How to train dog to enjoy chickens?

[ChickenDoDoDo]

Hello!

I am new to the chicken world. But I have a 4 Year old Shepherd Husky, she is amazing and she listens so well, runs the property.

We recently got into chickens and I really want to get a few ducks as we have a huge pond.

It seems birds are my dogs weakness and she cannot contain herself when they are out and chases and trys to stomp them..

Looking for advice or tips on how I can train her to not chase the birds because I really want to be able to have the ducks wonder about!

Pic of her, just cause shes so sweet

 

[muddy75]

@The Dawg

 

[EverythingDucks]

Shes adorable!

Huskies are known to have a high prey drive and attack chickens, so this may be difficult.
Whenever you take her out by the chickens, keep her on a leash. Bring some of her favorite treats. Boiled chicken is often a favorite for most dogs, and works well.
Don't have her go too close at first, you want her to be able to focus on you, and only you. Make her do a simple command, like "sit", and reward her when she does this and looks at you. Keep doing this as you get a bit closer to where the Chickens are. If you need to, keep the Chickens in their run while starting this.
The goal is to be right next to the Chickens and still have her focusing on you rather than the Chickens.

Do this a few times a day for short amount of times. The key is to take baby steps and reward heavily for everything little thing she does right.

It will help to exercise her a bit first so she doesn't have so much spent up energy.

If she lunges or barks at them say "No", back away from the Chickens with her, and start over only she ignores them completely. Only then can you start moving closer a bit. Keep these training sessions short and fun though.

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

 

[cassie]

In my experience neither a Husky nor a Malamute can be trained to be reliable around poultry. Or livestock in general. Trying to do so is an exercise in futility. The best you can do is to get the dog to leave them alone while you are present, but once you are out of sight, all bets are off. A lot of dogs can be trained to leave the chickens alone, but a Husky is not one of them. To the Husky, chasing/catching/killing poultry is the most fun he can have. Nothing else comes close. Huskies and Malamutes are wonderful dogs in many ways, but the only way to keep them if you have poultry or livestock is to have a strong secure fence so the dog can't get at them.