my German Shepherd killed 3 of my hens

[surprzchx4life]

Help. I need advice. I have 9 mo old German Shepherd who has been around chickens since 8 wks old he went on a rampage when a family member was out with him and cornered 3 sweet little free ranging hens in barn and killed them.. He did not eat them. Don't know what to do. If it is possible to train this out of him. Willing to try anything. Suggestions please!!

 

[cncottle]

So sorry to hear about your hens. We also have a Shepherd and he has on occasion been aggressive. We try to reward him when he is calm around the chickens. Our Vet said that theyhave a hearding and protection instinct that can take over and cause problems. The Vet suggested a training shock collar (on a very low setting) to give a correction from a distance... when he thinks he isn't being watched. So far our dog has not had any further issues. I hope our info is helpful.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I have to tread lightly, there was just a topic about this last week the mods shut down....

Anyway the shock collar will work if you do it right, the dog can never associate you with the shock. Never let him see the button, they learn what it is extremely fast and will act right until your not watching. It may take a few days of constant supervision but it should work.

If that doesn't work or you don't want the expense from tractor supply( they are $100 dollars there) I got a great one off amazon for 30 bucks.

All dogs need a little act right once in awhile, you decide what method will work best for your dog.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Do you guys not feel bad using these?

I guess it depends on how much you value your chickens... Dogs need to be taught what is acceptable behavior, and even if you have a good dog that starts chasing animals it will probably not respond to you yelling at it unless it's on a leash. Secondly and far more important, where we live is a rural farming community, generally my dog will never leave my property because of where the house is in relation to the property lines. If a dog kills chickens around here it's pretty much a death sentence, no one will tolerate someone else's dog killing the animals they make a living off of. Spot just wouldn't come home one day and that would be that. So no I do not feel bad I have to cause the dog some minor discomfort to learn chickens are not toys. I cannot keep a dog that bothers chickens, regardless of how much my children like it, the collar is a win win everyone stays happy and I don't have to give the dog away.

 

[Moonkit]

On the contrary.. I've found that its about setting boundaries and teaching the dog what is allowed and what is not allowed. When I first got my chickens, I knew my border collie was possessed of a strong hunting instinct. So the first thing I did was introduce her to the chicks while they were still in the brooder, protected by the wire top. Predictably, I saw that "predatory" look come in her eye and immediately corrected her, "No, Diamond, these are momma's.. you do not touch!" The predatory look vanished and she sniffed them for several long minutes before leaving and seeming to ignore them.

During their first outings, we brought her along as well.. but on leash and her martingale collar. By this point, the chicks had seen her around the brooder a lot but never bothering them so the chicks exhibited no fear of her (its often the thrill of chasing a feathery, flapping, squawking toy that triggers the attack). As the chicks walked around, scratching in the dirt and grass and such, we allowed Diamond (on a short lead) to approach and sniff them at her leisure. Again, I watched her closely for any 'signs' of her getting 'predatory'. In her case, she'll drop her head, the ears sweep back, fur on her neck might stand, and her gaze becomes fixed on her target. Any and all of these signs might be seen in her as the impulse comes on.

She'd spend several minutes looking and sniffing at them (one chick even let her sniff its butt.. that was pretty funny.), then she lost interest and was more interested in her ball. Which we threw for her several times as a reward. We took her for several of these outings before letting her go on one with her harness and collar on. She showed no interest towards the chicks even when they ran around peeping.

Then a really surprising thing happened. She turned protective and started looking after them. Whenever the chips peeped loudly in the brooder (spilt water, spilt food, whatever), she'd come and find us, whine and lead us to the brooder to tend them. She laid down among them to let them snuggle for warmth when they were outside. To this day, we now use her as protection when we let the flock free range. I have personally seen her run off two hawks (even coming within 2 feet of catching one).. but she never shows aggression towards the chickens.

Now, will you see this final behavior from your dog? Who knows? But it takes firmness and consistency in training. Some dogs are harder than others and it depends on what sort of habits you've already established with the dog. Do you let the puppy grab whatever he likes to use as a toy (shoes/socks/pillows?) or do you enforce that he only play with toys you give him? My dog, Diamond, will only play with toys she's specifically given. She'll rip her toys to shreds, but will never touch anything like our carelessly thrown shoes or socks.

 

[RiverOtter]

I was told that on several separate occasions by experienced chicken owners so I took it to be true. I suppose one could try to retrain a dog who had already killed a chicken but personally I would never fully be able to trust it. Good fences make good neighbors and all that.

We'll, it's no help to the OP, as this thread is 5 years old, but if it will help YOU, just know that I've been a professional dog trainer and usually keep a pack of dogs. Right now I have 3, including a German Shepherd, and have had as many as 8 at once. Many of them rescues.

Pretty much every adolescent pup kills an adolescent chicken. At the pup's age, they are bouncy, hard headed and scatter-brained. And every chicken between the ages of 3-5 months is just plain stupid and suicidal.

And every single dog of them usually never does it again. Why? Because it's a training moment - if there are no mistakes, there are no opportunities to learn.

