chickens?

[Lacy Duckwing]

On Sunday, I finally got a dog. His name is Sterling and he is a Lab/Husky mix. I have six hens who are most of the time in their coop and run. I don't think that Sterling would purposely eat my hens, but I am concerned that he'd try chasing them to play with, then accidentally hurt or kill them. How can I train him not to chase/play with them (without losing any of them)? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

How old is Sterling? Have you introduced him to your chickens yet? If so, what was his reaction?

 

[cmobley]

Put a shock collar on him when he chases zap him.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

How old is Sterling? Have you introduced him to your chickens yet? If so, what was his reaction?

Sterling is 2.5 years old. I introduced him to my chickens last night. They were supposed to be roosting, but for whatever reason, they were still up when I brought him over to them. They were in their run (winterized) when I brought him in. He appeared to want to eat the chickens poop more than even noticing them. So he was ok around them until they started clucking. The clucking got him excited so he tried going after them. I held tightly to his harness so he couldn't get them. He almost got Rocky my Golden Comet. Rocky was doing most of the clucking which was getting him super excited. Princess my Buff Brahma was quiet and walked slowly around, so Sterling never even noticed her. After they all roosted, I put Sterling outside of the coop and closed the door. He didn't really try coming back in except for wanting to be with me when I put him out.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Put a shock collar on him when he chases zap him.

Do shock collars really work? Everytime I see one being used, it never seems to work.

 

[Kiki]

Do shock collars really work? Everytime I see one being used, it never seems to work.

They have to be used at the right exact time.



How many hours a day do you plan on spending to train your dog?

My suggestion is do not introduce the dog to the chickens at all.

 

[cmobley]

It does if you use it right. And reinforce the message your trying to give with a treat after it turns away from chasing. Give and audible beep command before shock soon all you give in audible.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

They have to be used at the right exact time.

Oh. I don't know if I'd want to use something like that.

How many hours a day do you plan on spending to train your dog?

Don't know. I could have all day to a couple of minutes to train him.

My suggestion is do not introduce the dog to the chickens at all.

Oh. Even without me introducing him to them, he'll most likely see them around during the day. Especially when they move into a non winterized run.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

It does if you use it right. And reinforce the message your trying to give with a treat after it turns away from chasing. Give and audible beep command before shock soon all you give in audible.

Ok. I also don't know if my Mom will approve of one.

 

[Isadora]

The trick with the shock collar is you're supposed to use it right before they start doing the behavior. So for example, if you see him staring at your birds and you can tell he's about to rush at them you shock him right then and snap him out of it (I wouldn't recommend bringing him directly into the chicken pen because that can be too stimulating). It can be totally counterproductive to shock him if he's already in the act of doing the bad thing. If you are concerned about using the shock collar, they also have a vibrator collar (I think it's called an e-collar) which is a similar principle, but you don't have to worry about actually hurting the dog physically as it only vibrates. It still has the startle aspect which stops them from doing the bad behavior in the first place, but like the other poster said, you have to use it properly or it won't work. I have seen Cesar Milan use this in his videos on YouTube and it explains it very well to see it in action.