Is there a way to train a grown dog not to chase chickens?

[Germaine_11.20]

Hi,
I have a large standard poodle that loves to pounce around the chicken coop.
She will stay there all day and watch and run around. I have no idea if she would hurt them if they were out, but I do know she would chase them. She chases the kittens too, but never hurts them.
I would love to let the chickens out to run around other than in their run, but I don't know what to do about my dog.
Would a muzzle work? Has anyone ever tried to train a dog who isn't a puppy to leave the chickens alone?
She is a little over a year. Is there hope?
Thanks!

 

[al6517]

An electric shock collar will work wonders and is humane, if you see him chasing chickens or cats or whatever, just press a button on a remote and send him a little electrical reminder that this is unexceptable. Poodles are kinda smart I guess so it should learn quick.

AL

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Oh, I was just looking at those yesterday! I wondered if it might work.
Thank you I think I will do that. And yes she is smart. But she is very ADHD when it comes to chasing the birds around the pen.
Any other ideas are welcome too. I really want to fix this problem and am willing to try other options too.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
I have used mine mainly to train hunting dogs, but they can be effective for other problems like yours, Barking,chasing, jumping,chewing any bad behavior. Now when you buy one be very carefull to set the shock level low at first, check this by watching the dog's eyes after you apply the dose, if he blinks it's working. Then you want to increase it in small increments until it looks like he is a little uncomfortable, that is your training setting. after he learns have him wear a dummy collar that looks and feels like the real thing but doesn't shock, this will keep him straight.

AL

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thank you Al.

I will do that. I am going to go look for one today.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Al, How long do I need to practice the collar discipline before I let a hen out and shock her if she chases it? Should I also have her on a lease or muzzled?
Thanks!

 

[al6517]

Once you have the collar on and set, put her on a leash and let the hens out, you can start right away no problem, after just a little while (a few hrs) you can take her off leash, and continue the training.

AL

 

[Germaine_11.20]

You are great, thank you Al!

 

[Dana]

I also recommend using an electric collar. My family recently adopted a five year old sheltie, and when we got her she was a squirrel chaser, and would lunge and bark at the chickens through their fence whenever she saw them. This was last winter, so I wasn't letting the chickens out to free range yet, but there was obviously going to be a problem when spring came.

So we got the collar, and set her up so that she got a strong shock just as she lunged at a chicken. I don't think we ended up needing to repeat the lesson, she acted afraid of the chickens for a while after that, and now she just ignores them. We've had more difficulty breaking her squirrel chasing habit, but that's much better now, and she hasn't worn the collar for quite a while. Even though she wasn't chasing the chickens, she still wasn't well behaved in other ways, so we made sure she wore the collar around them for a while afterward to be safe.

If you can, try to keep your dog from associating the shock with you or the collar, you might even want to hide behind something so your dog doesn't see you. If it's smart it might think it can get away with chasing if you're not around. I wouldn't recommend testing the collar on the dog when it's not misbehaving, you want the dog to think that the shock only happens when it chases. Also don't use the collar too soon after you put it on for the first time, let the dog get used to it for a while first, and forget that it's there.

I also suggest that the first time you try this out, it's either through a fence or with the dog on a leash, for the chicken's safety and to not mess up the training in case the collar doesn't work.

I think it's great that you want to do something to enable your dog and chickens to peacefully co-exist.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Yet another vote for shock collar. We used one to train all three of our dogs. Keep the dog on a leash WITH the shock collar when you have the dog around the chickens. That way if at least one fails, the chickens are still safe.

-Kim