First, my dogs start training the moment they come to me. And I almost never use the command NO. That is reserved for Ultimate Sins. Is the dog barking? The command is Quiet if it is not something to be barke at. Or, Good Dog, Enough if it is something to alert to, and it's time to stop barking. Giving a command instead of screaming No teaches the dog what to do, and gives us a chance to praise, as well as saving our Total And Complete Disapproval for when we really, really need it.
Something in their mouth? Not no but Drop It.
Jump up on the couch? Not no, but Off. Off means "Put all 4 paws on the floor", so also works for jumping on people. We save Down for when we mean "whole body pressed on he ground"
Dog freaks out at the front door? That's because you haven't taught them that when someone knocks or rings, they are to Down 4 feet back from it.

Among the commands I teach instead of over-using NO, is Leave It. That means "Take your attention away from X and put it on ME", and it's the command we use whenever a dog looks at a chicken. We don't wait for chasing. If a dog is looking at a thing, it's thinking about that thing, and we don't want so much as the thought. So it's Leave It.

And one fine day, I'll be busy, Pup will be a distance they feel is past me and some brainless half grown bird will decide they've had enough of life and the worst will happen. Pup knows that they're not supposed to even look, because they've heard Leave It roughly 743 times by this point. But temptation is just so tempting ... and then, the dreaded words NO BAD DOG!!! (and remember, Pup has only heard this when they have been truly, truly bad) and a wrathful owner comes tearing at them. Pup is chased down (and there's not a lot of chasing, because if you've had the dog less than a year, they should be dragging a long line) and if the bird hasn't been dropped, their jaws are pulled open and the bird taken out (if it has been dropped, grab it up) only to be immediately shaken in their face, while their collar is getting a good shake too and NO BAD DOG is roared at them with the wrath of a B movie lunatic villain. Then, turn from them in total disgust, clip the line short to your belt and walk off, ignoring Pup being dragged in your wake.
Ignore Pup for the rest of the day. If you do take notice of them at all, it is only to repeat Bad Dog, in tones of disgust and scorn.

Now, until this moment, Pup hasn't had a lot of negativity from you. You've taught them the correct response and then praised them in most situations. But now they have to follow you everywhere feeling disapproval roll off you in waves.

Tomorrow, you'll forgive them. First chance, you'll give a command and praise them for following it. But the moment you are near the chickens, whether Pup looks at them or not, you are going to whip around, pin them with your fiercest glare and snarl Leave It.
And if you've trained them right along, 99 dogs out of a hundred will never touch a bird again, and a solid 50 of those will skirt around them for a long while - they gave into temptation once and it was The Worst Mistake Ever.
The last dog may need the lesson repeated. That time you'll carry the bird, or at least some feathers around and if you have to take notice of the dog, it will be to shove the feathers in Pup's face and growl What did you do? BAD DOG.
You'll make them sleep far away from you that night (shunned) and the next day, instead of easily forgiving them, you'll take them outside on leash and work obedience right in the chicken coop and make them earn your love back.

But for most of them, it's the once and they're good for life. They made the mistake and had a chance to learn the lesson. And breed has nothing to do with it. Chickens can eat out of my GSDs food dish with her. She hates it, and will growl and then look to me to fix it (and I do), but she won't touch one. I've had hunting breeds and terriers, they all learn. Huskies are the worst, but even they learn.

The problem isn't with dogs, it's that most people can't be bothered. It's easier to say "Oh, well he's a ____ and you can't expect that of a ____" or to give up on them or get rid of them when they make a mistake. That's usually when I get them, and my dogs are great.

 

[cncottle]

The one that we looked at had a remote control. Try having supervised time with the chickens and see how he does. If he gets that look in his eye...( I'm sure you know the Shepherd stare I'm talking about) give him a little shock. He'll eventually associate the chickens with a bad sensation and leave them alone. Best of luck. Oh, we saw the training collar at Tractor Supply.

 

[TalkALittle]

 It helps to creates a bond (yeah she may be dead) if constant exposure to your hens is not working. 

The point of the chicken around the neck technique isn't to form a bond between the dog and chickens. It is to make the dog associate chickens with unrelenting unpleasantness such that a strong negative association with chickens is formed that deters the dog from interacting with chickens in the future.

 

[csaiz100]

The best way is to manage your flock and your dog. My Chickens, Turkeys, Sheep and Goats are in my fenced off "Back 40". My dogs run in my side yard. They will not have to opportunity to chase and/or kill anything.
shock collars create more problems then they solve unless your timing is perfect. I suggest you take a couple of private lessons from an instructor who knows what he/she is doing.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I have to tread lightly, there was just a topic about this last week the mods shut down....

Anyway the shock collar will work if you do it right, the dog can never associate you with the shock. Never let him see the button, they learn what it is extremely fast and will act right until your not watching. It may take a few days of constant supervision but it should work.

If that doesn't work or you don't want the expense from tractor supply( they are $100 dollars there) I got a great one off amazon for 30 bucks.

All dogs need a little act right once in awhile, you decide what method will work best for your dog.

what brand shock collar did you buy? $30 seems like heck of a deal. Just want one that works..not necessarily top of the line $100 plus one I hope not to have to use it too long term

That's what I got...works great