We have three dogs and only one is safe around birds. As a pup he would get my daughter and take her to baby birds that fell out of the nest.
A couple of weeks ago he found a baby bird, picked it up and carried it to my daughter.
We did not train him for this behavior per say. However we do have ferrets and as a 12 week old we started to teach him about having a soft mouth and to "find the babies". He is a Lab/Great Dan mix. He turned five Aug 9.
He is absolutely chicken safe and takes protecting his chickens, any baby really, very seriously.
In this picture he is watching the neighbors dog very carefully and making sure it is not getting to close to the fence by the chickens.
This time he heard something towards the chicken coop area.
The Miniature Schnauzer (3 years old) however cannot be trusted at all. He will kill them, as such he is only allowed outside (when the chickens are in the front area) with the adults and his "leave it" is rock solid, even around the chickens. He still drags a 30 foot lead just in case. We also keep him very busy and exercised. He loves balls and we play fetch with him for hours every day to try and wear him out a bit.
All of that to say that genetics play a huge part in how "easy" it will be to train a pup to leave the chickens alone. I agree with the above post about shock collars. When used correctly they are not cruel. They are not for those who do not know how to use them!
A couple of weeks ago he found a baby bird, picked it up and carried it to my daughter.
We did not train him for this behavior per say. However we do have ferrets and as a 12 week old we started to teach him about having a soft mouth and to "find the babies". He is a Lab/Great Dan mix. He turned five Aug 9.
He is absolutely chicken safe and takes protecting his chickens, any baby really, very seriously.
In this picture he is watching the neighbors dog very carefully and making sure it is not getting to close to the fence by the chickens.
This time he heard something towards the chicken coop area.
The Miniature Schnauzer (3 years old) however cannot be trusted at all. He will kill them, as such he is only allowed outside (when the chickens are in the front area) with the adults and his "leave it" is rock solid, even around the chickens. He still drags a 30 foot lead just in case. We also keep him very busy and exercised. He loves balls and we play fetch with him for hours every day to try and wear him out a bit.
All of that to say that genetics play a huge part in how "easy" it will be to train a pup to leave the chickens alone. I agree with the above post about shock collars. When used correctly they are not cruel. They are not for those who do not know how to use them!
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