how do i get my dog to stop chasing my poultry?

[farm girl]

How do I get my dog to stop chasing my chickens and ducks. I have 4 dogs. 2 are trained and 2 are not trained. The 2 that are not trained are different breeds. 1 is a shibu inu ( very hyper ). The other is a lab and hound mix ( very large dog:100 lbs.). I had a duck a few years ago and it was a mallard duck. The door in the pen got open and the lab hound mix ( Lucky) got her and ripped her back into shreds (never will forget). The duck was very friendly w/ humans. I don't know how to train my other 2 dogs to not mess w/ my chickens and ducks. The way I trained the other 2 dogs (very low energy) was that I walked them on a leash until they got used to the poultry and realized that they were family. This way won't work for the other 2 dogs. I already tried it. It took forever and didn't even work.

Also i don't want to tie or put them in pin.

How do I train my lab mix and my shibu inu?

 

[Tigertrea]

My dogs just are not allowed to be loose in the yard unsupervised. I know I cannot totally trust my Huskies therefore I will never allow a situation where something can happen. I don't have a fenced yard at all. I do plan on fencing an area for the dog. It will be 6' high with a fully covered with cement blocks around the perimeter to prevent digging out. Still, she will not be unsupervised when the chickens free range just in case they range close to her pen.

Unless I have a dog raised from a pup and from a flock protecting line I will not trust my dogs 100% with my birds.

 

[Aeropennchick]

I agree. We are doing a lot of training with our dogs, and my coon hound is the worst. We put the coop outside the invisible fence so the chickens can easily get away from the dogs. We used a spray bottle with apple cider vinegar mixed in when the chicks were in the house in the brooder, and a combination of leash and shock collar training when the chicks were out of the brooder.

My coon hound did manage to tackle a chicken that crossed the invisible fence line yesterday, pinned her and licked her armpit. I was standing right beside them. She had been behaving very well for the last few weeks, so I hadn't put her remote shock collar on. The chicken wasn't hurt, but if I hadn't been standing there...so we are back to the shock collar for safety.

Good luck! Here's one of her behaving to give you some encouragement:

 

[dainerra]

you started off on the right track, but didn't let the dogs know what you wanted from them! Are they supposed to just guess?

Start again with the dogs on leash. When the dog shows interest in the chickens say "leave it" Reward the dog (something super tasty they only get for this job!). If the dog ignores you and keeps looking at the birds, give a leash pop and reward the dog for looking at you. When they are reliable from far away, move a little closer and begin again.
The important factor is to insure that the dogs have ZERO access to the birds when they aren't training with you.

Yes it does take time, but it pays off in the long run. Even once my dogs are reliable, I never leave them out alone with the birds. Dogs are animals. Chickens are smaller animals. It only takes a split second for someone to end up dead.

 

[mawmaw11]

thanks for the good info...I am concerned about my Golden harassing my new chicks even though she will be in a fenced area close to the coop. I have heard that a barking dog can cause chickens to have a heart attack..is that true?

 

[chicks2012]

you started off on the right track, but didn't let the dogs know what you wanted from them! Are they supposed to just guess?
Start again with the dogs on leash. When the dog shows interest in the chickens say "leave it" Reward the dog (something super tasty they only get for this job!). If the dog ignores you and keeps looking at the birds, give a leash pop and reward the dog for looking at you. When they are reliable from far away, move a little closer and begin again.
The important factor is to insure that the dogs have ZERO access to the birds when they aren't training with you.
Yes it does take time, but it pays off in the long run. Even once my dogs are reliable, I never leave them out alone with the birds. Dogs are animals. Chickens are smaller animals. It only takes a split second for someone to end up dead.

Very good advice. Spend 30 minutes everyday and leash train the dog until they learn and follow your commands. Search for video tips on dog training.Here is an example of a video library.

 

[farm girl]

no, that is not true ( to : mowmow11 )

 

[BackyardBreeder]

Well, my friend has hunting dogs, and he has chickens. He has them in shock collars. He walked them through a yard full of chickens, and when one went for a chicken, he buzzed them and said "No Bird!" The dogs now do not care about chickens in the least.

 

[Aeropennchick]

I use the shock collar method also, but properly training a dog with a shock collar is very time consuming. Do it wrong, and you will have a terrified dog. Just a thought!

 

[SkyWarrior]

Keep the dog and the poultry separated.

Dogs are predators.

Poultry is prey.

Keep either your dog or your poultry behind a fence.