proudchickenmom
Songster
- Feb 19, 2020
- 119
- 168
- 146
I have a bit of a problem here. my chickens keep coming up to the house and pooping on our breezeway and eating my dog's food (which drives my mom crazy)! and my TJ (my dog) just sits there quietly and doesn't do anything about it
!!!!!! he is a 9 year old English shepherd and is super kind and gentle... a little too kind and gentle in this case
! today he noticed (finally) that the chickens were eating his food, so he walked over and sweetly pushed them aside so he could eat. the chickens panicked and hopped a few feet away (I watched this all through my window). I went outside, pointed to the chickens and yelled "chickens, TJ! get the chickens!" the next part is funny because TJ looked towards the sky and started looking for hawks. funnily enough, TJ ignores the chickens but will chase away any hawk that is within his visibility. LOL! on any account he keeps ignoring me and continues staring at the sky. I point again and tell him to "get the chickens!" he finally gets the idea and SLOWLY walks towards his food bowl. that was it, I ran towards the chickens and chased them back to the coop. TJ followed me and finally chased the chicken
. the only problem... he only scares them away when I tell him to. so that means I have to be outside with him for him to do it
. I want to be able to let the chickens free range, because they lay more eggs when they do, they seem happier, and because the run is devoid of any vegetation and is almost always covered in mud. but I also don't want my mom to continually keep telling me to put up the chickens and keep threatening to put all the chickens on the dinner table if they don't stop
. does anyone have any dog training tips?
!!!!!! he is a 9 year old English shepherd and is super kind and gentle... a little too kind and gentle in this case! today he noticed (finally) that the chickens were eating his food, so he walked over and sweetly pushed them aside so he could eat. the chickens panicked and hopped a few feet away (I watched this all through my window). I went outside, pointed to the chickens and yelled "chickens, TJ! get the chickens!" the next part is funny because TJ looked towards the sky and started looking for hawks. funnily enough, TJ ignores the chickens but will chase away any hawk that is within his visibility. LOL! on any account he keeps ignoring me and continues staring at the sky. I point again and tell him to "get the chickens!" he finally gets the idea and SLOWLY walks towards his food bowl. that was it, I ran towards the chickens and chased them back to the coop. TJ followed me and finally chased the chicken. the only problem... he only scares them away when I tell him to. so that means I have to be outside with him for him to do it. I want to be able to let the chickens free range, because they lay more eggs when they do, they seem happier, and because the run is devoid of any vegetation and is almost always covered in mud. but I also don't want my mom to continually keep telling me to put up the chickens and keep threatening to put all the chickens on the dinner table if they don't stop. does anyone have any dog training tips?
. I do not think he would chase the chickens even if I let him; he is too old for that and doesn't care enough to do it anyways. besides he recently seems stiff whenever he stands up, and whenever we get home after leaving the house we always catch him lying in the sun taking a nap
. putting fence around the porch is out of the picture... would look very odd
