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

[PippinTheChicken]

Spray the dog with water if you catch them chasing the chickens; keep an eye on him whenever he goes out in the garden. To introduce him to them, take him for a long walk to tire him out and keep him on the leash when he meets them

 

[orloffer]

Congratulations on your new dog!
I am by no means an expert, but for conditioning Sterling to chickens I would start by working a lot on eye contact, settling calmly, and "leave it". Eye contact so that your dog learns to find looking at you reinforcing (and not looking at the chickens), settling calmly to give the dog a calm, desirable behavior to do (it is also incompatible with chasing chickens), and "leave it" to get the dog to come or turn away from distractions (the chickens). I really like the videos by dog trainer Emily Larlham on Youtube. Her channel is called Kikopup, and her videos are informative and sensible. Here are links to her videos on the aforementioned behaviors, in case you are interested:

- Eye contact with the attention noise
- Calm settle for dogs and puppies, and similarly this one: Capturing and building calmness
- "Leave it" videos by Kikopup

And she also has a video on how to train a reliable recall (coming away from distractions) using positive reinforcement: How is it possible to use positive reinforcement to train a RELIABLE recall? Here is the first paragraph of the video description, to give you an idea of her approach:

"This video goes over the concept of how it is possible to train come when called using Positive Reinforcement. The key is proactive training and behavior modification where you set up training sessions so the dog can succeed step by step as criteria is raised. I talk about how it’s not so much about proofing a recall with things that make your dog excited as much as taking the time to teach your dog to be calm confident and have self-control around the things that make him excited. When you achieve that you can imagine that a recall is really easy for a dog to do in that situation. I use the example of wildlife in this video but the same holds true for anything that excites your dog. I then talk about how beneficial it is to teach your dog the concept that access to the environment and what he wants to do most is contingent on listening to you so that your dog isn’t feeling punished when being recalled to you when what he was doing was more reinforcing than what you have on your person."

I believe that it is better to use prevention and work with a dog in such small steps that it never has the opportunity to do the wrong thing (in other words, set the dog up for success), rather than using aversive techniques or just waiting to see what happens in a new situation. But anyways, I wish you lots of luck with your dog training, whatever methods you decide to use!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Used properly, e collars DO NOT cause “devastating anxiety” or scare them or any of that bull and they’re definitely not inhumane. They also don’t teach the dog to fear chickens or fear being outside. If the dog is afraid to go outside or is terrified, you are USING IT WRONG.

You’re not supposed to just slap it on and turn it up to 100 and start zapping the snot out of them. You have to train it like with anything else and teach them the rules and how to turn it off. You also usually USE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT ALONG WITH IT.

Most dogs are extremely excited to have it on since they get to work or go somewhere. But if they were scared or anything, the stimulation level would be lowered and/or training would start over. A lot of dogs don’t even need the actual stimulation after the first time or few and just use the beep or vibrate.

The collar is also supposed to eventually be phased out. It’s a training tool like anything else. Positive reinforcement is great and I always try to use that first and as much as possible but sometimes it’s not enough.

Like with my last dog when he used to run circles around and lunge at the chicken run. I was able to get him to stop when I was there using positive reinforcement but as soon as he thought that I wasn’t looking, he would start up again.

The collar worked great for that situation, and frankly was necessary, because he only did it when I was inside so I couldn’t fix it. It only took a few times to basically just remind him/teach him that I am still there and still watching even if you can’t see me and the rules still apply haha then he was amazing with them after and didn’t need it anymore.

 

[Chicalina]

Congratulations on your new dog!
I am by no means an expert, but for conditioning Sterling to chickens I would start by working a lot on eye contact, settling calmly, and "leave it". Eye contact so that your dog learns to find looking at you reinforcing (and not looking at the chickens), settling calmly to give the dog a calm, desirable behavior to do (it is also incompatible with chasing chickens), and "leave it" to get the dog to come or turn away from distractions (the chickens). I really like the videos by dog trainer Emily Larlham on Youtube. Her channel is called Kikopup, and her videos are informative and sensible. Here are links to her videos on the aforementioned behaviors, in case you are interested:

- Eye contact with the attention noise
- Calm settle for dogs and puppies, and similarly this one: Capturing and building calmness
- "Leave it" videos by Kikopup

And she also has a video on how to train a reliable recall (coming away from distractions) using positive reinforcement: How is it possible to use positive reinforcement to train a RELIABLE recall? Here is the first paragraph of the video description, to give you an idea of her approach:

"This video goes over the concept of how it is possible to train come when called using Positive Reinforcement. The key is proactive training and behavior modification where you set up training sessions so the dog can succeed step by step as criteria is raised. I talk about how it’s not so much about proofing a recall with things that make your dog excited as much as taking the time to teach your dog to be calm confident and have self-control around the things that make him excited. When you achieve that you can imagine that a recall is really easy for a dog to do in that situation. I use the example of wildlife in this video but the same holds true for anything that excites your dog. I then talk about how beneficial it is to teach your dog the concept that access to the environment and what he wants to do most is contingent on listening to you so that your dog isn’t feeling punished when being recalled to you when what he was doing was more reinforcing than what you have on your person."

I believe that it is better to use prevention and work with a dog in such small steps that it never has the opportunity to do the wrong thing (in other words, set the dog up for success), rather than using aversive techniques or just waiting to see what happens in a new situation. But anyways, I wish you lots of luck with your dog training, whatever methods you decide to use!

What a lovely post!

There is indeed a kind and humane way of training dogs (and roosters!) and much better than methods based on punishment/aversion.