Puppy killed a Pigeon :(

[muscovy94]

Hello everyone we recently adopted a little mixed breed puppy from the humane society and he is cute as can be! The thing is, he LOVES to terrorize the chickens and has recently killed one of our pigeons. He is only about 9 weeks old. I know this is just him being a playful puppy, but I'm scared if we don't do something now we will have a problem in the future. The chickens free range, and the puppy will just be a big ole farm dog that roams wherever he wants. Will he grow out of this agressiveness? If not, is there a way to teach him to not even go around or touch the chickens?

 

[Redyre Rotties]

If your puppy is showing this kind of prey drive at 9 weeks, you are going to have issues.

 

[muscovy94]

sorry let me rephrase that. He was nine or ten weeks when we got him, which was about a month and a half ago...so he is about 13 to fifteen weeks now. The humane society wasn't exactly sure to begin with so its anyone's guess. They only thing i can say is that he is BIG. doesn't have puppy breath anymore if that gives you an age range...

 

[Crazyland]

I would take him out on a leash around the birds and correct him if he walks towards them or looks at them. Get him to focus on you and only you.

 

[Cara]

 

[Skyesrocket]

I agree with crazyland. If he is going to be a farm dog he needs to respect your livestock. Train him while he is young.
Good Luck.

 

[babsbag]

At the risk of being yelled at, take a deep breath...me, not you....have you thought about an electric collar for training him? The only reason I say that is because we have our dogs trained for rattlesnake avoidance and the trainer uses an electric collar to do it. If my dogs smell, see, or hear a rattlesnake they go in the opposite direction. I see no reason why it wouldn't work the same for seeing or smelling a chicken. I am able to keep mine completely seperate so I haven't done it, but it is on my "to do" list this summer. Just a thought. I am not a dog trainer, and I know some people hate those collars, but I think that they have a place, when used properly. And avoidance is the only time we use it on our dogs. Their other training is just done the plain old fashion way. I have read and heard all the stories, both sides, and I decided that the rattlesnake bite was worse than the collar bits.

It is kinda like a religion with those things. Everyone has an opinion.

 

[Akane]

Shock collars are best used with an experienced trainer. They can work fine without being cruel or even causing pain but they need to be used correctly or you'll just make more problems.

Tie the pup to you with about 4-6' of leash depending on it's height/size. Now go about your day. Do not untie the puppy. Use the computer, feed the chickens, collect eggs, go for a walk, watch tv... I don't care but don't untie the puppy. Where you go it goes. If it starts after a chicken make a very loud startling sound like a sharp "EH" followed by "leave it" and move a little the other way. If the puppy is very very insistent that's when it loses it's privilege of being with you. Tie it just out of reach of the chickens and you until you are done. Then recover puppy and continue. Things may start out rough but eventually you create a dog that sticks to you like glue, ignores everything around it, and is just waiting for your next move. Never ever ever give the puppy a chance to chase anything. Every time you allow a dog to chase you reinforce the idea in their heads and it will take 10times more effort to stop it. Some dogs will never be safe unsupervised around chickens. I have dogs bred to hunt bear and wild boar. They aren't the point out game and wait type of hunting dog. More like charge in, drag it to the ground, and keep tearing until it stops moving. I will never trust them unsupervised around chickens but despite the fact their one overlying thought at any given moment is "chase" followed by "kill" I have no problems with them around the birds while I'm there and frequently my akita makes escapes from the dog yard and heads to the field to kill rabbits ignoring the scattering chickens on her way. Any dog can be trustworthy supervised so long as you never let them chase and always show them they should ignore the birds. Most dogs will never be trustworthy unsupervised. If that's what you want then you should invest in a purebred livestock guardian breed from proven lines instead of an unknown.