my dog did it and this time it was brutal!!

[TheSitcomGirls]

When she was about a year old my dog caught and then plucked the feathers out of a neighbor's chicken who wandered into our yard. I caught her before she killed it. I told her to put it down and I took it away. Same thing I do when she catches anything (or she eats it...ew). She needed to learn not to chase chickens to begin with...chickens are NOT PREY! She has a pretty high prey drive. She is 5 now and I have had my own chickens for about a year and a half. Below is group #3.

Dogs don't think like people..."If chase the bird and catch it then Mommy will yell at me so I should not chase the bird because then I will get in trouble."

They think, "Bird, get it chase the bird, oh boy." Dogs live in the moment.

In order to get a dog to understand not to do something you have to catch it at the point when they are only thinking about it. Once a dog has a chicken in their mouth they are no longer thinking about chasing it. That moment is over.

I trust my dog 100%. It took a lot of training....every day...for an hour or so when my first group of four chickens were peeps. I taught my dog not to stare at the chickens and to look away if I held one up to her face.

I agree with Dainerra about the leash....that is how I started with my dog. Also....try giving your dog some good hard exercise...a tired dog is a good dog.

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
That worked on Ginger our blue healer.... Has never touched another and can be left alone with them.

 

[lucky10]

Well to get dogs to stop eating your chickens, you can tie the dead chicken to their collar. If you tie the chicken they killed to their collar for about a week and scold at them every time you see them, they will never kill a chicken again in their life. I have never done this but a friend has. They just had the dog sleep on the porch at night and never come into the house so that it didn't stink up the house.

 

[crayon]

same kinda thing happened to us yesterday- Our pointer got our lovely hen (our very fave!) Same thing- broke the neck, took out a few feathers then laid it on the walk for us to see. I locked him in his crate- HE HATES THAT! But I fear now that he has gotten the taste of chicken he will kill another one if they escape.

My mom told me it doesn't have to be the chicken they kill (tied around the neck) it can be just a piece of store bought chicken. I really do not want to try- but if he gets another one- I WILL!

I replaced her with 12 more- just in case! I ordered from Meyer Hatchery last night- they have a good stock currently and I didn't see any minimums.

 

[paperdragonfarm]

Some dogs are really smart and really care what you, their pack leader, think of them. It's these dogs that smacking with chickens will work on, they're smart enough to translate from human to dog and actually care about the message. I had a dog like this growing up, the kind of dog you can send your 8 year old into the woods with and feel perfectly safe. Now I have dogs whose grasp of human is...less stellar. So I've had to learn more training because what I thought worked, doesn't in this situation. I don't know if this dog can be trained not to hurt chickens, sadly you'll need to experiment to find out.

 

[chkn]

Well, I think you should just put her in a kennel while the chickens range. I had to give up on my GSD's and just keep them separated. I decided it wasn't worth the blood boiling and the guilt and the sad faces. Just do it and save yourself the heart ache.

 

[dainerra]

Quote:
sorry, that really DOESN'T work. Dogs love the smell of dead things; they go roll in them on purpose. Also, if you have more than one dog, the 2nd dog will just eat the chicken.

Beating the dog with the dead chicken kind of works, as long as you don't mind that your dog thinks you are a crazy lunatic and is afraid of you. This is an old "dog trainer's guide" originally it was for housebreaking, but I've modified for chickens.

1) keep dog inside/supervised and away from the chickens.
2) teach a good solid recall (dog should return to you 100% of the time, no ifs/ands/buts
3) teach "leave it" dog should no pick up/touch anything you tell him to leave alone (see step 1 about supervision)
4) if dog kills chickens because of a failure in step 1, follow these steps for disipline:
a) roll up a newspaper (or pick up dead chicken)
b) violently beat human about the head
c) repeat as needed until lesson learned

 

[walbarbsa]

Oh, sweetie, I feel your pain! I have four dogs; two of the dogs leave the chix alone; the GSD will be a perfect gentleman when I'm in the yard but let me leave.....it's curtains for whomever gets out -- I've clipped wings ad nauseum, but that dog still manages to have her way. She'll sit among them when I'm there and I'll praise her. Bottom line, now that dog stays inside when the chix are out!

 

[Roccomanchickens]

Quote:
sorry, that really DOESN'T work. Dogs love the smell of dead things; they go roll in them on purpose. Also, if you have more than one dog, the 2nd dog will just eat the chicken.

Beating the dog with the dead chicken kind of works, as long as you don't mind that your dog thinks you are a crazy lunatic and is afraid of you. This is an old "dog trainer's guide" originally it was for housebreaking, but I've modified for chickens.

1) keep dog inside/supervised and away from the chickens.
2) teach a good solid recall (dog should return to you 100% of the time, no ifs/ands/buts
3) teach "leave it" dog should no pick up/touch anything you tell him to leave alone (see step 1 about supervision)
4) if dog kills chickens because of a failure in step 1, follow these steps for disipline:
a) roll up a newspaper (or pick up dead chicken)
b) violently beat human about the head
c) repeat as needed until lesson learned

Sooo agree with you! Almost every dog I've ever owned rolls in dead things, I can't imagine that will work. OP, maybe separating their outdoor space? Or reconsider the "free ranging" and building a secure run? It seems like the sacrifice of not free ranging in order to save them might be better.

 

[McKenley5]

My little chihuahua could get his butt kicked by the chickens...I guess that is a good thing

So sorry for your loss!