My Great Dane Puppy Killed my Chicken

[centrarchid]

Work on stopping the pup from even looking at the chickens. Your problem at this point is not how to train, rather it is when to start working on a specific behavior at the moment regardless of dog's age.

I train pups to be safe around chickens. My approach requires the pups and chickens to be together. The pups must respond to my commands before process starts. It does take time to get dogs to be good around chickens without supervision with dog age of 18 to 24 months before reliability typically realized.

I currently have two pups in the pipe that are now about 15 months old. The interact with chickens daily and get a lot of exercise away from the chickens as well. All the interaction is making for very smart dogs. Soon they will assist parents dealing with predators without harming chickens.

Have they harmed chickens previously? Absolutely and I do not regard that as a major problem!!! They even consumed chickens they killed. Yet I am doing something consistently right as the adult dogs do what is needed.

 

[Funsarah]

I'd love to hear more about how you train them!

 

[centrarchid]

I'd love to hear more about how you train them!

First get pup to follow lead on leash plus stop doing something and come to you immediately when called. That is your first step.

My preference is to do that in a location where the pup is exploring new stimuli. That may involve taking pup to a park, field or woods. Make certain no other dogs present to simplify interactions.

 

[Funsarah]

First get pup to follow lead on leash plus stop doing something and come to you immediately when called. That is your first step.

My preference is to do that in a location where the pup is exploring new stimuli. That may involve taking pup to a park, field or woods. Make certain no other dogs present to simplify interactions.

Like the "Leave it" command? We are learning that one next week in training. I think that's an important one. We are still working on "sit." She does it well when not distracted but doesn't when she's outside and stimulated.

 

[centrarchid]

"Dog's name leave it" for us distinct from "dog's name on me". Latter means come to me. I also work them with "dog's name inside" and "dog's name outside" when going in and out of buildings. Syntax is important when multiple dogs later.

Some communications not verbal. I sometimes look at something in an exaggerated manner to get dog to investigate it. The dogs are sometimes promoted to investigate a novel stimuli or animal sign I think might be present.

My dogs must learn to follow direction even when faced with novel stimuli. That means they must be challenged with novel stimuli a lot during the outings used for training.

The sit and and other commands used more to keep dog in place are good, but will not do much for the relationships with chickens.

 

[Geena]

"Dog's name leave it" for us distinct from "dog's name on me". Latter means come to me. I also work them with "dog's name inside" and "dog's name outside" when going in and out of buildings. Syntax is important when multiple dogs later.

Some communications not verbal. I sometimes look at something in an exaggerated manner to get dog to investigate it. The dogs are sometimes promoted to investigate a novel stimuli or animal sign I think might be present.

My dogs must learn to follow direction even when faced with novel stimuli. That means they must be challenged with novel stimuli a lot during the outings used for training.

The sit and and other commands used more to keep dog in place are good, but will not do much for the relationships with chickens.

I use "dog's name, this way" accompanied by a swish of the hand or tilt of the head to guide them, in, out, over, under, wherever. I hike a lot with my dogs, and it comes in real handy when walking through dense woods, and also of course around the farm as well.

I also look at things in an exaggerated manner, if you open your eyes big and lift your eyebrows that will really get them excited. I'll also usually whisper "what's that?" at the same time. Later I can just lift my eyebrows and they will immediately start tracking around looking for "it".

 

[TheCrochetChick]

I am so sorry, that is the saddest thing! I lost my whole batch of mail order chicks back in Nov'20 because the post office killed them!!! I know your pain!

 

[Mick43]

When dogs are young, I found it best to take them with me on a leash. My dog also killed a turkey poult when she was young. Putting her on a leash and telling her we don’t hurt our birds and having her see how I work with them, was a big help. In time they will be fine, but consciously train your dog so you don’t get a repeat.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Like the "Leave it" command? We are learning that one next week in training. I think that's an important one. We are still working on "sit." She does it well when not distracted but doesn't when she's outside and stimulated.

That’s normal. It can be easy to forget because Great Danes are so big but at 3 months she is still just a little baby and easily distracted. Dogs also don’t generalize well so just because they know something one place doesn’t necessarily mean they know it elsewhere. You have to build the distractions slowly.

So once she is listening well in one spot with no distractions like inside, move somewhere slightly more distracting like a new room or the garage or driveway or something. Or you can do in the same room and just add distractions to the room. She’s a baby still so take it slow and keep sessions short and fun. Being on a leash will help too.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and recall is different from leave it but very very important so start working on that as soon as possible!