my st bernard puppy is chasing are birds primarily the duck

[arabianequine]

How can I get this to stop? I tie her up when she does this or not let her out back very much. I take her back inside when she does this. I do tell her no and run around screaming to get her to stop that is what it takes she totally does not listen when she is doing it at all. She will leave it, and drop it for other stuff like poop, cat, are little dogs etc. but not the duck. She is 6 1/2 months old and I don't want her to hurt the duck by it happening when I can't get her to stop before she gets her mouth on it that is what she tries for.

Thank you for any help!

 

[Rin]

I'm no expert. But if it were me and my dog. At the first signs of this they would not have the opportunity. I would keep them on a lead and tether them to my body (so I can keep my hands free) and at the first sign that she is even /thinking it/ (such as staring intently or moving erratically) I would go "ANH!", tell them to sit and treat them when they sit.

A disobedient dog gets little or no room to be disobedient in my house. I'm just grateful my dog has no prey drive for anything bigger than a palmetto bug. She wont even look at dog toys. But, she is disobedient about where she'll sleep - so I make her do her naps in the dog crate since when I let her do her dog beds around the house - she kept opting to lie on the couch against my orders

 

[saxet]

Judging by your screenname, you may have lunge lines? Put a flat collar on, but tight enough so that it does not slip off her head. Attach lungeline or other long line. Start with the regular animals she wants to chase but calls off from. A stern NO, followed by a short pull on the line, and you can start correcting even before the actual chase, when you see her thinking about it. When she comes back to you, make sure you have a pocket full of treats and give her one, along with a lot of good, happy sounding praise. If that goes well (to the point where indeed a verbal warning is enough for her to leave it alone) proceed to ducks. Same scenario. Hopefully, by now she will have learned the pattern (of correction and praise) but if not, you may have to move to a pinch collar for that exersize. Depends on how she responds. I think it is best to 'set her up'. Go seek the problem, rather than it surprising you. If she is on a tight enough collar on that line, she will not be able to do any damage. If you can call her off from your other critters, there certainly is ample hope. It is true though, that some prey species entice some dogs much more than others. I have one dog that is fine with ducks, but is deadly towards cats, and a littermate who is dangerous around ducks, but not so focussed on cats. No clue what triggers. Mine are prey monsters and I have to stay vigilant, but you can actually set some boundaries. Good luck.

 

[arabianequine]

I do do that now but it is hard to work with that big of a dog tethered to me at the waist. She will be good for a long time usually and then the chase is on does she do that to go back inside....it does not seem like it but? I do have a lunge line....I also have stake in the ground I put her on that line sometimes so I can do things when I can't watch her. Sometimes she does not even chase the duck it is like the spur of the moment and right when I think everything is fine and I am on one side of the yard and she is clear on the other and all over chasing the bird. One rooster got in her way today while she was on the line and she still chased it and I went over there and made her sit and said no leave it no bite and tapped her on the top of her mouth. I will keep plugging away at this issue.