Question about dogs

[nzpouter]

nzpouter -- those are Bull Terriers right?  If not, I stand corrected Regardless they are power houses.

my profile pic...? That's my bull terrier and one of her foster kids... she pass away last January, we have 2 pitbulls in full on chicken training at the moment...

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[nzpouter]

How do you train for leave it? I am trying to train her for this but, I am not sure I am doing it right. Should I tell her to leave it when she has any interaction with the chickens and cats right now or where should I draw the line? I am hoping eventually someday everyone can be friends but, I think if I don't something right now they will end up being snack instead.

thanks,
Michelle

no, you tell her to leave it when she's showing undesirable attention, the commands is more about the tone of your voice rather than the words itself.... interaction such as sniffing etc is ok, we are in the middle of training a puppy too(video in previous post)... for us the trick is to get the chicken used to the dogs and the dog to be around them... as for the puppy, a lot of distractions while she's with them, the other dog in the video is also an adopted dog (6 weeks when we shot the video) and she's making a quick progress with the chooks.

 

[dainerra]

for me, it depends on what level of interaction you are comfortable with the dogs having. Some people like the dogs to be "friends" with the birds and others would rather the dogs completely ignore the birds. Since a lot of people aren't good enough reading dogs to see when their dog is about to cross the line from friendly sniff to playful pounce (or chomp!), I would distract the dog anytime he shows any interest at all in the birds but that is just me.
Better to stop the dog too soon than too late, in my book.

 

[centrarchid]

Dandydoodle,

Note breed; German Short-haired Pointer. I require dog to be trustworthy with poultry unsupervised 24/7. I have had many dogs repressenting multiple breeds (black and tan coonhounds, dalmations, and border collie) during my life that filled similar role. Those dogs where valued first for hunting, companionship / property defense or herding with benefits relating to poultry being secondary. Many individual dogs killed a chicken or two before settling into being safe around birds. Best dogs did kill a bird or two,those that did not proved to be slackers and often more than with just poultry. This dog was acquired specifically to protect livestock, chickens first then sheep and goats later. Initial logic based on wifes preference and that he was free. This and second dog of same breed to be acquired shortly will also be trained to accommodate sheep and goats which will be in line with your existing challenges. When I started my thoughts were as having dog bonded to poultry but this is not how we did in past and that does not work with my poultry management system where birds are in discrete flocks or discrete locations. Dog seems to be bonded to birds reared with but with respect to balance of my birds, they are simply parts of landscape that dog uses to track unseen parties he likes to chase.

See following thread for details. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426408/planned-livestock-guarding-dog-for-poultry

My starting point. Reared with this cockerel and two pullets. This does not stop improper interactions when dog engages bird not of his rearing group.

A bit of conditioning required for that. I used a combination of adult rooster, hen with chicked and the "leave it" training indicated by others. Direct observation required for initial introductions to flocks to be guarded. I worked from adults down to chicks. Dog now moves freely from free-ranging flocks to brooder to incubator. Free-ranging I mean by no confinement whatsoever.

Dogs of this sort need diversions.

Going after other critters is encouraged. Idle mind gets into trouble. This breed is high on the smarts scale amoung dog breeds but does not respond well to negative reinforcement. Keep positive.

Your dog will require intensive interaction to get into chicken freindly mode. More not less interaction between chickens and dog speeds meeting your desired outcomes.

 

[nzpouter]

for me, it depends on what level of interaction you are comfortable with the dogs having.    Some people like the dogs to be "friends" with the birds and others would rather the dogs completely ignore the birds.    Since a lot of people aren't good enough reading dogs to see when their dog is about to cross the line from friendly sniff to playful pounce (or chomp!), I would distract the dog anytime he shows any interest at all in the birds but that is just me.  
Better to stop the dog too soon than too late, in my book.

quite right.. depends on your preference... to me my dogs job is to look after the property and anything in it which means sleeping in the chicken coop with the chickens when there's sign of predators about. They need to tune in on which animals welcomed here and which are not, for example they can run straight into a bush when they hear rustlings but stopped dead on their tracks when they caught sense of a familiar animal (sight, sound, smell, etc).My dogs are also encourage to hunt and patrol the boundaries and fed raw.

 

[HmaximS]

Just what I was looking for, we have three older dogs - two viszlas and a chocolate lab. All are well trained, but the chickens are new to us all. We have our chickens outside in in the backyard in a coop and attached fenced run with some small electric fence around the perimeter of the fence. The two viszlas are only occasionally interested in the chickens, but my lab paces the fence and gets even more excited when the chickens squak. He was the one that we thought would be fine,its just the opposite. When we say "leave it", he does look, but his hunt instinct seems really inbred. When we walk over, he runs away but returns as we leave, so its just a game for him.

He did get zapped by the fence a few times, but his hair is thick enough that it has to catch his nose for him to get the message and even then, its clearly not working. It is not a deterrent to him. We were thinking of trying an e-training collar with slightly more power and we would be out of sight to discourage this behavior. Thoughts?

 

[centrarchid]

Just what I was looking for, we have three older dogs - two viszlas and a chocolate lab. All are well trained, but the chickens are new to us all. We have our chickens outside in in the backyard in a coop and attached fenced run with some small electric fence around the perimeter of the fence. The two viszlas are only occasionally interested in the chickens, but my lab paces the fence and gets even more excited when the chickens squak. He was the one that we thought would be fine,its just the opposite. When we say "leave it", he does look, but his hunt instinct seems really inbred. When we walk over, he runs away but returns as we leave, so its just a game for him.

He did get zapped by the fence a few times, but his hair is thick enough that it has to catch his nose for him to get the message and even then, its clearly not working. It is not a deterrent to him. We were thinking of trying an e-training collar with slightly more power and we would be out of sight to discourage this behavior. Thoughts?

If your dog has all its marbles (smarts), then breeding is not going to be an impass.

It is best to isolate trouble maker from other dogs during training sessions. For me the shocking technique is not reliable or I do not know how to use it. Some dogs, especially hounds we had growing up, get used to getting zapped by same fencing used to restrain cattle, horses and even hogs. They do not like it but such fences do not stop them from tracking coons especially when trail is hot. A hyped of dog interested in chickens will likely also not respect fencing. My dog and I both took multiple zaps a few nights ago but we still kept our interest in getting coon. Working dog while it and chickens are calm will help and getting zapped will not have a calming effect. In your case think restraint until you develop more control over dog.


If you have not done so already, then look at suggestions posted by dainerra and nzpoutzer. They have systems that can get down desired path. My system is different and likely requires more time investment but is intended to get dog point where it can be left with poultry unsupervised.

 

[wimsicle]

When I first introduced our border collie/blue heeler to our chickens, one of my hens pecked him right on one of his freckles, and he never wanted to mess with them after that

Usually when I'm trying to train him to "leave it", it helps to have something highly motivating to reward him with (he's ball crazy) in order to hold his attention.