How to train puppies to not chase chickens?

[Rachel Hanlon]

Hi! I have 3 dogs:
A 14 year old lab (he does great with chickens could care less about them)

And almost 3 & 2 year old shihtzus the 3 year old loves birds so when it comes to my 11 week old chicks he just wants to chase them or if I hold him next to the chicken he licks his lips.

The 2 year old is/isn't obsessed with them he was doing very good off leash for about 15 minutes I turned around and he tried to bite their feathers.

Do you have any suggestions on how I should train them to be friendly around them or just to ignore them? I want to be able to not freak out if the puppies accidentally get out back while chickens are free ranging.

 

[PD-Riverman]

By Being Firm, Real Firm. I broke a chicken Killing 2 year old Pitt Bull(mine), after he killed probably 100 from different locations---26 the last time---that's when he got caught by my neighbor---in the pen with dead chickens every where. In one day he never wanted another chicken and I could lock him in the pen with the chickens----never touched another one----became their protector for the next 9 years of his life. FIRM----"That's all I got to say about that"!!

 

[lazy gardener]

My JRT mix dog loved to see chickens run. I got her as a pup Feb 2016. She was ok with them on any given day, until she simply had to run, and got great pleasure out of seeing them scatter. This dog is super head strong. She wouldn't even come when called, unless she saw benefit in the coming... like a treat. I bought a behavior training collar with remote control this spring. It cost all of $29.oo. It has a beep mode, a vibrate mode, and a shock mode, with variable settings. It only took 2 shocks when she decided to chase chickens before she decided that was not the thing to do. I have also used it in vibrate or beep mode to train her to come. She now comes with 95% compliance. She has also benefitted from this collar in learning not to jump up on people and not to steal things (gloves, hats, socks... etc. ) that don't belong to her. I only use shock mode for chicken chasing. She also has an E-collar to keep her in the yard. This has literally been a life savior for her. She has a strong drive to chase, and would chase any small animal, bird or car. The E-collar makes it possible to allow her to satisfy her need to run, without being tethered to a leash. She knows her limits, and won't cross them, even if not wearing her E-collar unless she is wearing her red "go for a ride or a walk" collar and her leash.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

You have grown dogs, not puppies. My best advice follows. It's not gospel.

Do not try to train your current dogs to "be nice" around the chickens. Don't let your dogs anywhere near the chickens unsupervised at any time. If you wish to use a shock collar, ok. Train the dogs to stay as far from the chickens as they can possibly stay at all times. Even if you never see the dogs messing with the chickens, never trust them to act the same way if you are not present. Firmly implant the idea in each dog's mind that chickens are terrible, evil, painful animals. Reinforce that idea often. Your current dogs are breeds that I'd never trust completely around them.

If you ever get a puppy from a livestock guardian lineage, follow the recommendations of the breeder to train that puppy. That's a whole different situation.