How to train my dog

[madisonjh95]

I have a 2 year old border collie, his name is Samson, and two 18 week old pullets. My girls are not very friendly but also not very skittish. They definitely don't want me to pick them up but have no problem eating out of my hand. If Samson is lounging around the yard they will forage around him but if he moves his head a little bit they will move away pretty quickly.

The trouble I'm having is that my husband and I can be outside and let the chickens free range and play with Samson and he will act like he has no idea they're even there. He's never tried to bust into the chicken coop (he's very easy to boundary train) and has never chased them around when we're outside with them.

On the flip side, I left the door to the coop open once and he ate one chicken (that's why we only have 2). And about a week ago my husband left the door to the run open and our neighbors called saying "The chickens are out and Samson is carrying them around in his mouth." And we went out and had 2 chickens, perfectly unharmed, covered in slobber.. He was literally just carrying them around in his mouth..

So he wants to play with them when we're not around but is so good when we're there! He obviously doesn't want to hurt them but when they die I guess he gets hungry? Can I train him to leave them alone and leave them to free range when we're not outside? Has anyone else been successful with this? Should I just accept the fact that they will have to live most of their lives in the run?

 

[Sara Ranch]

Border Collies, in general, are a breed that NEED a job. Herding, protecting, etc are some of the things they do best.

I have to Pyrenees dogs. I have trained them to "protect" the animals here. When I have new animals come, I take them over to the dogs and let the dogs pick up their scent. Then I say "protect". I usually do this a few times until the dogs are not interested in sniffing the animal. I have done a lot more than just that to train them.

My dogs free range in two pastures. The chickens free range and often go into the same pasture that the dogs spend a lot fo time in.

The dogs don't attack the chickens, but will run them off IF the cows are nearby.

In the early days, the dogs would corner/round up/catch ducks and chickens that they felt had strayed from where they should be.

It takes time to train a dog. Some say up to two years. Although my dogs are well behaved and I don't worry about them around the poultry, I am still watchful and I still "redo" some of the earlier training techniques every once in a while.

 

[Duckztailz1]

Deep fry it 400 Degrees.... Oh wait we're talking about a dog.

the truth is it's not actually about training your dog to "leave it" when it comes to the chickens or to "drop it" it's about training your dog to be a well-balanced animal. that's why some people like myself don't even have to train their dogs Around their chickens, ducks, geese.

luckily for you you have the smartest dog breed.

Nothing you going to read on a form is going to give you the secret. Just watched videos on YouTube from professionals just do some due diligence and research and you'll get it. I'll explain in more detail about my training style but everybody here would probably complain.

 

[centrarchid]

I have an English Shepherd and have had 2 German Pointers but still have 1 female. All went through spell where they killed and often consumed chickens. Process had to almost start anew every time something changed. Not going after adults did not mean chicks were safe, and not going after adults and chicks did not mean juveniles are safe. Then it came to location where the English Shepherd in particular would go after chickens that were away from the poultry yard. I had to work with dogs for every change. I still cannot trust them with someone else's chickens that are not on my property. The dogs can recognize chickens that are ours versus those that are not.

Best dog to date was male German Pointer I now longer have. He learned very quickly and was a very good communicator giving information to me as much as me giving to him.

 

[chickens really]

Hello...Everyone has it wrong. He is a herding breed and when your with him he leaves the job to you. You leave he tries to control them as only a Dog can. Not his fault..He is intelligent..

 

[drumstick diva]

I see it another way - Chickens kept in a large safe, covered run can be just as happy and live longer than free ranging. A lot of folks free range so they don't have as much poo to clean up and chickens eat enough bugs and stuff to make the chicken feed bill a lot smaller. That's just my opinion

 

[drumstick diva]

PS chickens in run wouldn't prevent a good dog from running off fox, raccoons, coyotes..
Dog/dogs have a job that doesn't involve eating chickens.

 

[chickens really]

I see it another way - Chickens kept in a large safe, covered run can be just as happy and live longer than free ranging. A lot of folks free range so they don't have as much poo to clean up and chickens eat enough bugs and stuff to make the chicken feed bill a lot smaller. That's just my opinion

Well mine don't free range everywhere here because I have a Fox problem. My Dogs are trained to either watch over my Flock . One runs the perimeter and the other wrangler gets the Birds back if they do venture off..

 

[centrarchid]

Many of mine free range kept at least part of time. Many others penned most if not all of time. The free-range get kept more fun. Dogs protect all!

 

[Duckztailz1]

I see it another way - Chickens kept in a large safe, covered run can be just as happy and live longer than free ranging. A lot of folks free range so they don't have as much poo to clean up and chickens eat enough bugs and stuff to make the chicken feed bill a lot smaller. That's just my opinion

Joel salatin has proved this statement to be incorrect. Chickens that stay in one area and do not move new grass do not produce better quality eggs. I can't say for my experience either way cuz I only free range.

But if Joel salatin says jump I say how high

I have an English Shepherd and have had 2 German Pointers but still have 1 female. All went through spell where they killed and often consumed chickens. Process had to almost start anew every time something changed. Not going after adults did not mean chicks were safe, and not going after adults and chicks did not mean juveniles are safe. Then it came to location where the English Shepherd in particular would go after chickens that were away from the poultry yard. I had to work with dogs for every change. I still cannot trust them with someone else's chickens that are not on my property. The dogs can recognize chickens that are ours versus those that are not.

Best dog to date was male German Pointer I now longer have. He learned very quickly and was a very good communicator giving information to me as much as me giving to him.

I must say this as nice as I can it's not your dog's it's you. your dog's do not recognize you as the pack leader and they don't look at you for guidance. I am more than confident with the proper training in less than one month you can leave your dogs outside with your flock while you go to the grocery store! the first step is confidence that you can do this and I believe in you!!