How to introduce dogs to chicks?

[briarandwillow]

Here's how I'm doing it:

Have the chickens in a secure location that the the dogs can't get into, and the dogs on leads.

Introduce the dogs one at a time. Have treats on hand as rewards for good behavior. Some interest is fine, but if they flip over into predatory interest redirect their attention and reward them handsomely with calming pets and treats. You want them to realize it's more valuable to pay attention to you than the chickens. Take the dog away on a good note (successfully refocusing on you and earning the treat).

Repeat this with the other dog.

Repeat this with each dog a few times a day. The only chicken time they get is supervised chicken time. They only get the reward when they ignore the chickens.

Don't let them both around the chickens at the same time until they've reliably been ok with the chickens for a week or so. You want to set them up to succeed and where one dog can focus, two dogs might amp each other up with these fun new squeak toys.

Supervise, control, and shape the behavior of your dogs and you'll have a dog you can trust with them. The most important part of the whole thing is don't allow them to get into a situation they can do the wrong thing. Will it happen anyway? Probably! And that's ok. As long as you've built that foundation your dog will learn, but don't forget your dog is a predator. You want to make sure they learn that your chickens aren't prey, so try to keep them from forming that association.

I'm working on this with my puppy currently. My older dog is currently amazing with the chicks. She's been very gentle and curious, and as long as she continues that behavior I reward her for it. Puppy has a long way to go! She's learning though .

 

[Hanna710]

Yeah, I was making a joke. Accumulate means to collect and increase the number of something. I thought it was funny that someone might want to collect more dogs. Goodness knows I certainly want to!

Acclimate means to get used to slowly, which is exactly what I'd do - go slow. Take your time. Start with exposure a little bit at a time and do basic obedience work in places the chickens can be seen but not touched, like with the dog on a lead or the chickens in a pen. Reward good behavior (which is ignoring the birds) and if they start getting nosy/too interested in the birds, move further away and try again.

I will definitely try that! Goodness knows our dogs love rewards but we sadly cant get any more haha. One of the people I live with already doesn't like our dogs so more dogs is a no go or he'd flip. Our female is very motherly so I think a small bit of exposure when they are young would help. She made friends with a baby mouse Once and was really sad when we took him. She even carries around a small soft squeaky toy in the shape of a fox and we call it her baby, which is odd because she normally destroys her bigger toys.

 

[Hanna710]

Here's how I'm doing it:

Have the chickens in a secure location that the the dogs can't get into, and the dogs on leads.

Introduce the dogs one at a time. Have treats on hand as rewards for good behavior. Some interest is fine, but if they flip over into predatory interest redirect their attention and reward them handsomely with calming pets and treats. You want them to realize it's more valuable to pay attention to you than the chickens. Take the dog away on a good note (successfully refocusing on you and earning the treat).

Repeat this with the other dog.

Repeat this with each dog a few times a day. The only chicken time they get is supervised chicken time. They only get the reward when they ignore the chickens.

Don't let them both around the chickens at the same time until they've reliably been ok with the chickens for a week or so. You want to set them up to succeed and where one dog can focus, two dogs might amp each other up with these fun new squeak toys.

Supervise, control, and shape the behavior of your dogs and you'll have a dog you can trust with them. The most important part of the whole thing is don't allow them to get into a situation they can do the wrong thing. Will it happen anyway? Probably! And that's ok. As long as you've built that foundation your dog will learn, but don't forget your dog is a predator. You want to make sure they learn that your chickens aren't prey, so try to keep them from forming that association.

I'm working on this with my puppy currently. My older dog is currently amazing with the chicks. She's been very gentle and curious, and as long as she continues that behavior I reward her for it. Puppy has a long way to go! She's learning though .

Thank you for the advice! We will try that! Also, They are adorable haha.

 

[Hanna710]

Here's how I'm doing it:

Have the chickens in a secure location that the the dogs can't get into, and the dogs on leads.

Introduce the dogs one at a time. Have treats on hand as rewards for good behavior. Some interest is fine, but if they flip over into predatory interest redirect their attention and reward them handsomely with calming pets and treats. You want them to realize it's more valuable to pay attention to you than the chickens. Take the dog away on a good note (successfully refocusing on you and earning the treat).

Repeat this with the other dog.

Repeat this with each dog a few times a day. The only chicken time they get is supervised chicken time. They only get the reward when they ignore the chickens.

Don't let them both around the chickens at the same time until they've reliably been ok with the chickens for a week or so. You want to set them up to succeed and where one dog can focus, two dogs might amp each other up with these fun new squeak toys.

Supervise, control, and shape the behavior of your dogs and you'll have a dog you can trust with them. The most important part of the whole thing is don't allow them to get into a situation they can do the wrong thing. Will it happen anyway? Probably! And that's ok. As long as you've built that foundation your dog will learn, but don't forget your dog is a predator. You want to make sure they learn that your chickens aren't prey, so try to keep them from forming that association.

I'm working on this with my puppy currently. My older dog is currently amazing with the chicks. She's been very gentle and curious, and as long as she continues that behavior I reward her for it. Puppy has a long way to go! She's learning though .

Thank you for the advice! We will try that! Also, They are adorable haha.

 

[briarandwillow]

they're sweet babies! Willow just really wants to put one in her mouth!

 

[Hanna710]

they're sweet babies! Willow just really wants to put one in her mouth!

Aww, I feel like my Harley would carry one around with her like a pet if we let her

 

[aart]

Er, well to accumulate dogs first you go on craigslist and buy whole litters of puppies....

Exactly!
I was gonna say that, but asked for thread title to be corrected instead.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Hello, I'm raising my first batch of chicks soon and was wondering how I get my dogs (who have never been around many small animals) used to them from a young age? They are boxers and aren't aggressive twords other animals unless they feel threatened, and we are thinking if we introduce them young they can get used to them by the time they are older. Any tips or help?

I just always make sure that my dogs watch me taking care of the other animals and I showed them the other animals up close everyday. I am assuming that your dogs are well trained. When you start allowing the chicks to free range when they get bigger, you can take the dogs out with them but have them always leashed and do that for a couple months until you know for sure that they will not react to the chickens. I always wait till the chickens are bigger, maybe around four or five months before I let my dogs around them, because you don’t want them to accidentally get stepped on.

 

[aart]

I've trained them basic tricks and guard commands but it's my other family members who aren't persistent in training them that's the issue.

But not come, sit, stay, leave it?
Multiple peopled inconsistency is tough.

 

[Hennifer73]

I have 2 dogs 7 years old Chihuahua mixes. Both of mine were curious with chicks and so were chicks to them. I just kept introducing them to each other early on. My dogs follow commands very well though. My dogs just look at my chicks and pay them no attention and chicks used to like to get underneath my pups like a mamma hen when they were smaller. They follow my dogs around. No issues here.