how to train a guard dog to leave the birds alone?

[flaming007]

He follows me all over outside unless he is eating. We have a good bond starting. Every time he comes when I say come and then I pet him abunch and he seems 2 like that a lot. How do I know he has bonded with the birds?

 

[watchdogps]

Ok, keep working with him, and dont allow him loose with the birds unsupervised. It may be several more months yet. Not even with the africans.
Some people say the dogs dont bond with birds. I'm not so sure, but I think they often do it in a different way than they do with mammals. They dont get close and personal, but they are relaxed around each other and the dog may seem to ignore the birds, but you will see the relationship only if there is a percieved threat. Then the dog will take action and guard the birds you thought he didnt care about.

 

[Mzyla]

I forgot to mention;
When training a dog, always keep SCHEDULE
This works not only with dogs, but with every other animal.
Do the same things consistently day after day.
This way his behaviour will be noticeably improwing, because he will know what time is eating, what time is guarding, what time is petting, etc....

One little example:
My Great Pyrenees hate to be lock up in kennel or tied down on a rope.
but, every Saturday I'm leaving for grocery shopping and God only knows who may come during that time and what may happen.
As a safety precaution, I'm confining the dogs. They know already that mommy will be gone for 2 hrs. and will bring them a treat
They sitting in a kennel patiently, they not trying to escape or anything...

 

[Beekissed]

So far you've trained him to come to you...and you've had him for 3 1/2 months. I don't mean for this to sound doubtful, but that's an awful long time to only accomplish one command. Maybe you need to work with him a lot more?

Even if you don't have much time, a good 15-20 min. per day is adequate training time for a pup.

 

[flaming007]

What els do I need to train him to do? I spend about a half hr a day having him with the birds and watching how he acts around them. He has come a long way and he is fairly young

 

[Beekissed]

It's very important to have basic commands like down, drop it, sit, stay, no and even how to walk properly on a leash without pulling you everywhere. All of these may sound unimportant, but it establishes a working language between you and the dog. He needs to always be looking to you for what to expect in uncertain situations and be used to taking commands easily and without hesitation.

Working with livestock is a nerve wracking job for a dog, particularly a young one. There is always flapping, squawking, running, baa-ing(if you have sheep/goats), fighting, and fleeing going on and a dog has to know what to do in those situations, even when you aren't there.

If you can work with him on what to do when these common things happen he will be better able to control himself when it occurs when he is on his own. Good dogs are intelligent enough to remember conditioning and to remain calm if they have learned to do so during these times with you....say the chickens are running and squawking while you are both there and he starts to go alert to the chickens and tenses like he will start to chase along~this is something you can teach him to stop and keep his focus on the source of the disturbance instead of the chickens themselves. If the source IS the chickens, then this would be something you can ignore...and he will learn to also as he works with you. It the source is a predator, your very stance and alertness will convey to him that this is more important than the noise and movement of the chickens and must be investigated and stopped....by you and by him as he goes along with you.

That close work with the chickens/livestock will yield you better results than to expect a barely trained dog to just be a "natural" and to know what to do when all he wants to do is join in the fun of chasing fluffy things and pinning them to the ground. He needs to know what you expect at all times and in any given situation....this type of bonding takes time and work if he is a slower learner~ and not much time if he learns quickly.

The final test is to leave them alone but observe them from a hidden location..but only after you have seen him respond well to all your training. By that time you should know your dog so well that you know exactly what he plans to do by his body language and you can pop out the door and intervene if he looks like he is about to break training while you are out of his sight. This also gives him the feeling/knowledge that you are always watching....heck, my 5 yr. old dog still looks at the house before he does something sneaky, like digging in the yard!