How did YOU train your dog to leave chickens alone?

[Chicken girl 15]

I have 2 dogs 5 children and 18 chickens. This is our first year with chickens so it was interesting to say the least. Dogs much like kids find anything new of great interest. I did the look but no touch method. First from across the room then a little closer each day. The dogs got removed from the room each time they wanted to taste a chick. After day 2 our 9 year old rottweiler decided snuggling with the chicks would be fun. Today he still naps with them. It took our 3 year old dingo looking type dog until, well still no progress. We got chicks for Easter and he still wants to eat them. He's leash bound for now.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Kaitbray,

Yep the basic training method you quoted should work with most any dog. It has work for us with a pack 5 dogs and some very excitable puppies. And, heck we have been doing this for a really long time with many different dogs. Honestly the training is really just straightforward dog training. You just need to train and train and train until the dog understands. Some dogs just take a bit longer but the payoff is well worth it.

Jim

 

[kaitbray]

Kaitbray,

Yep the basic training method you quoted should work with most any dog. It has work for us with a pack 5 dogs and some very excitable puppies. And, heck we have been doing this for a really long time with many different dogs. Honestly the training is really just straightforward dog training. You just need to train and train and train until the dog understands. Some dogs just take a bit longer but the payoff is well worth it.

Jim

Well I am going to try best to stay patient , committed and consistent. I have had family dogs all my life but never a "working" dog so I never imagined how much work it really is to completely train a dog, but I think it will really be worth it for us .

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Kait,

Good luck and LOVE your dog. They mean well. They just get confused.

Jim

 

[skeezix05]

This is good to hear.. We have two Rottweilers and a Mt View cur. We rotate who is outside chickens/dogs. The chickens have a pen but I "part time" free range because of the dogs. My female chased a golden comet and she later died. The poor chicken had no markings on her so I'm not sure what happened. Believe it or not, the treeing dog (MV Cur) I think is the best behaved dog with the chickens. But I wouldn't turn my back on him. Then comes my male Rottweiler who just wants to please. Then my very high drive female Rottweiler that was involved in the poor chicken that died. So right now I rotate until I can start training. From which it sounds on here is possible to do. This is so good to hear.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

This is good to hear.. We have two Rottweilers and a Mt View cur. We rotate who is outside chickens/dogs. The chickens have a pen but I "part time" free range because of the dogs. My female chased a golden comet and she later died. The poor chicken had no markings on her so I'm not sure what happened. Believe it or not, the treeing dog (MV Cur) I think is the best behaved dog with the chickens. But I wouldn't turn my back on him. Then comes my male Rottweiler who just wants to please. Then my very high drive female Rottweiler that was involved in the poor chicken that died. So right now I rotate until I can start training. From which it sounds on here is possible to do. This is so good to hear.

leashes and verbal praise along with lots of petting and treats works well. Daily get the dogs a bit closer to the chickens until the can coexist. My rottweiler sleeps with the chicks. Love for them all is key , it gives you the drive to make it work.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use my trusty blue plastic feed scoop, when they are pups, if the chase the poultry it flies in their direction, works like a shaker can, repeat daily until they see the scoop and think better, it has worked for all except a boxer who really has been a killer of poultry, taking them when no one is watching, I eventually had to use a shock collar on her after she had killed a couple, and mangled a couple, I put it on her took her to chicken and shocked her, needed to do this twice, so far she hasn't even looked at any poultry and leaves the area if there is a commotion, it has been since last year, I hated doing this, but it was the only thing that would work with this particular dog.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Oh for sure a shock collar is on my list of things to buy my puppy for Christmas. He's sweet but a runner. He loves to "play" with the chickens but I'm afraid he might make a snack of one.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Oh for sure a shock collar is on my list of things to buy my puppy for Christmas. He's sweet but a runner. He loves to "play" with the chickens but I'm afraid he might make a snack of one.

I got mine off of amazon. There are lots of different ones to choose from, but I highly recommend going with a model like sportdog or dogtra where you can change the intensity level. Every dog is different and some of the cheaper models have a one shock fits all feature, which is not really good for diverse training. For aversion training (where the dog is really aroused) you may need a higher level, but for other types of training (like reinforcing a recall) a very low stimulation (if any at all) is usually all that is needed.

I got a sportdog 350 for $150. I've been very happy with it so far.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My dog would sit on the porch with her head hanging down with the collar on, that's why I had to wait to catch her, then apply it and take her out to the injured bird, so be aware that it could be a long term use thing depending on how you intend to use it.