pup problems

I haven't done it myself, but personally I know several who have and it has been successful every time.

 

I'm not a dog behaviorist, but I do know that your dogs will have no idea that the dead bird hanging from their neck is punishment for a previous action. Pups, just like kids, go through phases when they're growing up and will "experiment," especially when they get to the equivalent of their teenage years (about 7-9 months). However, that's not to say that this is completely unexpected behavior or that there's nothing to do about it. One option is to desensitize your dog to the birds. You need to establish your authority, and teach the dog that the chickens are part of his family. You will literally need to sit with the pups and some chickens and correct the dogs when they misbehave and praise them when they don't. I'm definitely not a Peta member, and I'm willing to accept a lot of different training techniques - but don't hit your dogs. It creates thousands of problems later on in their lives, including insecurity and, depending on the dog's temperament, aggression. Sorry that was a long post, but I really hope you can try a way to control your dogs without being violent. And remember that just because a breed is categorized at being good at something, like guarding, doesn't necessarily mean that job will ever fit the individual. There are lots of good resources online for dog training techniques, but make sure you're looking at material written by professionals, and not petco.com!

 

There are training tips on line, I did read somewhere you are to PIN the dog down on the ground while saying NO when they look "hungrily" at the chickens.

Look it up - you'll find something on Livestock protection animals/training.

 

I know the feeling...My pit, who has NEVER gone after ANY of my animals, got one of my hens the other day...She did get her butt whooped, and she won't even look at them now! I don't believe in "hitting" with a closed fist or anything, but you're darn right if they chew something (like shoes) they get swatted on the hind end with it!!

 

Lacy,

Hitting the dog or tying the chicken around its neck is just going to confuse the dog. You need to take responsibility for the dog’s actions. They don’t know any better, but you should.

A four month old Pyr can not be left alone with access to the chickens. The Pyrs will not mature and become flock protectors until they are one and a half years old. Until then, you need to supervise ALL interaction between the dogs and any fragile livestock. These dogs grow big, fast, and can easily kill a chicken in play or other behavior. You need to get them under control fast, before they are too big to handle.

While the dog is young, you need to continuously train the dog. They need to learn the basic command (no, leave it, sit, down, stay). They need to respect you, hence you need to respect them. They need to learn to be able to be around the chickens and at the same time ignore them.

The only way to do this is have them on a leash (rope, cable, whatever), with you holding the leash as you guys walk around the chicken yard. Any, ANY, attempts to chase or attack a chicken needs to be met with a low (tone), growling of “NO” from you. They need to know you mean business; hence you need to act like you are a dog growling, maybe barking the command not at them. If that doesn’t get its attention, give a “correction” with the leash. The leash correction needs be fast like cracking a whip to simulate a snap from another dog. It does not need to be hard; the dog should still be standing after the correction.

If you work with them constantly, maybe once every other day for this first year and half, you might just end up with awesome farm protection dog.

Now, dispose of those deceased chickens, pet your dog, google some LGD sites for some more training info and let the training begin.

Since, I have trained a handfull of dogs to do this, feel free to email me with any questions.

Jim

OH, here’s my LGD, Fluffy. She only killed one chicken by ‘accident” when she was a pup, but now the chickens can roam free without any predators issues (as long as Fluffy is on duty).

 

Now, dispose of those deceased chickens, pet your dog, google some LGD sites for some more training info and let the training begin.

Ditto ​

 

Mountain Man Jim Fluffy is toogorgeous! What is LGD??

 

Quote:Livestock Guarding Dogs

 

Mountain Man Jim - I'm right with ya. Amen.